Understand Your Network and Let Knowledge Flow SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Communication
Strategy / MBA Resources
Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of Understand Your Network and Let Knowledge Flow
Companies communicate and operate across vast social and geographical spaces. The way that valuable knowledge is shared and transferred across these spaces is essential for creating and sustaining a healthy culture of innovation. To facilitate this, managers must look beyond formal organizational structures to the informal networks of ties and relationships that employees form across functions and divisions. Through his research, IESE Prof. Marco Tortoriello has identified a number of strategies for bolstering these informal networks. The first step is to institute boundary-spanning operations, which means identifying people within the organization who have the right set of features to serve as conduits for knowledge transfer within and between units. Next, the broader network context needs to be developed to support boundary-spanning outcomes. This means ensuring that the ties that link the company's informal networks are sufficiently strong and with appropriate range to channel vital knowledge between units. By far the most important step involves creating the "best" network conditions that will support the transfer of knowledge across different parts of the organization, which may facilitate better conditions for innovation.
Swot Analysis of "Understand Your Network and Let Knowledge Flow" written by Marco Tortoriello includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Knowledge Informal facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Understand Your Network and Let Knowledge Flow case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, and Communication.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Understand Your Network and Let Knowledge Flow casestudy better are - – supply chains are disrupted by pandemic , challanges to central banks by blockchain based private currencies, increasing government debt because of Covid-19 spendings, talent flight as more people leaving formal jobs, customer relationship management is fast transforming because of increasing concerns over data privacy, wage bills are increasing, digital marketing is dominated by two big players Facebook and Google,
banking and financial system is disrupted by Bitcoin and other crypto currencies, cloud computing is disrupting traditional business models, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Understand Your Network and Let Knowledge Flow
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Understand Your Network and Let Knowledge Flow case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Knowledge Informal, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Knowledge Informal 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 Understand Your Network and Let Knowledge Flow can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Understand Your Network and Let Knowledge Flow case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Knowledge Informal
3. Assessing feasibility of the new initiative in Communication field.
4. Making a Communication topic specific business decision
5. Set goals for the organization
6. Organizational restructuring of Knowledge Informal
Strengths Understand Your Network and Let Knowledge Flow | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Knowledge Informal in Understand Your Network and Let Knowledge Flow Harvard Business Review case study are -
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of Knowledge Informal in the sector have low bargaining power. Understand Your Network and Let Knowledge Flow has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Knowledge Informal to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
Cross disciplinary teams
– Horizontal connected teams at the Knowledge Informal 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.
Organizational Resilience of Knowledge Informal
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing that Knowledge Informal does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
Strong track record of project management
– Knowledge Informal is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.
Effective Research and Development (R&D)
– Knowledge Informal 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 Understand Your Network and Let Knowledge Flow - staying ahead in the industry in terms of – new product launches, superior customer experience, highly competitive pricing strategies, and great returns to the shareholders.
Diverse revenue streams
– Knowledge Informal is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided firm in Understand Your Network and Let Knowledge Flow 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.
High switching costs
– The high switching costs that Knowledge Informal 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.
Innovation driven organization
– Knowledge Informal is one of the most innovative firm in sector. Manager in Understand Your Network and Let Knowledge Flow Harvard Business Review case study can use Clayton Christensen Disruptive Innovation strategies to further increase the scale of innovtions in the organization.
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Communication industry
– Understand Your Network and Let Knowledge Flow firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Knowledge Informal to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Communication industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Knowledge Informal to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Learning organization
- Knowledge Informal 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 Knowledge Informal is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders in Understand Your Network and Let Knowledge Flow Harvard Business Review case study emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
Ability to lead change in Communication field
– Knowledge Informal 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 Knowledge Informal 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
– Knowledge Informal has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Knowledge Informal 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.
Weaknesses Understand Your Network and Let Knowledge Flow | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Understand Your Network and Let Knowledge Flow are -
High operating costs
– Compare to the competitors, firm in the HBR case study Understand Your Network and Let Knowledge Flow 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 Knowledge Informal 's lucrative customers.
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 Knowledge Informal supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes mentioned in the HBR case study - Understand Your Network and Let Knowledge Flow, it is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left Knowledge Informal vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.
