A Stitch in Time Saves Nine: Leveraging Networks to Reduce the Costs of Turnover SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Innovation & Entrepreneurship
Strategy / MBA Resources
Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of A Stitch in Time Saves Nine: Leveraging Networks to Reduce the Costs of Turnover
Increased workforce mobility imposes a significant cost on many organizations because of the negative impact departing employees have on informal networks. The turnover of well-connected employees disrupts networks important to innovation, best practice transfer, and project execution. Yet while network losses can be quite costly, they are typically invisible to most organizations' financial and performance management systems. Using network data, this article shows how managers formulate three different kinds of strategies, namely, identifying flight risks in advance of departure, investing in key people in the network to improve retention, and improving network connectivity to enable it to be maintained in the face of turnover.
Authors :: Gary Ballinger, Elizabeth Craig, Rob Cross, Peter H. Gray
Swot Analysis of "A Stitch in Time Saves Nine: Leveraging Networks to Reduce the Costs of Turnover" written by Gary Ballinger, Elizabeth Craig, Rob Cross, Peter H. Gray includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Turnover Network facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in A Stitch in Time Saves Nine: Leveraging Networks to Reduce the Costs of Turnover case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Employee retention, Human resource management, Innovation, Networking and Innovation & Entrepreneurship.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the A Stitch in Time Saves Nine: Leveraging Networks to Reduce the Costs of Turnover casestudy better are - – there is increasing trade war between United States & China, digital marketing is dominated by two big players Facebook and Google, challanges to central banks by blockchain based private currencies, increasing commodity prices, cloud computing is disrupting traditional business models, central banks are concerned over increasing inflation, wage bills are increasing,
supply chains are disrupted by pandemic , increasing government debt because of Covid-19 spendings, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of A Stitch in Time Saves Nine: Leveraging Networks to Reduce the Costs of Turnover
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in A Stitch in Time Saves Nine: Leveraging Networks to Reduce the Costs of Turnover case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Turnover Network, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Turnover Network 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 A Stitch in Time Saves Nine: Leveraging Networks to Reduce the Costs of Turnover can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in A Stitch in Time Saves Nine: Leveraging Networks to Reduce the Costs of Turnover case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Turnover Network
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 Turnover Network
Strengths A Stitch in Time Saves Nine: Leveraging Networks to Reduce the Costs of Turnover | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Turnover Network in A Stitch in Time Saves Nine: Leveraging Networks to Reduce the Costs of Turnover Harvard Business Review case study are -
High brand equity
– Turnover Network has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Turnover Network to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Organizational Resilience of Turnover Network
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing that Turnover Network does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
Training and development
– Turnover Network has one of the best training and development program in the industry. The effectiveness of the training programs can be measured in A Stitch in Time Saves Nine: Leveraging Networks to Reduce the Costs of Turnover 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.
Innovation driven organization
– Turnover Network is one of the most innovative firm in sector. Manager in A Stitch in Time Saves Nine: Leveraging Networks to Reduce the Costs of Turnover Harvard Business Review case study can use Clayton Christensen Disruptive Innovation strategies to further increase the scale of innovtions in the organization.
Successful track record of launching new products
– Turnover Network has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Turnover Network 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.
Superior customer experience
– The customer experience strategy of Turnover Network in the segment is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of Turnover Network in the sector have low bargaining power. A Stitch in Time Saves Nine: Leveraging Networks to Reduce the Costs of Turnover has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Turnover Network to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
Analytics focus
– Turnover Network 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 Gary Ballinger, Elizabeth Craig, Rob Cross, Peter H. Gray 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.
High switching costs
– The high switching costs that Turnover Network 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.
Operational resilience
– The operational resilience strategy in the A Stitch in Time Saves Nine: Leveraging Networks to Reduce the Costs of Turnover 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.
Strong track record of project management
– Turnover Network is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.
Cross disciplinary teams
– Horizontal connected teams at the Turnover Network 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.
Weaknesses A Stitch in Time Saves Nine: Leveraging Networks to Reduce the Costs of Turnover | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of A Stitch in Time Saves Nine: Leveraging Networks to Reduce the Costs of Turnover are -
Workers concerns about automation
– As automation is fast increasing in the segment, Turnover Network needs to come up with a strategy to reduce the workers concern regarding automation. Without a clear strategy, it could lead to disruption and uncertainty within the organization.
Slow to strategic competitive environment developments
– As A Stitch in Time Saves Nine: Leveraging Networks to Reduce the Costs of Turnover HBR case study mentions - Turnover Network 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.
