Governance and Talent Management in a Professional Services Firm SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Leadership & Managing People
Strategy / MBA Resources
Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of Governance and Talent Management in a Professional Services Firm
The Academy for Professional Development (APD) was launched in 1993, shortly after Perestroika and the turbulent time of Soviet disintegration. With the support of the Soros Foundation and a local Ministry of Privatization, APD became the most prestigious professional business education and consulting firm in the country. Assembling and training a "team of talents" is always difficult, more so in this case because of the nature of local business practices, the proliferation of professional service firms competing for business and state-director clientele, and the lure of opportunities in more stable environments. As APD gained experience in business education and consulting, different directors implemented new programs and brought different styles of management. As the organization experiences turnover of its professional staff, its founder and Chairman of the Board is concerned about the role he should take as the organization matures.
Swot Analysis of "Governance and Talent Management in a Professional Services Firm" written by Yuliya V. Ivanova, Joan Winn includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Apd Professional facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Governance and Talent Management in a Professional Services Firm case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Employee retention, International business, Talent management and Leadership & Managing People.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Governance and Talent Management in a Professional Services Firm casestudy better are - – digital marketing is dominated by two big players Facebook and Google, increasing energy prices, geopolitical disruptions, competitive advantages are harder to sustain because of technology dispersion, technology disruption, talent flight as more people leaving formal jobs, there is increasing trade war between United States & China,
wage bills are increasing, increasing transportation and logistics costs, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Governance and Talent Management in a Professional Services Firm
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Governance and Talent Management in a Professional Services Firm case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Apd Professional, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Apd Professional 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 Governance and Talent Management in a Professional Services Firm can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Governance and Talent Management in a Professional Services Firm case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Apd Professional
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 Apd Professional
Strengths Governance and Talent Management in a Professional Services Firm | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Apd Professional in Governance and Talent Management in a Professional Services Firm Harvard Business Review case study are -
Diverse revenue streams
– Apd Professional is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided firm in Governance and Talent Management in a Professional Services Firm 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.
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of Apd Professional in the sector have low bargaining power. Governance and Talent Management in a Professional Services Firm has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Apd Professional to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Leadership & Managing People industry
– Governance and Talent Management in a Professional Services Firm firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Apd Professional to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Leadership & Managing People industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Apd Professional to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Learning organization
- Apd Professional is a learning organization. It has inculcated three key characters of learning organization in its processes and operations – exploration, creativity, and expansiveness. The work place at Apd Professional is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders in Governance and Talent Management in a Professional Services Firm Harvard Business Review case study emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
Operational resilience
– The operational resilience strategy in the Governance and Talent Management in a Professional Services Firm 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.
Training and development
– Apd Professional has one of the best training and development program in the industry. The effectiveness of the training programs can be measured in Governance and Talent Management in a Professional Services Firm 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.
Innovation driven organization
– Apd Professional is one of the most innovative firm in sector. Manager in Governance and Talent Management in a Professional Services Firm Harvard Business Review case study can use Clayton Christensen Disruptive Innovation strategies to further increase the scale of innovtions in the organization.
High brand equity
– Apd Professional has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Apd Professional to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Highly skilled collaborators
– Apd Professional 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 Governance and Talent Management in a Professional Services Firm HBR case study have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
Effective Research and Development (R&D)
– Apd Professional 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 Governance and Talent Management in a Professional Services Firm - staying ahead in the industry in terms of – new product launches, superior customer experience, highly competitive pricing strategies, and great returns to the shareholders.
Successful track record of launching new products
– Apd Professional has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Apd Professional 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
– Apd Professional 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 Apd Professional in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.
Weaknesses Governance and Talent Management in a Professional Services Firm | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Governance and Talent Management in a Professional Services Firm are -
High bargaining power of channel partners
– Because of the regulatory requirements, Yuliya V. Ivanova, Joan Winn suggests that, Apd Professional 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.
