Leadership in Crisis: Ernest Shackleton and the Epic Voyage of the Endurance SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Innovation & Entrepreneurship
Strategy / MBA Resources
Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of Leadership in Crisis: Ernest Shackleton and the Epic Voyage of the Endurance
Provides an opportunity to examine leadership and entrepreneurship in the context of Ernest Shackleton's 1914 Antarctic expedition, a compelling story of crisis, survival, and triumph. Summarizes Shackleton's career as an officer in the British Merchant Marine, his work on several prominent Antarctic missions, and the competitive nature of polar exploration in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Also examines Shackleton's planning and advance management of what he hoped would be the first-ever trek across the Antarctic continent. Details the events of this epic voyage aboard the Endurance. Readers have the opportunity to examine how, after the vessel became trapped in ice and the crew abandoned ship, the commander shifted his objectives and responsibilities from completing an historic march to ensuring the survival of all 28 expedition members. Considers Shackleton's efforts to maintain his team's morale, loyalty, and commitment in the face of extraordinary mental and physical trials during almost two years in the Antarctic.
Authors :: Nancy F. Koehn, Erica Helms, Phillip Mead
Topics :: Innovation & Entrepreneurship
Tags :: Entrepreneurship, Human resource management, Informal leadership, Leadership, Leading teams, SWOT Analysis, SWOT Matrix, TOWS, Weighted SWOT Analysis
Swot Analysis of "Leadership in Crisis: Ernest Shackleton and the Epic Voyage of the Endurance" written by Nancy F. Koehn, Erica Helms, Phillip Mead includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Antarctic Shackleton's facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Leadership in Crisis: Ernest Shackleton and the Epic Voyage of the Endurance case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Entrepreneurship, Human resource management, Informal leadership, Leadership, Leading teams and Innovation & Entrepreneurship.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Leadership in Crisis: Ernest Shackleton and the Epic Voyage of the Endurance casestudy better are - – increasing transportation and logistics costs, increasing commodity prices, talent flight as more people leaving formal jobs, increasing inequality as vast percentage of new income is going to the top 1%, there is increasing trade war between United States & China, competitive advantages are harder to sustain because of technology dispersion, increasing government debt because of Covid-19 spendings,
supply chains are disrupted by pandemic , increasing household debt because of falling income levels, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Leadership in Crisis: Ernest Shackleton and the Epic Voyage of the Endurance
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Leadership in Crisis: Ernest Shackleton and the Epic Voyage of the Endurance case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Antarctic Shackleton's, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Antarctic Shackleton's 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 Leadership in Crisis: Ernest Shackleton and the Epic Voyage of the Endurance can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Leadership in Crisis: Ernest Shackleton and the Epic Voyage of the Endurance case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Antarctic Shackleton's
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 Antarctic Shackleton's
Strengths Leadership in Crisis: Ernest Shackleton and the Epic Voyage of the Endurance | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Antarctic Shackleton's in Leadership in Crisis: Ernest Shackleton and the Epic Voyage of the Endurance Harvard Business Review case study are -
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of Antarctic Shackleton's in the sector have low bargaining power. Leadership in Crisis: Ernest Shackleton and the Epic Voyage of the Endurance has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Antarctic Shackleton's to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
Diverse revenue streams
– Antarctic Shackleton's is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided firm in Leadership in Crisis: Ernest Shackleton and the Epic Voyage of the Endurance 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 brand equity
– Antarctic Shackleton's has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Antarctic Shackleton's to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Successful track record of launching new products
– Antarctic Shackleton's has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Antarctic Shackleton's 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.
Effective Research and Development (R&D)
– Antarctic Shackleton's 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 Leadership in Crisis: Ernest Shackleton and the Epic Voyage of the Endurance - 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
– Antarctic Shackleton's has one of the best training and development program in the industry. The effectiveness of the training programs can be measured in Leadership in Crisis: Ernest Shackleton and the Epic Voyage of the Endurance 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.
Cross disciplinary teams
– Horizontal connected teams at the Antarctic Shackleton's 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.
Innovation driven organization
– Antarctic Shackleton's is one of the most innovative firm in sector. Manager in Leadership in Crisis: Ernest Shackleton and the Epic Voyage of the Endurance Harvard Business Review case study can use Clayton Christensen Disruptive Innovation strategies to further increase the scale of innovtions in the organization.
Ability to recruit top talent
– Antarctic Shackleton's is one of the leading recruiters in the industry. Managers in the Leadership in Crisis: Ernest Shackleton and the Epic Voyage of the Endurance 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 Leadership in Crisis: Ernest Shackleton and the Epic Voyage of the Endurance 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.
Analytics focus
– Antarctic Shackleton's 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 Nancy F. Koehn, Erica Helms, Phillip Mead 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.
Ability to lead change in Innovation & Entrepreneurship field
– Antarctic Shackleton's 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 Antarctic Shackleton's in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.
Weaknesses Leadership in Crisis: Ernest Shackleton and the Epic Voyage of the Endurance | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Leadership in Crisis: Ernest Shackleton and the Epic Voyage of the Endurance are -
Employees’ incomplete understanding of strategy
– From the instances in the HBR case study Leadership in Crisis: Ernest Shackleton and the Epic Voyage of the Endurance, it seems that the employees of Antarctic Shackleton's 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.
Capital Spending Reduction
– Even during the low interest decade, Antarctic Shackleton's 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.
Increasing silos among functional specialists
– The organizational structure of Antarctic Shackleton's is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Innovation & Entrepreneurship segment. Antarctic Shackleton's needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Antarctic Shackleton's to focus more on services rather than just following the product oriented approach.
