Paula Evans and the Redesign of the Cambridge Rindge and Latin School (A), Spanish Version SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Leadership & Managing People
Strategy / MBA Resources
Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of Paula Evans and the Redesign of the Cambridge Rindge and Latin School (A), Spanish Version
Paula Evans is in her second year as principal of the only high school in Cambridge, MA. Her mandate when she arrived was to redesign the high school so that long-standing inequities in academic achievement rates across race and socioeconomic class were removed. In her first year, she succeeded in obtaining approval for her proposed redesign and completing the physical and administrative restructuring of the high school. Now in her second year, the reforms in how teachers teach and how the school operates are fully under way. From early indications, she and her hand-picked leadership team are moving the school in the desired direction. But the school committee has just made a policy decision that Evans and her team believe will undo all of the redesign efforts that have been made thus far. Evans has threatened to resign and now ponders what she will tell her leadership team and the faculty the next day.
Authors :: Linda A. Hill, Kristin C. Doughty, Ellen Pruyne
Swot Analysis of "Paula Evans and the Redesign of the Cambridge Rindge and Latin School (A), Spanish Version" written by Linda A. Hill, Kristin C. Doughty, Ellen Pruyne includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Evans School facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Paula Evans and the Redesign of the Cambridge Rindge and Latin School (A), Spanish Version case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Gender, Leadership, Reorganization and Leadership & Managing People.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Paula Evans and the Redesign of the Cambridge Rindge and Latin School (A), Spanish Version casestudy better are - – increasing energy prices, supply chains are disrupted by pandemic , wage bills are increasing, geopolitical disruptions, cloud computing is disrupting traditional business models, increasing transportation and logistics costs, banking and financial system is disrupted by Bitcoin and other crypto currencies,
increasing household debt because of falling income levels, central banks are concerned over increasing inflation, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Paula Evans and the Redesign of the Cambridge Rindge and Latin School (A), Spanish Version
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Paula Evans and the Redesign of the Cambridge Rindge and Latin School (A), Spanish Version case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Evans School, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Evans School 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 Paula Evans and the Redesign of the Cambridge Rindge and Latin School (A), Spanish Version can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Paula Evans and the Redesign of the Cambridge Rindge and Latin School (A), Spanish Version case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Evans School
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 Evans School
Strengths Paula Evans and the Redesign of the Cambridge Rindge and Latin School (A), Spanish Version | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Evans School in Paula Evans and the Redesign of the Cambridge Rindge and Latin School (A), Spanish Version Harvard Business Review case study are -
Organizational Resilience of Evans School
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing that Evans School does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
High switching costs
– The high switching costs that Evans School 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.
Strong track record of project management
– Evans School is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.
Cross disciplinary teams
– Horizontal connected teams at the Evans School 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.
Ability to recruit top talent
– Evans School is one of the leading recruiters in the industry. Managers in the Paula Evans and the Redesign of the Cambridge Rindge and Latin School (A), Spanish Version are in a position to attract the best talent available. The firm has a robust talent identification program that helps in identifying the brightest.
Successful track record of launching new products
– Evans School has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Evans School 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.
Ability to lead change in Leadership & Managing People field
– Evans School 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 Evans School in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.
Analytics focus
– Evans School 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 Linda A. Hill, Kristin C. Doughty, Ellen Pruyne 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.
Highly skilled collaborators
– Evans School 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 Paula Evans and the Redesign of the Cambridge Rindge and Latin School (A), Spanish Version HBR case study have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
Diverse revenue streams
– Evans School is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided firm in Paula Evans and the Redesign of the Cambridge Rindge and Latin School (A), Spanish Version 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.
Superior customer experience
– The customer experience strategy of Evans School in the segment is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Leadership & Managing People industry
– Paula Evans and the Redesign of the Cambridge Rindge and Latin School (A), Spanish Version firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Evans School to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Leadership & Managing People industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Evans School to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Weaknesses Paula Evans and the Redesign of the Cambridge Rindge and Latin School (A), Spanish Version | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Paula Evans and the Redesign of the Cambridge Rindge and Latin School (A), Spanish Version are -
High bargaining power of channel partners
– Because of the regulatory requirements, Linda A. Hill, Kristin C. Doughty, Ellen Pruyne suggests that, Evans School 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.
