Benjamin Franklin and the Definition of American Values SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Global Business
Strategy / MBA Resources
Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of Benjamin Franklin and the Definition of American Values
Discusses the value systems and their relationship to the conduct of business in 18th Century America. Also focuses on Benjamin Franklin, the preeminent colonial American, to examine how business was conducted in his era. Based on an earlier case by B.E. Supple.
Swot Analysis of "Benjamin Franklin and the Definition of American Values" written by Richard S. Tedlow includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Benjamin Franklin facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Benjamin Franklin and the Definition of American Values case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Ethics, Policy, Social responsibility and Global Business.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Benjamin Franklin and the Definition of American Values casestudy better are - – increasing household debt because of falling income levels, talent flight as more people leaving formal jobs, geopolitical disruptions, there is increasing trade war between United States & China, increasing government debt because of Covid-19 spendings, cloud computing is disrupting traditional business models, increasing energy prices,
digital marketing is dominated by two big players Facebook and Google, central banks are concerned over increasing inflation, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Benjamin Franklin and the Definition of American Values
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Benjamin Franklin and the Definition of American Values case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Benjamin Franklin, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Benjamin Franklin operates in.
According to Harvard Business Review, 75% of the managers use SWOT analysis for various purposes such as – evaluating current scenario, strategic planning, new venture feasibility, personal growth goals, new market entry, Go To market strategies, portfolio management and strategic trade-off assessment, organizational restructuring, etc.
SWOT Objectives / Importance of SWOT Analysis and SWOT Matrix
SWOT analysis of Benjamin Franklin and the Definition of American Values can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Benjamin Franklin and the Definition of American Values case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Benjamin Franklin
3. Assessing feasibility of the new initiative in Global Business field.
4. Making a Global Business topic specific business decision
5. Set goals for the organization
6. Organizational restructuring of Benjamin Franklin
Strengths Benjamin Franklin and the Definition of American Values | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Benjamin Franklin in Benjamin Franklin and the Definition of American Values Harvard Business Review case study are -
Organizational Resilience of Benjamin Franklin
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing that Benjamin Franklin does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
High brand equity
– Benjamin Franklin has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Benjamin Franklin to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Ability to recruit top talent
– Benjamin Franklin is one of the leading recruiters in the industry. Managers in the Benjamin Franklin and the Definition of American Values are in a position to attract the best talent available. The firm has a robust talent identification program that helps in identifying the brightest.
High switching costs
– The high switching costs that Benjamin Franklin has built up over years in its products and services combo offer has resulted in high retention of customers, lower marketing costs, and greater ability of the firm to focus on its customers.
Cross disciplinary teams
– Horizontal connected teams at the Benjamin Franklin are driving operational speed, building greater agility, and keeping the organization nimble to compete with new competitors. It helps are organization to ideate new ideas, and execute them swiftly in the marketplace.
Digital Transformation in Global Business segment
- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For Benjamin Franklin digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Benjamin Franklin has successfully integrated the four key components of digital transformation – digital integration in processes, digital integration in marketing and customer relationship management, digital integration into the value chain, and using technology to explore new products and market opportunities.
Learning organization
- Benjamin Franklin is a learning organization. It has inculcated three key characters of learning organization in its processes and operations – exploration, creativity, and expansiveness. The work place at Benjamin Franklin is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders in Benjamin Franklin and the Definition of American Values Harvard Business Review case study emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
Strong track record of project management
– Benjamin Franklin is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of Benjamin Franklin in the sector have low bargaining power. Benjamin Franklin and the Definition of American Values has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Benjamin Franklin to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
Analytics focus
– Benjamin Franklin is putting a lot of focus on utilizing the power of analytics in business decision making. This has put it among the leading players in the industry. The technology infrastructure suggested by Richard S. Tedlow can also help it to harness the power of analytics for – marketing optimization, demand forecasting, customer relationship management, inventory management, information sharing across the value chain etc.
Superior customer experience
– The customer experience strategy of Benjamin Franklin in the segment is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.
Training and development
– Benjamin Franklin has one of the best training and development program in the industry. The effectiveness of the training programs can be measured in Benjamin Franklin and the Definition of American Values Harvard Business Review case study by analyzing – employees retention, in-house promotion, loyalty, new venture initiation, lack of conflict, and high level of both employees and customer engagement.
Weaknesses Benjamin Franklin and the Definition of American Values | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Benjamin Franklin and the Definition of American Values are -
Capital Spending Reduction
– Even during the low interest decade, Benjamin Franklin has not been able to do capital spending to the tune of the competition. This has resulted into fewer innovations and company facing stiff competition from both existing competitors and new entrants who are disrupting the industry using digital technology.
Products dominated business model
– Even though Benjamin Franklin has some of the most successful products in the industry, this business model has made each new product launch extremely critical for continuous financial growth of the organization. firm in the HBR case study - Benjamin Franklin and the Definition of American Values should strive to include more intangible value offerings along with its core products and services.
