Carol Johnson and U.S. School Superintendent Tenure SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Innovation & Entrepreneurship
Strategy / MBA Resources
Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of Carol Johnson and U.S. School Superintendent Tenure
After a successful career as a superintendent of some of the nation's largest urban school districts, Carol Johnson elected to complete a Fellowship at Harvard's Advanced Leadership Initiative (2014). There, she hoped to gain perspective and knowledge surrounding how new superintendents of urban school districts could be better trained and supported in this challenging and dynamic role. Following her ALI Fellowship, Johnson created the Leadership for America's Urban Schools (LAUS), a proposed program that would provide mentorship, training, and networking for new urban school leaders.
Swot Analysis of "Carol Johnson and U.S. School Superintendent Tenure" written by Rosabeth Moss Kanter, Pamela Yatsko includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Urban Johnson facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Carol Johnson and U.S. School Superintendent Tenure case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Innovation and Innovation & Entrepreneurship.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Carol Johnson and U.S. School Superintendent Tenure casestudy better are - – there is increasing trade war between United States & China, geopolitical disruptions, supply chains are disrupted by pandemic , increasing inequality as vast percentage of new income is going to the top 1%, increasing government debt because of Covid-19 spendings, competitive advantages are harder to sustain because of technology dispersion, central banks are concerned over increasing inflation,
challanges to central banks by blockchain based private currencies, cloud computing is disrupting traditional business models, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Carol Johnson and U.S. School Superintendent Tenure
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Carol Johnson and U.S. School Superintendent Tenure case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Urban Johnson, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Urban Johnson 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 Carol Johnson and U.S. School Superintendent Tenure can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Carol Johnson and U.S. School Superintendent Tenure case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Urban Johnson
3. Assessing feasibility of the new initiative in Innovation & Entrepreneurship field.
4. Making a Innovation & Entrepreneurship topic specific business decision
5. Set goals for the organization
6. Organizational restructuring of Urban Johnson
Strengths Carol Johnson and U.S. School Superintendent Tenure | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Urban Johnson in Carol Johnson and U.S. School Superintendent Tenure Harvard Business Review case study are -
Ability to recruit top talent
– Urban Johnson is one of the leading recruiters in the industry. Managers in the Carol Johnson and U.S. School Superintendent Tenure are in a position to attract the best talent available. The firm has a robust talent identification program that helps in identifying the brightest.
Innovation driven organization
– Urban Johnson is one of the most innovative firm in sector. Manager in Carol Johnson and U.S. School Superintendent Tenure Harvard Business Review case study can use Clayton Christensen Disruptive Innovation strategies to further increase the scale of innovtions in the organization.
Organizational Resilience of Urban Johnson
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing that Urban Johnson does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
Digital Transformation in Innovation & Entrepreneurship segment
- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For Urban Johnson digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Urban Johnson 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.
Superior customer experience
– The customer experience strategy of Urban Johnson in the segment is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.
Effective Research and Development (R&D)
– Urban Johnson has innovation driven culture where significant part of the revenues are spent on the research and development activities. This has resulted in, as mentioned in case study Carol Johnson and U.S. School Superintendent Tenure - staying ahead in the industry in terms of – new product launches, superior customer experience, highly competitive pricing strategies, and great returns to the shareholders.
High brand equity
– Urban Johnson has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Urban Johnson to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Ability to lead change in Innovation & Entrepreneurship field
– Urban Johnson is one of the leading players in its industry. Over the years it has not only transformed the business landscape in its segment but also across the whole industry. The ability to lead change has enabled Urban Johnson in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.
Successful track record of launching new products
– Urban Johnson has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Urban Johnson has effective processes in place that helps in exploring new product needs, doing quick pilot testing, and then launching the products quickly using its extensive distribution network.
Learning organization
- Urban Johnson 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 Urban Johnson is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders in Carol Johnson and U.S. School Superintendent Tenure Harvard Business Review case study emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Innovation & Entrepreneurship industry
– Carol Johnson and U.S. School Superintendent Tenure firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Urban Johnson to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Innovation & Entrepreneurship industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Urban Johnson to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Analytics focus
– Urban Johnson 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 Rosabeth Moss Kanter, Pamela Yatsko 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.
Weaknesses Carol Johnson and U.S. School Superintendent Tenure | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Carol Johnson and U.S. School Superintendent Tenure are -
High operating costs
– Compare to the competitors, firm in the HBR case study Carol Johnson and U.S. School Superintendent Tenure has high operating costs in the. This can be harder to sustain given the new emerging competition from nimble players who are using technology to attract Urban Johnson 's lucrative customers.
Products dominated business model
– Even though Urban Johnson 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 - Carol Johnson and U.S. School Superintendent Tenure should strive to include more intangible value offerings along with its core products and services.
Skills based hiring
– The stress on hiring functional specialists at Urban Johnson has created an environment where the organization is dominated by functional specialists rather than management generalist. This has resulted into product oriented approach rather than marketing oriented approach or consumers oriented approach.
Low market penetration in new markets
– Outside its home market of Urban Johnson, firm in the HBR case study Carol Johnson and U.S. School Superintendent Tenure needs to spend more promotional, marketing, and advertising efforts to penetrate international markets.
Compensation and incentives
– The revenue per employee as mentioned in the HBR case study Carol Johnson and U.S. School Superintendent Tenure, is just above the industry average. Urban Johnson 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.
High cash cycle compare to competitors
Urban Johnson has a high cash cycle compare to other players in the industry. It needs to shorten the cash cycle by 12% to be more competitive in the marketplace, reduce inventory costs, and be more profitable.
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 Urban Johnson supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes mentioned in the HBR case study - Carol Johnson and U.S. School Superintendent Tenure, it is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left Urban Johnson vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.