Increasing silos among functional specialists
– The organizational structure of Evans School is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Leadership & Managing People segment. Evans School needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Evans School to focus more on services rather than just following the product oriented approach.
Need for greater diversity
– Evans School 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.
Low market penetration in new markets
– Outside its home market of Evans School, firm in the HBR case study Paula Evans and the Redesign of the Cambridge Rindge and Latin School (A), Spanish Version needs to spend more promotional, marketing, and advertising efforts to penetrate international markets.
Employees’ incomplete understanding of strategy
– From the instances in the HBR case study Paula Evans and the Redesign of the Cambridge Rindge and Latin School (A), Spanish Version, it seems that the employees of Evans School 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.
Slow to strategic competitive environment developments
– As Paula Evans and the Redesign of the Cambridge Rindge and Latin School (A), Spanish Version HBR case study mentions - Evans School 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.
Capital Spending Reduction
– Even during the low interest decade, Evans School 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.
Lack of clear differentiation of Evans School products
– To increase the profitability and margins on the products, Evans School needs to provide more differentiated products than what it is currently offering in the marketplace.
Aligning sales with marketing
– It come across in the case study Paula Evans and the Redesign of the Cambridge Rindge and Latin School (A), Spanish Version 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 Paula Evans and the Redesign of the Cambridge Rindge and Latin School (A), Spanish Version can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Evans School is planning to shift buying processes online.
Interest costs
– Compare to the competition, Evans School 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.
No frontier risks strategy
– After analyzing the HBR case study Paula Evans and the Redesign of the Cambridge Rindge and Latin School (A), Spanish Version, 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.
Opportunities Paula Evans and the Redesign of the Cambridge Rindge and Latin School (A), Spanish Version | 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 Paula Evans and the Redesign of the Cambridge Rindge and Latin School (A), Spanish Version are -
Buying journey improvements
– Evans School can improve the customer journey of consumers in the industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. Paula Evans and the Redesign of the Cambridge Rindge and Latin School (A), Spanish Version 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.
Lowering marketing communication costs
– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Evans School 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
– Evans School 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.
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. Evans School 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. Evans School 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.
Building a culture of innovation
– managers at Evans School 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.
Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains
– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Evans School 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, Paula Evans and the Redesign of the Cambridge Rindge and Latin School (A), Spanish Version, to buy more products closer to the markets, and it can leverage its size and influence to get better deal from the local markets.
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– Evans School 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 Paula Evans and the Redesign of the Cambridge Rindge and Latin School (A), Spanish Version - to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Evans School to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
Loyalty marketing
– Evans School 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.
Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities
– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Evans School 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 Evans School to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
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. Evans School 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 Evans School 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.
Developing new processes and practices
– Evans School 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.
Reforming the budgeting process
- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects Evans School can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.
Threats Paula Evans and the Redesign of the Cambridge Rindge and Latin School (A), Spanish Version External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Paula Evans and the Redesign of the Cambridge Rindge and Latin School (A), Spanish Version are -
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.
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Evans School is facing in Leadership & Managing People sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.
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.
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Evans School 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.
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 Evans School business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
Environmental challenges
– Evans School 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. Evans School can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Leadership & Managing People industry.
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Evans School 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.
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry in the industry are lowering. It can presents Evans School with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the sector.
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 Evans School in the Leadership & Managing People sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Evans School has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Leadership & Managing People industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Evans School 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.
High dependence on third party suppliers
– Evans School 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.
Consumer confidence and its impact on Evans School 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.
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, as highlighted in case study Paula Evans and the Redesign of the Cambridge Rindge and Latin School (A), Spanish Version, Evans School may face longer learning curve for training and development of existing employees. This can open space for more nimble competitors in the field of Leadership & Managing People .
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Paula Evans and the Redesign of the Cambridge Rindge and Latin School (A), Spanish Version 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 Paula Evans and the Redesign of the Cambridge Rindge and Latin School (A), Spanish Version 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 Paula Evans and the Redesign of the Cambridge Rindge and Latin School (A), Spanish Version 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 Paula Evans and the Redesign of the Cambridge Rindge and Latin School (A), Spanish Version 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 Paula Evans and the Redesign of the Cambridge Rindge and Latin School (A), Spanish Version 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 Evans School needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.
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