Learning in Real Time: Role-Plays in Educational Scenarios SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Leadership & Managing People
Strategy / MBA Resources
Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of Learning in Real Time: Role-Plays in Educational Scenarios
This is a Darden case study.Managing conflict and differences has always been an essential, but challenging, skill to master for effective leadership. This case was designed to build expertise in developing external and internal relationships and dealing with conflict. Grounded in the pedagogy of experiential learning, the case consists of three role-play scenarios that exemplify three challenging education situations. In each scenario, two individuals are faced with a possible difference in perspective or goals. The role-play requires students to assume the role of one of the individuals, and each scenario requires one student to initiate the follow-up discussion. Please note: This case should be printed single-sided only.
Swot Analysis of "Learning in Real Time: Role-Plays in Educational Scenarios" written by Ryan W. Quinn includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Scenarios Scenario facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Learning in Real Time: Role-Plays in Educational Scenarios case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Difficult conversations, Education, Leadership, Organizational culture and Leadership & Managing People.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Learning in Real Time: Role-Plays in Educational Scenarios casestudy better are - – cloud computing is disrupting traditional business models, geopolitical disruptions, technology disruption, increasing government debt because of Covid-19 spendings, central banks are concerned over increasing inflation, there is backlash against globalization, there is increasing trade war between United States & China,
increasing inequality as vast percentage of new income is going to the top 1%, digital marketing is dominated by two big players Facebook and Google, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Learning in Real Time: Role-Plays in Educational Scenarios
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Learning in Real Time: Role-Plays in Educational Scenarios case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Scenarios Scenario, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Scenarios Scenario 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 Learning in Real Time: Role-Plays in Educational Scenarios can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Learning in Real Time: Role-Plays in Educational Scenarios case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Scenarios Scenario
3. Assessing feasibility of the new initiative in Leadership & Managing People field.
4. Making a Leadership & Managing People topic specific business decision
5. Set goals for the organization
6. Organizational restructuring of Scenarios Scenario
Strengths Learning in Real Time: Role-Plays in Educational Scenarios | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Scenarios Scenario in Learning in Real Time: Role-Plays in Educational Scenarios Harvard Business Review case study are -
Effective Research and Development (R&D)
– Scenarios Scenario 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 Learning in Real Time: Role-Plays in Educational Scenarios - staying ahead in the industry in terms of – new product launches, superior customer experience, highly competitive pricing strategies, and great returns to the shareholders.
Superior customer experience
– The customer experience strategy of Scenarios Scenario in the segment is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.
Successful track record of launching new products
– Scenarios Scenario has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Scenarios Scenario 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.
Analytics focus
– Scenarios Scenario 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 Ryan W. Quinn 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 Leadership & Managing People field
– Scenarios Scenario 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 Scenarios Scenario in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of Scenarios Scenario in the sector have low bargaining power. Learning in Real Time: Role-Plays in Educational Scenarios has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Scenarios Scenario to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
Cross disciplinary teams
– Horizontal connected teams at the Scenarios Scenario 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.
High switching costs
– The high switching costs that Scenarios Scenario 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.
Ability to recruit top talent
– Scenarios Scenario is one of the leading recruiters in the industry. Managers in the Learning in Real Time: Role-Plays in Educational Scenarios are in a position to attract the best talent available. The firm has a robust talent identification program that helps in identifying the brightest.
Digital Transformation in Leadership & Managing People segment
- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For Scenarios Scenario digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Scenarios Scenario has successfully integrated the four key components of digital transformation – digital integration in processes, digital integration in marketing and customer relationship management, digital integration into the value chain, and using technology to explore new products and market opportunities.
Strong track record of project management
– Scenarios Scenario is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.
Operational resilience
– The operational resilience strategy in the Learning in Real Time: Role-Plays in Educational Scenarios 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.
Weaknesses Learning in Real Time: Role-Plays in Educational Scenarios | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Learning in Real Time: Role-Plays in Educational Scenarios are -
Need for greater diversity
– Scenarios Scenario 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.
Aligning sales with marketing
– It come across in the case study Learning in Real Time: Role-Plays in Educational Scenarios 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 Learning in Real Time: Role-Plays in Educational Scenarios can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Scenarios Scenario is planning to shift buying processes online.
Increasing silos among functional specialists
– The organizational structure of Scenarios Scenario is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Leadership & Managing People segment. Scenarios Scenario needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Scenarios Scenario to focus more on services rather than just following the product oriented approach.
No frontier risks strategy
– After analyzing the HBR case study Learning in Real Time: Role-Plays in Educational Scenarios, it seems that company is thinking about the frontier risks that can impact Leadership & Managing People 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.