Increasing silos among functional specialists
– The organizational structure of Benjamin Franklin is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Global Business segment. Benjamin Franklin needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Benjamin Franklin to focus more on services rather than just following the product oriented approach.
Low market penetration in new markets
– Outside its home market of Benjamin Franklin, firm in the HBR case study Benjamin Franklin and the Definition of American Values needs to spend more promotional, marketing, and advertising efforts to penetrate international markets.
Need for greater diversity
– Benjamin Franklin has taken concrete steps on diversity, equity, and inclusion. But the efforts so far has resulted in limited success. It needs to expand the recruitment and selection process to hire more people from the minorities and underprivileged background.
High dependence on existing supply chain
– The disruption in the global supply chains because of the Covid-19 pandemic and blockage of the Suez Canal illustrated the fragile nature of Benjamin Franklin supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes mentioned in the HBR case study - Benjamin Franklin and the Definition of American Values, it is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left Benjamin Franklin vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.
Employees’ incomplete understanding of strategy
– From the instances in the HBR case study Benjamin Franklin and the Definition of American Values, it seems that the employees of Benjamin Franklin don’t have comprehensive understanding of the firm’s strategy. This is reflected in number of promotional campaigns over the last few years that had mixed messaging and competing priorities. Some of the strategic activities and services promoted in the promotional campaigns were not consistent with the organization’s strategy.
Compensation and incentives
– The revenue per employee as mentioned in the HBR case study Benjamin Franklin and the Definition of American Values, is just above the industry average. Benjamin Franklin needs to redesign the compensation structure and incentives to increase the revenue per employees. Some of the steps that it can take are – hiring more specialists on project basis, etc.
Lack of clear differentiation of Benjamin Franklin products
– To increase the profitability and margins on the products, Benjamin Franklin needs to provide more differentiated products than what it is currently offering in the marketplace.
Slow to strategic competitive environment developments
– As Benjamin Franklin and the Definition of American Values HBR case study mentions - Benjamin Franklin takes time to assess the upcoming competitions. This has led to missing out on atleast 2-3 big opportunities in the industry in last five years.
Aligning sales with marketing
– It come across in the case study Benjamin Franklin and the Definition of American Values that the firm needs to have more collaboration between its sales team and marketing team. Sales professionals in the industry have deep experience in developing customer relationships. Marketing department in the case Benjamin Franklin and the Definition of American Values can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Benjamin Franklin is planning to shift buying processes online.
Opportunities Benjamin Franklin and the Definition of American Values | External Strategic Factors
What are Opportunities in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The opportunities highlighted in the Harvard Business Review case study Benjamin Franklin and the Definition of American Values are -
Lowering marketing communication costs
– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Benjamin Franklin in the field of marketing communication. It will bring down the cost of doing business, provide technology platform to build new products in the Global Business segment, and it will provide faster access to the consumers.
Loyalty marketing
– Benjamin Franklin has focused on building a highly responsive customer relationship management platform. This platform is built on in-house data and driven by analytics and artificial intelligence. The customer analytics can help the organization to fine tune its loyalty marketing efforts, increase the wallet share of the organization, reduce wastage on mainstream advertising spending, build better pricing strategies using personalization, etc.
Finding new ways to collaborate
– Covid-19 has not only transformed business models of companies in Global Business industry, but it has also influenced the consumer preferences. Benjamin Franklin can tie-up with other value chain partners to explore new opportunities regarding meeting customer demands and building a rewarding and engaging relationship.
Redefining models of collaboration and team work
– As explained in the weaknesses section, Benjamin Franklin is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. Benjamin Franklin and the Definition of American Values case study suggests that firm can utilize new technology to build more coordinated teams and streamline operations and communications using tools such as CAD, Zoom, etc.
Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities
– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Benjamin Franklin to expand its talent hiring zone. According to McKinsey Global Institute, 20% of the high end workforce in fields such as finance, information technology, can continously work from remote local post Covid-19. This presents a really great opportunity for Benjamin Franklin to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
Use of Bitcoin and other crypto currencies for transactions
– The popularity of Bitcoin and other crypto currencies as asset class and medium of transaction has opened new opportunities for Benjamin Franklin in the consumer business. Now Benjamin Franklin can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.
Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains
– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Benjamin Franklin can build a diversified supply chain model across various countries in - South East Asia, India, and other parts of the world. This reconfiguration of global supply chain can help, as suggested in case study, Benjamin Franklin and the Definition of American Values, to buy more products closer to the markets, and it can leverage its size and influence to get better deal from the local markets.
Identify volunteer opportunities
– Covid-19 has impacted working population in two ways – it has led to people soul searching about their professional choices, resulting in mass resignation. Secondly it has encouraged people to do things that they are passionate about. This has opened opportunities for businesses to build volunteer oriented socially driven projects. Benjamin Franklin can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.
Buying journey improvements
– Benjamin Franklin can improve the customer journey of consumers in the industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. Benjamin Franklin and the Definition of American Values suggest that firm can provide automated chats to help consumers solve their own problems, provide online suggestions to get maximum out of the products and services, and help consumers to build a community where they can interact with each other to develop new features and uses.
