Case Study Description of Nimble Storage: Scaling Talent Strategy Amidst Hyper-Growth
The Nimble Storage case study tells the story of a rapidly growing storage startup in Silicon Valley. The key protagonists are CEO Suresh Vasudevan, along with the Vice President of Human Resources, Paul Whitney. The case study describes the history of the company, the context in which Whitney was hired, and key people initiatives since Whitney's arrival. With lofty ambitions, such as transforming the world of storage through its hybrid storage system, and with the stated goal of becoming a billion dollar company in three years, Vasudevan, Whitney, and the senior team believed that Nimble's people strategy would be critical in helping achieve its ambitious goals and thus focused on short- and long-term people initiatives in order to scale. The case study ends with the launch of the company's new leadership program, LEAD and raises questions about Nimble's future growth and international expansion, specifically how its growth plans might affect people initiatives going forward.
Swot Analysis of "Nimble Storage: Scaling Talent Strategy Amidst Hyper-Growth" written by Homa Bahrami includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Storage Whitney facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Nimble Storage: Scaling Talent Strategy Amidst Hyper-Growth case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Growth strategy, Human resource management and Innovation & Entrepreneurship.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Nimble Storage: Scaling Talent Strategy Amidst Hyper-Growth casestudy better are - – customer relationship management is fast transforming because of increasing concerns over data privacy, central banks are concerned over increasing inflation, banking and financial system is disrupted by Bitcoin and other crypto currencies, supply chains are disrupted by pandemic , increasing energy prices, increasing transportation and logistics costs, challanges to central banks by blockchain based private currencies,
increasing inequality as vast percentage of new income is going to the top 1%, technology disruption, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Nimble Storage: Scaling Talent Strategy Amidst Hyper-Growth
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Nimble Storage: Scaling Talent Strategy Amidst Hyper-Growth case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Storage Whitney, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Storage Whitney 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 Nimble Storage: Scaling Talent Strategy Amidst Hyper-Growth can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Nimble Storage: Scaling Talent Strategy Amidst Hyper-Growth case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Storage Whitney
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 Storage Whitney
Strengths Nimble Storage: Scaling Talent Strategy Amidst Hyper-Growth | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Storage Whitney in Nimble Storage: Scaling Talent Strategy Amidst Hyper-Growth Harvard Business Review case study are -
Organizational Resilience of Storage Whitney
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing that Storage Whitney does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
Superior customer experience
– The customer experience strategy of Storage Whitney in the segment is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.
Innovation driven organization
– Storage Whitney is one of the most innovative firm in sector. Manager in Nimble Storage: Scaling Talent Strategy Amidst Hyper-Growth Harvard Business Review case study can use Clayton Christensen Disruptive Innovation strategies to further increase the scale of innovtions in the organization.
Effective Research and Development (R&D)
– Storage Whitney 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 Nimble Storage: Scaling Talent Strategy Amidst Hyper-Growth - staying ahead in the industry in terms of – new product launches, superior customer experience, highly competitive pricing strategies, and great returns to the shareholders.
Training and development
– Storage Whitney has one of the best training and development program in the industry. The effectiveness of the training programs can be measured in Nimble Storage: Scaling Talent Strategy Amidst Hyper-Growth 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.
Successful track record of launching new products
– Storage Whitney has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Storage Whitney 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.
Ability to recruit top talent
– Storage Whitney is one of the leading recruiters in the industry. Managers in the Nimble Storage: Scaling Talent Strategy Amidst Hyper-Growth are in a position to attract the best talent available. The firm has a robust talent identification program that helps in identifying the brightest.
Operational resilience
– The operational resilience strategy in the Nimble Storage: Scaling Talent Strategy Amidst Hyper-Growth Harvard Business Review case study comprises – understanding the underlying the factors in the industry, building diversified operations across different geographies so that disruption in one part of the world doesn’t impact the overall performance of the firm, and integrating the various business operations and processes through its digital transformation drive.
Cross disciplinary teams
– Horizontal connected teams at the Storage Whitney 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.
Diverse revenue streams
– Storage Whitney is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided firm in Nimble Storage: Scaling Talent Strategy Amidst Hyper-Growth case study a diverse revenue stream that has helped it to survive disruptions such as global pandemic in Covid-19, financial disruption of 2008, and supply chain disruption of 2021.
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Innovation & Entrepreneurship industry
– Nimble Storage: Scaling Talent Strategy Amidst Hyper-Growth firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Storage Whitney to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Innovation & Entrepreneurship industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Storage Whitney to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
High switching costs
– The high switching costs that Storage Whitney 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.
Weaknesses Nimble Storage: Scaling Talent Strategy Amidst Hyper-Growth | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Nimble Storage: Scaling Talent Strategy Amidst Hyper-Growth are -
Aligning sales with marketing
– It come across in the case study Nimble Storage: Scaling Talent Strategy Amidst Hyper-Growth 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 Nimble Storage: Scaling Talent Strategy Amidst Hyper-Growth can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Storage Whitney is planning to shift buying processes online.
Skills based hiring
– The stress on hiring functional specialists at Storage Whitney 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.
Compensation and incentives
– The revenue per employee as mentioned in the HBR case study Nimble Storage: Scaling Talent Strategy Amidst Hyper-Growth, is just above the industry average. Storage Whitney 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.
Products dominated business model
– Even though Storage Whitney 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 - Nimble Storage: Scaling Talent Strategy Amidst Hyper-Growth should strive to include more intangible value offerings along with its core products and services.
