Global Managers' Perceptions of Cultural Competence SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Leadership & Managing People
Strategy / MBA Resources
Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of Global Managers' Perceptions of Cultural Competence
To work effectively in the global business arena, managers need a strong set of intercultural management skills. When dealing with clients, co-workers, and other stakeholders at home or abroad, managers with cross-cultural competence have a distinct competitive advantage in the multicultural marketplace. Although generally accepted as a valuable asset for doing business, cross-cultural competence defies easy definition. This study attempts to conceptualize the complex term from the practitioner's point of view. What does cross-cultural competence mean to global managers? From their perspective, which aspects of culture do business people need to understand? From the universe of cultural beliefs, values, attitudes, and country-specific information, what should an executive, with limited time, focus on to develop a basic level of cultural competence? This study asked Mexican managers what they needed to know about culture to do business with the U.S. In the process, they consistently identified certain basic components of cultural competence. Responses were surprisingly similar among the managers, indicating they had a clear picture of which cultural essentials were most important for global executives to learn. The results of the study reveal a working definition of cultural competence for global managers. This research also provides trainers and business educators a content framework for a short-term training program, based on the global managers' perceptions of cross-cultural competence.
Swot Analysis of "Global Managers' Perceptions of Cultural Competence" written by Christine Uber Grosse includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Competence Cultural facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Global Managers' Perceptions of Cultural Competence case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Developing employees, Leadership development and Leadership & Managing People.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Global Managers' Perceptions of Cultural Competence casestudy better are - – there is backlash against globalization, geopolitical disruptions, increasing government debt because of Covid-19 spendings, increasing energy prices, digital marketing is dominated by two big players Facebook and Google, increasing household debt because of falling income levels, wage bills are increasing,
competitive advantages are harder to sustain because of technology dispersion, increasing transportation and logistics costs, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Global Managers' Perceptions of Cultural Competence
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Global Managers' Perceptions of Cultural Competence case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Competence Cultural, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Competence Cultural 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 Global Managers' Perceptions of Cultural Competence can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Global Managers' Perceptions of Cultural Competence case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Competence Cultural
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 Competence Cultural
Strengths Global Managers' Perceptions of Cultural Competence | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Competence Cultural in Global Managers' Perceptions of Cultural Competence Harvard Business Review case study are -
Superior customer experience
– The customer experience strategy of Competence Cultural in the segment is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.
Ability to recruit top talent
– Competence Cultural is one of the leading recruiters in the industry. Managers in the Global Managers' Perceptions of Cultural Competence are in a position to attract the best talent available. The firm has a robust talent identification program that helps in identifying the brightest.
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Leadership & Managing People industry
– Global Managers' Perceptions of Cultural Competence firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Competence Cultural to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Leadership & Managing People industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Competence Cultural to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of Competence Cultural in the sector have low bargaining power. Global Managers' Perceptions of Cultural Competence has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Competence Cultural to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
Operational resilience
– The operational resilience strategy in the Global Managers' Perceptions of Cultural Competence 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
– Competence Cultural is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.
Highly skilled collaborators
– Competence Cultural has highly efficient outsourcing and offshoring strategy. It has resulted in greater operational flexibility and bringing down the costs in highly price sensitive segment. Secondly the value chain collaborators of the firm in Global Managers' Perceptions of Cultural Competence HBR case study have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
Training and development
– Competence Cultural has one of the best training and development program in the industry. The effectiveness of the training programs can be measured in Global Managers' Perceptions of Cultural Competence 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.
High switching costs
– The high switching costs that Competence Cultural 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.
Successful track record of launching new products
– Competence Cultural has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Competence Cultural 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.
Cross disciplinary teams
– Horizontal connected teams at the Competence Cultural 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 Competence Cultural
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing that Competence Cultural does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
Weaknesses Global Managers' Perceptions of Cultural Competence | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Global Managers' Perceptions of Cultural Competence are -
Low market penetration in new markets
– Outside its home market of Competence Cultural, firm in the HBR case study Global Managers' Perceptions of Cultural Competence needs to spend more promotional, marketing, and advertising efforts to penetrate international markets.