Slow decision making process
– As mentioned earlier in the report, Antarctic Shackleton's 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. Antarctic Shackleton's 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.
Ability to respond to the competition
– As the decision making is very deliberative, highlighted in the case study Leadership in Crisis: Ernest Shackleton and the Epic Voyage of the Endurance, in the dynamic environment Antarctic Shackleton's has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. Antarctic Shackleton's has reasonably good record with similar level competitors but it has struggled with new entrants taking away niches of its business.
Products dominated business model
– Even though Antarctic Shackleton's 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 - Leadership in Crisis: Ernest Shackleton and the Epic Voyage of the Endurance should strive to include more intangible value offerings along with its core products and services.
Workers concerns about automation
– As automation is fast increasing in the segment, Antarctic Shackleton's 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.
Interest costs
– Compare to the competition, Antarctic Shackleton's 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.
Compensation and incentives
– The revenue per employee as mentioned in the HBR case study Leadership in Crisis: Ernest Shackleton and the Epic Voyage of the Endurance, is just above the industry average. Antarctic Shackleton's 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 bargaining power of channel partners
– Because of the regulatory requirements, Nancy F. Koehn, Erica Helms, Phillip Mead suggests that, Antarctic Shackleton's is facing high bargaining power of the channel partners. So far it has not able to streamline the operations to reduce the bargaining power of the value chain partners in the industry.
High dependence on star products
– The top 2 products and services of the firm as mentioned in the Leadership in Crisis: Ernest Shackleton and the Epic Voyage of the Endurance 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 Antarctic Shackleton's has relatively successful track record of launching new products.
Opportunities Leadership in Crisis: Ernest Shackleton and the Epic Voyage of the Endurance | 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 Leadership in Crisis: Ernest Shackleton and the Epic Voyage of the Endurance are -
Manufacturing automation
– Antarctic Shackleton's 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.
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– Antarctic Shackleton's 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 Leadership in Crisis: Ernest Shackleton and the Epic Voyage of the Endurance - to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Antarctic Shackleton's to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
Redefining models of collaboration and team work
– As explained in the weaknesses section, Antarctic Shackleton's is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. Leadership in Crisis: Ernest Shackleton and the Epic Voyage of the Endurance case study suggests that firm can utilize new technology to build more coordinated teams and streamline operations and communications using tools such as CAD, Zoom, etc.
Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities
– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Antarctic Shackleton's 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 Antarctic Shackleton's to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
Buying journey improvements
– Antarctic Shackleton's can improve the customer journey of consumers in the industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. Leadership in Crisis: Ernest Shackleton and the Epic Voyage of the Endurance 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.
Better consumer reach
– The expansion of the 5G network will help Antarctic Shackleton's to increase its market reach. Antarctic Shackleton's 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.
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Antarctic Shackleton's has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Antarctic Shackleton's to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the Leadership in Crisis: Ernest Shackleton and the Epic Voyage of the Endurance case study. Antarctic Shackleton's can build new products and services such as - data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains
– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Antarctic Shackleton's 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, Leadership in Crisis: Ernest Shackleton and the Epic Voyage of the Endurance, to buy more products closer to the markets, and it can leverage its size and influence to get better deal from the local markets.
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. Antarctic Shackleton's can tie-up with other value chain partners to explore new opportunities regarding meeting customer demands and building a rewarding and engaging relationship.
Developing new processes and practices
– Antarctic Shackleton's 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.
Increase in government spending
– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Antarctic Shackleton's can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Antarctic Shackleton's operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Innovation & Entrepreneurship sector.
Loyalty marketing
– Antarctic Shackleton's 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.
Leveraging digital technologies
– Antarctic Shackleton's can leverage digital technologies such as artificial intelligence and machine learning to automate the production process, customer analytics to get better insights into consumer behavior, realtime digital dashboards to get better sales tracking, logistics and transportation, product tracking, etc.
Threats Leadership in Crisis: Ernest Shackleton and the Epic Voyage of the Endurance External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Leadership in Crisis: Ernest Shackleton and the Epic Voyage of the Endurance are -
Regulatory challenges
– Antarctic Shackleton's 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
– Antarctic Shackleton's 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. Antarctic Shackleton's can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Innovation & Entrepreneurship industry.
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Antarctic Shackleton's is facing in Innovation & Entrepreneurship sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.
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 Antarctic Shackleton's 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 Antarctic Shackleton's in the Innovation & Entrepreneurship sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
High dependence on third party suppliers
– Antarctic Shackleton's high dependence on third party suppliers can disrupt its processes and delivery mechanism. For example -the current troubles of car makers because of chip shortage is because the chip companies started producing chips for electronic companies rather than car manufacturers.
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Antarctic Shackleton's has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Innovation & Entrepreneurship industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Antarctic Shackleton's 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.
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Antarctic Shackleton's 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.
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry in the industry are lowering. It can presents Antarctic Shackleton's with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the sector.
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Antarctic Shackleton's 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 Leadership in Crisis: Ernest Shackleton and the Epic Voyage of the Endurance .
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 Leadership in Crisis: Ernest Shackleton and the Epic Voyage of the Endurance, Antarctic Shackleton's 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 .
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Leadership in Crisis: Ernest Shackleton and the Epic Voyage of the Endurance 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 Leadership in Crisis: Ernest Shackleton and the Epic Voyage of the Endurance 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 Leadership in Crisis: Ernest Shackleton and the Epic Voyage of the Endurance 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 Leadership in Crisis: Ernest Shackleton and the Epic Voyage of the Endurance 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 Leadership in Crisis: Ernest Shackleton and the Epic Voyage of the Endurance 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 Antarctic Shackleton's needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.