Ability to respond to the competition
– As the decision making is very deliberative, highlighted in the case study Nimble Storage: Scaling Talent Strategy Amidst Hyper-Growth, in the dynamic environment Storage Whitney has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. Storage Whitney has reasonably good record with similar level competitors but it has struggled with new entrants taking away niches of its business.
Lack of clear differentiation of Storage Whitney products
– To increase the profitability and margins on the products, Storage Whitney needs to provide more differentiated products than what it is currently offering in the marketplace.
Slow decision making process
– As mentioned earlier in the report, Storage Whitney 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. Storage Whitney 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.
Capital Spending Reduction
– Even during the low interest decade, Storage Whitney 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.
High cash cycle compare to competitors
Storage Whitney 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.
No frontier risks strategy
– After analyzing the HBR case study Nimble Storage: Scaling Talent Strategy Amidst Hyper-Growth, it seems that company is thinking about the frontier risks that can impact Innovation & Entrepreneurship strategy. But it has very little resources allocation to manage the risks emerging from events such as natural disasters, climate change, melting of permafrost, tacking the rise of artificial intelligence, opportunities and threats emerging from commercialization of space etc.
Employees’ incomplete understanding of strategy
– From the instances in the HBR case study Nimble Storage: Scaling Talent Strategy Amidst Hyper-Growth, it seems that the employees of Storage Whitney 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.
Opportunities Nimble Storage: Scaling Talent Strategy Amidst Hyper-Growth | 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 Nimble Storage: Scaling Talent Strategy Amidst Hyper-Growth are -
Loyalty marketing
– Storage Whitney 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.
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– Storage Whitney has spent a significant amount of money and effort to integrate analytics and machine learning into its operations in the sector. This continuous investment in analytics has enabled, as illustrated in the Harvard case study Nimble Storage: Scaling Talent Strategy Amidst Hyper-Growth - to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Storage Whitney to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
Manufacturing automation
– Storage Whitney 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.
Better consumer reach
– The expansion of the 5G network will help Storage Whitney to increase its market reach. Storage Whitney 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.
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. Storage Whitney can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.
Reconfiguring business model
– The expansion of digital payment system, the bringing down of international transactions costs using Bitcoin and other blockchain based currencies, etc can help Storage Whitney to reconfigure its entire business model. For example it can used blockchain based technologies to reduce piracy of its products in the big markets such as China. Secondly it can use the popularity of e-commerce in various developing markets to build a Direct to Customer business model rather than the current Channel Heavy distribution network.
Buying journey improvements
– Storage Whitney can improve the customer journey of consumers in the industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. Nimble Storage: Scaling Talent Strategy Amidst Hyper-Growth 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.
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. Storage Whitney 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. Storage Whitney 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.
Learning at scale
– Online learning technologies has now opened space for Storage Whitney 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.
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. Storage Whitney can tie-up with other value chain partners to explore new opportunities regarding meeting customer demands and building a rewarding and engaging relationship.
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Storage Whitney has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Storage Whitney to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the Nimble Storage: Scaling Talent Strategy Amidst Hyper-Growth case study. Storage Whitney can build new products and services such as - data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
Increase in government spending
– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Storage Whitney can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Storage Whitney operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Innovation & Entrepreneurship sector.
Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains
– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Storage Whitney 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, Nimble Storage: Scaling Talent Strategy Amidst Hyper-Growth, to buy more products closer to the markets, and it can leverage its size and influence to get better deal from the local markets.
Threats Nimble Storage: Scaling Talent Strategy Amidst Hyper-Growth External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Nimble Storage: Scaling Talent Strategy Amidst Hyper-Growth are -
Regulatory challenges
– Storage Whitney 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.
Environmental challenges
– Storage Whitney needs to have a robust strategy against the disruptions arising from climate change and energy requirements. EU has identified it as key priority area and spending 30% of its 880 billion Euros European post Covid-19 recovery funds on green technology. Storage Whitney can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Innovation & Entrepreneurship industry.
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. Storage Whitney 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.
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Storage Whitney can face lack of demand in the market place because of Fed actions to reduce inflation. This can lead to sluggish growth in the economy, lower demands, lower investments, higher borrowing costs, and consolidation in the field.
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, as highlighted in case study Nimble Storage: Scaling Talent Strategy Amidst Hyper-Growth, Storage Whitney 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 Storage Whitney.
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Storage Whitney is facing in Innovation & Entrepreneurship sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.
Consumer confidence and its impact on Storage Whitney 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.
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 Storage Whitney business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
New competition
– After the dotcom bust of 2001, financial crisis of 2008-09, the business formation in US economy had declined. But in 2020 alone, there are more than 1.5 million new business applications in United States. This can lead to greater competition for Storage Whitney in the Innovation & Entrepreneurship sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
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. Storage Whitney needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Innovation & Entrepreneurship industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
Increasing wage structure of Storage Whitney
– 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 Storage Whitney.
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Storage Whitney has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Innovation & Entrepreneurship industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Storage Whitney 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.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Nimble Storage: Scaling Talent Strategy Amidst Hyper-Growth 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 Nimble Storage: Scaling Talent Strategy Amidst Hyper-Growth 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 Nimble Storage: Scaling Talent Strategy Amidst Hyper-Growth 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 Nimble Storage: Scaling Talent Strategy Amidst Hyper-Growth 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 Nimble Storage: Scaling Talent Strategy Amidst Hyper-Growth 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 Storage Whitney needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.