Need for greater diversity
– Competence Cultural 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.
Skills based hiring
– The stress on hiring functional specialists at Competence Cultural 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.
High dependence on star products
– The top 2 products and services of the firm as mentioned in the Global Managers' Perceptions of Cultural Competence 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 Competence Cultural has relatively successful track record of launching new products.
High bargaining power of channel partners
– Because of the regulatory requirements, Christine Uber Grosse suggests that, Competence Cultural 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 decision making process
– As mentioned earlier in the report, Competence Cultural 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. Competence Cultural 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.
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 Competence Cultural supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes mentioned in the HBR case study - Global Managers' Perceptions of Cultural Competence, it is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left Competence Cultural vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.
Lack of clear differentiation of Competence Cultural products
– To increase the profitability and margins on the products, Competence Cultural needs to provide more differentiated products than what it is currently offering in the marketplace.
Increasing silos among functional specialists
– The organizational structure of Competence Cultural is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Leadership & Managing People segment. Competence Cultural needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Competence Cultural to focus more on services rather than just following the product oriented approach.
Compensation and incentives
– The revenue per employee as mentioned in the HBR case study Global Managers' Perceptions of Cultural Competence, is just above the industry average. Competence Cultural 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.
Aligning sales with marketing
– It come across in the case study Global Managers' Perceptions of Cultural Competence 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 Global Managers' Perceptions of Cultural Competence can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Competence Cultural is planning to shift buying processes online.
Opportunities Global Managers' Perceptions of Cultural Competence | 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 Global Managers' Perceptions of Cultural Competence are -
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. Competence Cultural 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. Competence Cultural 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.
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. Competence Cultural can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.
Learning at scale
– Online learning technologies has now opened space for Competence Cultural 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.
Reforming the budgeting process
- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects Competence Cultural can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.
Buying journey improvements
– Competence Cultural can improve the customer journey of consumers in the industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. Global Managers' Perceptions of Cultural Competence 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.
Building a culture of innovation
– managers at Competence Cultural 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 Leadership & Managing People segment.
Lowering marketing communication costs
– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Competence Cultural 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.
Manufacturing automation
– Competence Cultural can use the latest technology developments to improve its manufacturing and designing process in Leadership & Managing People 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.
Redefining models of collaboration and team work
– As explained in the weaknesses section, Competence Cultural is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. Global Managers' Perceptions of Cultural Competence 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.
Better consumer reach
– The expansion of the 5G network will help Competence Cultural to increase its market reach. Competence Cultural 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.
Leveraging digital technologies
– Competence Cultural 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.
Increase in government spending
– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Competence Cultural can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Competence Cultural operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Leadership & Managing People sector.
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 Competence Cultural in the consumer business. Now Competence Cultural can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.
Threats Global Managers' Perceptions of Cultural Competence External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Global Managers' Perceptions of Cultural Competence are -
Regulatory challenges
– Competence Cultural 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 Leadership & Managing People industry regulations.
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 Competence Cultural 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. Competence Cultural needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Leadership & Managing People industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Competence Cultural 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.
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Competence Cultural is facing in Leadership & Managing People sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, 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 Competence Cultural in the Leadership & Managing People sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
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.
Consumer confidence and its impact on Competence Cultural 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.
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.
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. Competence Cultural 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.
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. Competence Cultural can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
Environmental challenges
– Competence Cultural 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. Competence Cultural can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Leadership & Managing People industry.
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 Competence Cultural.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Global Managers' Perceptions of Cultural Competence 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 Global Managers' Perceptions of Cultural Competence 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 Global Managers' Perceptions of Cultural Competence 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 Global Managers' Perceptions of Cultural Competence 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 Global Managers' Perceptions of Cultural Competence 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 Competence Cultural needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.