Reforming the budgeting process
- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects Benjamin Franklin can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.
Developing new processes and practices
– Benjamin Franklin can develop new processes and procedures in Global Business industry using technology such as automation using artificial intelligence, real time transportation and products tracking, 3D modeling for concept development and new products pilot testing etc.
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Benjamin Franklin has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Benjamin Franklin to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the Benjamin Franklin and the Definition of American Values case study. Benjamin Franklin can build new products and services such as - data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
Building a culture of innovation
– managers at Benjamin Franklin can make experimentation a productive activity and build a culture of innovation using approaches such as – mining transaction data, A/B testing of websites and selling platforms, engaging potential customers over various needs, and building on small ideas in the Global Business segment.
Threats Benjamin Franklin and the Definition of American Values External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Benjamin Franklin and the Definition of American Values are -
Backlash against dominant players
– US Congress and other legislative arms of the government are getting tough on big business especially technology companies. The digital arm of Benjamin Franklin business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
High dependence on third party suppliers
– Benjamin Franklin high dependence on third party suppliers can disrupt its processes and delivery mechanism. For example -the current troubles of car makers because of chip shortage is because the chip companies started producing chips for electronic companies rather than car manufacturers.
Consumer confidence and its impact on Benjamin Franklin demand
– There is a high probability of declining consumer confidence, given – high inflammation rate, rise of gig economy, lower job stability, increasing cost of living, higher interest rates, and aging demography. All the factors contribute to people saving higher rate of their income, resulting in lower consumer demand in the industry and other sectors.
Aging population
– As the populations of most advanced economies are aging, it will lead to high social security costs, higher savings among population, and lower demand for goods and services in the economy. The household savings in US, France, UK, Germany, and Japan are growing faster than predicted because of uncertainty caused by pandemic.
Technology disruption because of hacks, piracy etc
– The colonial pipeline illustrated, how vulnerable modern organization are to international hackers, miscreants, and disruptors. The cyber security interruption, data leaks, etc can seriously jeopardize the future growth of the organization.
Easy access to finance
– Easy access to finance in Global Business field will also reduce the barriers to entry in the industry, thus putting downward pressure on the prices because of increasing competition. Benjamin Franklin can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, as highlighted in case study Benjamin Franklin and the Definition of American Values, Benjamin Franklin may face longer learning curve for training and development of existing employees. This can open space for more nimble competitors in the field of Global Business .
Increasing wage structure of Benjamin Franklin
– Post Covid-19 there is a sharp increase in the wages especially in the jobs that require interaction with people. The increasing wages can put downward pressure on the margins of Benjamin Franklin.
Instability in the European markets
– European Union markets are facing three big challenges post Covid – expanded balance sheets, Brexit related business disruption, and aggressive Russia looking to distract the existing security mechanism. Benjamin Franklin will face different problems in different parts of Europe. For example it will face inflationary pressures in UK, France, and Germany, balance sheet expansion and demand challenges in Southern European countries, and geopolitical instability in the Eastern Europe.
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry in the industry are lowering. It can presents Benjamin Franklin with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the sector.
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Benjamin Franklin is facing in Global Business sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.
High level of anxiety and lack of motivation
– the Great Resignation in United States is the sign of broader dissatisfaction among the workforce in United States. Benjamin Franklin needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Global Business industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Benjamin Franklin in the Global Business industry. The Global Business industry is already at various protected from local competition in China, with the rise of trade war the protection levels may go up. This presents a clear threat of current business model in Chinese market.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Benjamin Franklin and the Definition of American Values Template, Example
Not all factors mentioned under the Strengths, Weakness, Opportunities, and Threats quadrants in the SWOT Analysis are equal. Managers in the HBR case study Benjamin Franklin and the Definition of American Values needs to zero down on the relative importance of each factor mentioned in the Strengths, Weakness, Opportunities, and Threats quadrants.
We can provide the relative importance to each factor by assigning relative weights. Weighted SWOT analysis process is a three stage process –
First stage for doing weighted SWOT analysis of the case study Benjamin Franklin and the Definition of American Values is to rank the strengths and weaknesses of the organization. This will help you to assess the most important strengths and weaknesses of the firm and which one of the strengths and weaknesses mentioned in the initial lists are marginal and can be left out.
Second stage for conducting weighted SWOT analysis of the Harvard case study Benjamin Franklin and the Definition of American Values is to give probabilities to the external strategic factors thus better understanding the opportunities and threats arising out of macro environment changes and developments.
Third stage of constructing weighted SWOT analysis of Benjamin Franklin and the Definition of American Values is to provide strategic recommendations includes – joining likelihood of external strategic factors such as opportunities and threats to the internal strategic factors – strengths and weaknesses. You should start with external factors as they will provide the direction of the overall industry. Secondly by joining probabilities with internal strategic factors can help the company not only strategic fit but also the most probably strategic trade-off that Benjamin Franklin needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.