Slow decision making process
– As mentioned earlier in the report, Urban Johnson has a very deliberative decision making approach. This approach has resulted in prudent decisions, but it has also resulted in missing opportunities in the industry over the last five years. Urban Johnson even though has strong showing on digital transformation primary two stages, it has struggled to capitalize the power of digital transformation in marketing efforts and new venture efforts.
Need for greater diversity
– Urban Johnson 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 star products
– The top 2 products and services of the firm as mentioned in the Carol Johnson and U.S. School Superintendent Tenure HBR case study still accounts for major business revenue. This dependence on star products in has resulted into insufficient focus on developing new products, even though Urban Johnson has relatively successful track record of launching new products.
Capital Spending Reduction
– Even during the low interest decade, Urban Johnson 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.
Opportunities Carol Johnson and U.S. School Superintendent Tenure | 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 Carol Johnson and U.S. School Superintendent Tenure are -
Lowering marketing communication costs
– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Urban Johnson in the field of marketing communication. It will bring down the cost of doing business, provide technology platform to build new products in the Innovation & Entrepreneurship segment, and it will provide faster access to the consumers.
Better consumer reach
– The expansion of the 5G network will help Urban Johnson to increase its market reach. Urban Johnson will be able to reach out to new customers. Secondly 5G will also provide technology framework to build new tools and products that can help more immersive consumer experience and faster consumer journey.
Changes in consumer behavior post Covid-19
– Consumer behavior has changed in the Innovation & Entrepreneurship industry because of Covid-19 restrictions. Some of this behavior will stay once things get back to normal. Urban Johnson can take advantage of these changes in consumer behavior to build a far more efficient business model. For example consumer regular ordering of products can reduce both last mile delivery costs and market penetration costs. Urban Johnson can further use this consumer data to build better customer loyalty, provide better products and service collection, and improve the value proposition in inflationary times.
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. Urban Johnson can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.
Finding new ways to collaborate
– Covid-19 has not only transformed business models of companies in Innovation & Entrepreneurship industry, but it has also influenced the consumer preferences. Urban Johnson can tie-up with other value chain partners to explore new opportunities regarding meeting customer demands and building a rewarding and engaging relationship.
Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities
– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Urban Johnson 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 Urban Johnson to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
Learning at scale
– Online learning technologies has now opened space for Urban Johnson to conduct training and development for its employees across the world. This will result in not only reducing the cost of training but also help employees in different part of the world to integrate with the headquarter work culture, ethos, and standards.
Building a culture of innovation
– managers at Urban Johnson 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 Innovation & Entrepreneurship segment.
Buying journey improvements
– Urban Johnson can improve the customer journey of consumers in the industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. Carol Johnson and U.S. School Superintendent Tenure 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.
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 Urban Johnson in the consumer business. Now Urban Johnson can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.
Manufacturing automation
– Urban Johnson can use the latest technology developments to improve its manufacturing and designing process in Innovation & Entrepreneurship segment. It can use CAD and 3D printing to build a quick prototype and pilot testing products. It can leverage automation using machine learning and artificial intelligence to do faster production at lowers costs, and it can leverage the growth in satellite and tracking technologies to improve inventory management, transportation, and shipping.
Redefining models of collaboration and team work
– As explained in the weaknesses section, Urban Johnson is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. Carol Johnson and U.S. School Superintendent Tenure 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.
Low interest rates
– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Urban Johnson can still utilize the low interest rates to borrow money for capital investment. Secondly it can also use the increase of government spending in infrastructure projects to get new business.
Threats Carol Johnson and U.S. School Superintendent Tenure External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Carol Johnson and U.S. School Superintendent Tenure are -
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.
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 Urban Johnson business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
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.
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. Urban Johnson 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.
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Urban Johnson has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Innovation & Entrepreneurship industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Urban Johnson needs to keep up with the evolution of technology in the Innovation & Entrepreneurship sector. According to Mckinsey study top managers believe that the adoption of technology in operations, communications is 20-25 times faster than what they planned in the beginning of 2019.
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. Urban Johnson needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Innovation & Entrepreneurship industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
Regulatory challenges
– Urban Johnson needs to prepare for regulatory challenges as consumer protection groups and other pressure groups are vigorously advocating for more regulations on big business - to reduce inequality, to create a level playing field, to product data privacy and consumer privacy, to reduce the influence of big money on democratic institutions, etc. This can lead to significant changes in the Innovation & Entrepreneurship industry regulations.
Easy access to finance
– Easy access to finance in Innovation & Entrepreneurship field will also reduce the barriers to entry in the industry, thus putting downward pressure on the prices because of increasing competition. Urban Johnson 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 Carol Johnson and U.S. School Superintendent Tenure, Urban Johnson may face longer learning curve for training and development of existing employees. This can open space for more nimble competitors in the field of Innovation & Entrepreneurship .
Capital market disruption
– During the Covid-19, Dow Jones has touched record high. The valuations of a number of companies are way beyond their existing business model potential. This can lead to capital market correction which can put a number of suppliers, collaborators, value chain partners in great financial difficulty. It will directly impact the business of Urban Johnson.
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Urban Johnson in the Innovation & Entrepreneurship industry. The Innovation & Entrepreneurship 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.
Consumer confidence and its impact on Urban Johnson 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.
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Urban Johnson is facing in Innovation & Entrepreneurship sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Carol Johnson and U.S. School Superintendent Tenure 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 Carol Johnson and U.S. School Superintendent Tenure 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 Carol Johnson and U.S. School Superintendent Tenure 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 Carol Johnson and U.S. School Superintendent Tenure 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 Carol Johnson and U.S. School Superintendent Tenure 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 Urban Johnson needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.