Slow decision making process
– As mentioned earlier in the report, Scenarios Scenario 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. Scenarios Scenario 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.
Employees’ incomplete understanding of strategy
– From the instances in the HBR case study Learning in Real Time: Role-Plays in Educational Scenarios, it seems that the employees of Scenarios Scenario 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.
Products dominated business model
– Even though Scenarios Scenario 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 - Learning in Real Time: Role-Plays in Educational Scenarios should strive to include more intangible value offerings along with its core products and services.
High dependence on star products
– The top 2 products and services of the firm as mentioned in the Learning in Real Time: Role-Plays in Educational Scenarios 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 Scenarios Scenario has relatively successful track record of launching new products.
High bargaining power of channel partners
– Because of the regulatory requirements, Ryan W. Quinn suggests that, Scenarios Scenario 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.
Slow to strategic competitive environment developments
– As Learning in Real Time: Role-Plays in Educational Scenarios HBR case study mentions - Scenarios Scenario 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 Scenarios Scenario, firm in the HBR case study Learning in Real Time: Role-Plays in Educational Scenarios needs to spend more promotional, marketing, and advertising efforts to penetrate international markets.
Opportunities Learning in Real Time: Role-Plays in Educational Scenarios | 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 Learning in Real Time: Role-Plays in Educational Scenarios are -
Reforming the budgeting process
- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects Scenarios Scenario can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.
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 Scenarios Scenario in the consumer business. Now Scenarios Scenario can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.
Loyalty marketing
– Scenarios Scenario 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.
Better consumer reach
– The expansion of the 5G network will help Scenarios Scenario to increase its market reach. Scenarios Scenario 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. Scenarios Scenario can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.
Finding new ways to collaborate
– Covid-19 has not only transformed business models of companies in Leadership & Managing People industry, but it has also influenced the consumer preferences. Scenarios Scenario can tie-up with other value chain partners to explore new opportunities regarding meeting customer demands and building a rewarding and engaging relationship.
Lowering marketing communication costs
– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Scenarios Scenario in the field of marketing communication. It will bring down the cost of doing business, provide technology platform to build new products in the Leadership & Managing People segment, and it will provide faster access to the consumers.
Redefining models of collaboration and team work
– As explained in the weaknesses section, Scenarios Scenario is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. Learning in Real Time: Role-Plays in Educational Scenarios 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.
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Scenarios Scenario has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Scenarios Scenario to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the Learning in Real Time: Role-Plays in Educational Scenarios case study. Scenarios Scenario 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, Scenarios Scenario can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Scenarios Scenario operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Leadership & Managing People sector.
Developing new processes and practices
– Scenarios Scenario can develop new processes and procedures in Leadership & Managing People 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.
Changes in consumer behavior post Covid-19
– Consumer behavior has changed in the Leadership & Managing People industry because of Covid-19 restrictions. Some of this behavior will stay once things get back to normal. Scenarios Scenario 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. Scenarios Scenario 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.
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– Scenarios Scenario 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 Learning in Real Time: Role-Plays in Educational Scenarios - to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Scenarios Scenario to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
Threats Learning in Real Time: Role-Plays in Educational Scenarios External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Learning in Real Time: Role-Plays in Educational Scenarios are -
Easy access to finance
– Easy access to finance in Leadership & Managing People field will also reduce the barriers to entry in the industry, thus putting downward pressure on the prices because of increasing competition. Scenarios Scenario can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
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. Scenarios Scenario 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.
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Scenarios Scenario is facing in Leadership & Managing People sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry in the industry are lowering. It can presents Scenarios Scenario with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the sector.
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Scenarios Scenario in the Leadership & Managing People industry. The Leadership & Managing People 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.
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Scenarios Scenario has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Leadership & Managing People industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Scenarios Scenario needs to keep up with the evolution of technology in the Leadership & Managing People 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.
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.
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Scenarios Scenario 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 Learning in Real Time: Role-Plays in Educational Scenarios .
Consumer confidence and its impact on Scenarios Scenario 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 Scenarios Scenario business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
High dependence on third party suppliers
– Scenarios Scenario 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.
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 Scenarios Scenario.
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 Scenarios Scenario in the Leadership & Managing People sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Learning in Real Time: Role-Plays in Educational Scenarios 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 Learning in Real Time: Role-Plays in Educational Scenarios 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 Learning in Real Time: Role-Plays in Educational Scenarios 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 Learning in Real Time: Role-Plays in Educational Scenarios 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 Learning in Real Time: Role-Plays in Educational Scenarios 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 Scenarios Scenario needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.