Low market penetration in new markets
– Outside its home market of Turnover Network, firm in the HBR case study A Stitch in Time Saves Nine: Leveraging Networks to Reduce the Costs of Turnover needs to spend more promotional, marketing, and advertising efforts to penetrate international markets.
High cash cycle compare to competitors
Turnover Network 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.
Lack of clear differentiation of Turnover Network products
– To increase the profitability and margins on the products, Turnover Network 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, Turnover Network 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. Turnover Network 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.
Products dominated business model
– Even though Turnover Network 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 - A Stitch in Time Saves Nine: Leveraging Networks to Reduce the Costs of Turnover should strive to include more intangible value offerings along with its core products and services.
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 Turnover Network supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes mentioned in the HBR case study - A Stitch in Time Saves Nine: Leveraging Networks to Reduce the Costs of Turnover, it is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left Turnover Network vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.
High operating costs
– Compare to the competitors, firm in the HBR case study A Stitch in Time Saves Nine: Leveraging Networks to Reduce the Costs of Turnover 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 Turnover Network 's lucrative customers.
Increasing silos among functional specialists
– The organizational structure of Turnover Network is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Innovation & Entrepreneurship segment. Turnover Network needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Turnover Network to focus more on services rather than just following the product oriented approach.
Capital Spending Reduction
– Even during the low interest decade, Turnover Network 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 A Stitch in Time Saves Nine: Leveraging Networks to Reduce the Costs of Turnover | 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 A Stitch in Time Saves Nine: Leveraging Networks to Reduce the Costs of Turnover are -
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– Turnover Network 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 A Stitch in Time Saves Nine: Leveraging Networks to Reduce the Costs of Turnover - to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Turnover Network to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
Low interest rates
– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Turnover Network 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.
Developing new processes and practices
– Turnover Network can develop new processes and procedures in Innovation & Entrepreneurship 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.
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 Turnover Network in the consumer business. Now Turnover Network can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.
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. Turnover Network 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. Turnover Network 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.
Better consumer reach
– The expansion of the 5G network will help Turnover Network to increase its market reach. Turnover Network 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.
Redefining models of collaboration and team work
– As explained in the weaknesses section, Turnover Network is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. A Stitch in Time Saves Nine: Leveraging Networks to Reduce the Costs of Turnover 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.
Increase in government spending
– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Turnover Network can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Turnover Network operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Innovation & Entrepreneurship sector.
Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities
– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Turnover Network 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 Turnover Network to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
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 Turnover Network 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.
Reforming the budgeting process
- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects Turnover Network can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.
Loyalty marketing
– Turnover Network 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.
Buying journey improvements
– Turnover Network can improve the customer journey of consumers in the industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. A Stitch in Time Saves Nine: Leveraging Networks to Reduce the Costs of Turnover 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.
Threats A Stitch in Time Saves Nine: Leveraging Networks to Reduce the Costs of Turnover External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study A Stitch in Time Saves Nine: Leveraging Networks to Reduce the Costs of Turnover 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 Turnover Network business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, 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. Turnover Network needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Innovation & Entrepreneurship industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Turnover Network is facing in Innovation & Entrepreneurship sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, as highlighted in case study A Stitch in Time Saves Nine: Leveraging Networks to Reduce the Costs of Turnover, Turnover Network 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 .
Consumer confidence and its impact on Turnover Network 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.
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry in the industry are lowering. It can presents Turnover Network with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the sector.
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.
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 Turnover Network.
Regulatory challenges
– Turnover Network 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.
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Turnover Network can face downward pressure on margins from increasing competition from international players. The international players have stable revenue in their home market and can use those resources to penetrate prominent markets illustrated in HBR case study A Stitch in Time Saves Nine: Leveraging Networks to Reduce the Costs of Turnover .
Increasing wage structure of Turnover Network
– 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 Turnover Network.
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Turnover Network 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.
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.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of A Stitch in Time Saves Nine: Leveraging Networks to Reduce the Costs of Turnover 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 A Stitch in Time Saves Nine: Leveraging Networks to Reduce the Costs of Turnover 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 A Stitch in Time Saves Nine: Leveraging Networks to Reduce the Costs of Turnover 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 A Stitch in Time Saves Nine: Leveraging Networks to Reduce the Costs of Turnover 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 A Stitch in Time Saves Nine: Leveraging Networks to Reduce the Costs of Turnover 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 Turnover Network needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.