No frontier risks strategy
– After analyzing the HBR case study Governance and Talent Management in a Professional Services Firm, 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 to harness new channels of communication
– Even though competitors are using new communication channels such as Instagram, Tiktok, and Snap, Apd Professional is slow explore the new channels of communication. These new channels of communication mentioned in marketing section of case study Governance and Talent Management in a Professional Services Firm can help to provide better information regarding products and services. It can also build an online community to further reach out to potential customers.
Employees’ incomplete understanding of strategy
– From the instances in the HBR case study Governance and Talent Management in a Professional Services Firm, it seems that the employees of Apd Professional 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.
Workers concerns about automation
– As automation is fast increasing in the segment, Apd Professional 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.
Aligning sales with marketing
– It come across in the case study Governance and Talent Management in a Professional Services Firm 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 Governance and Talent Management in a Professional Services Firm can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Apd Professional is planning to shift buying processes online.
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 Apd Professional supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes mentioned in the HBR case study - Governance and Talent Management in a Professional Services Firm, it is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left Apd Professional vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.
Skills based hiring
– The stress on hiring functional specialists at Apd Professional 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.
Need for greater diversity
– Apd Professional 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.
Ability to respond to the competition
– As the decision making is very deliberative, highlighted in the case study Governance and Talent Management in a Professional Services Firm, in the dynamic environment Apd Professional has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. Apd Professional has reasonably good record with similar level competitors but it has struggled with new entrants taking away niches of its business.
Increasing silos among functional specialists
– The organizational structure of Apd Professional is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Leadership & Managing People segment. Apd Professional needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Apd Professional to focus more on services rather than just following the product oriented approach.
Opportunities Governance and Talent Management in a Professional Services Firm | 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 Governance and Talent Management in a Professional Services Firm are -
Lowering marketing communication costs
– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Apd Professional 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.
Reconfiguring business model
– The expansion of digital payment system, the bringing down of international transactions costs using Bitcoin and other blockchain based currencies, etc can help Apd Professional to reconfigure its entire business model. For example it can used blockchain based technologies to reduce piracy of its products in the big markets such as China. Secondly it can use the popularity of e-commerce in various developing markets to build a Direct to Customer business model rather than the current Channel Heavy distribution network.
Building a culture of innovation
– managers at Apd Professional 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.
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Apd Professional has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Apd Professional to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the Governance and Talent Management in a Professional Services Firm case study. Apd Professional can build new products and services such as - data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities
– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Apd Professional 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 Apd Professional to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
Manufacturing automation
– Apd Professional 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.
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. Apd Professional can tie-up with other value chain partners to explore new opportunities regarding meeting customer demands and building a rewarding and engaging relationship.
Leveraging digital technologies
– Apd Professional 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.
Buying journey improvements
– Apd Professional can improve the customer journey of consumers in the industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. Governance and Talent Management in a Professional Services Firm 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.
Developing new processes and practices
– Apd Professional 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 Apd Professional can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.
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. Apd Professional 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. Apd Professional 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.
Increase in government spending
– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Apd Professional can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Apd Professional operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Leadership & Managing People sector.
Threats Governance and Talent Management in a Professional Services Firm External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Governance and Talent Management in a Professional Services Firm are -
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Apd Professional 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.
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 Apd Professional in the Leadership & Managing People sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
Regulatory challenges
– Apd Professional 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.
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry in the industry are lowering. It can presents Apd Professional with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the sector.
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.
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. Apd Professional needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Leadership & Managing People industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
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.
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 Apd Professional.
Consumer confidence and its impact on Apd Professional 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.
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. Apd Professional 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
– Apd Professional 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. Apd Professional can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Leadership & Managing People industry.
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Apd Professional is facing in Leadership & Managing People 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 Apd Professional business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Governance and Talent Management in a Professional Services Firm 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 Governance and Talent Management in a Professional Services Firm 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 Governance and Talent Management in a Professional Services Firm 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 Governance and Talent Management in a Professional Services Firm 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 Governance and Talent Management in a Professional Services Firm 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 Apd Professional needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.