Ability to respond to the competition
– As the decision making is very deliberative, highlighted in the case study Understand Your Network and Let Knowledge Flow, in the dynamic environment Knowledge Informal has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. Knowledge Informal has reasonably good record with similar level competitors but it has struggled with new entrants taking away niches of its business.
High cash cycle compare to competitors
Knowledge Informal 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.
Slow to strategic competitive environment developments
– As Understand Your Network and Let Knowledge Flow HBR case study mentions - Knowledge Informal 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.
Skills based hiring
– The stress on hiring functional specialists at Knowledge Informal 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 Understand Your Network and Let Knowledge Flow, is just above the industry average. Knowledge Informal 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.
Interest costs
– Compare to the competition, Knowledge Informal has borrowed money from the capital market at higher rates. It needs to restructure the interest payment and costs so that it can compete better and improve profitability.
Need for greater diversity
– Knowledge Informal 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 Understand Your Network and Let Knowledge Flow 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 Knowledge Informal has relatively successful track record of launching new products.
Workers concerns about automation
– As automation is fast increasing in the segment, Knowledge Informal 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.
Opportunities Understand Your Network and Let Knowledge Flow | 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 Understand Your Network and Let Knowledge Flow are -
Building a culture of innovation
– managers at Knowledge Informal 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 Communication segment.
Low interest rates
– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Knowledge Informal 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.
Finding new ways to collaborate
– Covid-19 has not only transformed business models of companies in Communication industry, but it has also influenced the consumer preferences. Knowledge Informal can tie-up with other value chain partners to explore new opportunities regarding meeting customer demands and building a rewarding and engaging relationship.
Better consumer reach
– The expansion of the 5G network will help Knowledge Informal to increase its market reach. Knowledge Informal 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.
Buying journey improvements
– Knowledge Informal can improve the customer journey of consumers in the industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. Understand Your Network and Let Knowledge Flow 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.
Increase in government spending
– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Knowledge Informal can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Knowledge Informal operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Communication sector.
Manufacturing automation
– Knowledge Informal can use the latest technology developments to improve its manufacturing and designing process in Communication 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.
Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains
– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Knowledge Informal 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, Understand Your Network and Let Knowledge Flow, to buy more products closer to the markets, and it can leverage its size and influence to get better deal from the local markets.
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Knowledge Informal has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Knowledge Informal to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the Understand Your Network and Let Knowledge Flow case study. Knowledge Informal can build new products and services such as - data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
Learning at scale
– Online learning technologies has now opened space for Knowledge Informal 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.
Lowering marketing communication costs
– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Knowledge Informal in the field of marketing communication. It will bring down the cost of doing business, provide technology platform to build new products in the Communication segment, and it will provide faster access to the consumers.
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 Knowledge Informal 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.
Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities
– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Knowledge Informal 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 Knowledge Informal to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
Threats Understand Your Network and Let Knowledge Flow External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Understand Your Network and Let Knowledge Flow are -
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 Knowledge Informal.
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Knowledge Informal 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.
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Knowledge Informal 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 Understand Your Network and Let Knowledge Flow .
Environmental challenges
– Knowledge Informal 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. Knowledge Informal can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Communication industry.
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Knowledge Informal has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Communication industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Knowledge Informal needs to keep up with the evolution of technology in the Communication 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.
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Knowledge Informal is facing in Communication sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, 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.
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, as highlighted in case study Understand Your Network and Let Knowledge Flow, Knowledge Informal may face longer learning curve for training and development of existing employees. This can open space for more nimble competitors in the field of Communication .
Consumer confidence and its impact on Knowledge Informal 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.
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. Knowledge Informal 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.
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 Knowledge Informal in the Communication sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
Easy access to finance
– Easy access to finance in Communication field will also reduce the barriers to entry in the industry, thus putting downward pressure on the prices because of increasing competition. Knowledge Informal can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Knowledge Informal in the Communication industry. The Communication 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 Understand Your Network and Let Knowledge Flow 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 Understand Your Network and Let Knowledge Flow 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 Understand Your Network and Let Knowledge Flow 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 Understand Your Network and Let Knowledge Flow 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 Understand Your Network and Let Knowledge Flow 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 Knowledge Informal needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.
