Dickinson College: Inspiration for a Leadership Story (In the Vision of a Founding Father) SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Leadership & Managing People
Strategy / MBA Resources
Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of Dickinson College: Inspiration for a Leadership Story (In the Vision of a Founding Father)
In January 1999, William Durden was named the 27th president of his alma mater, Dickinson College. He quickly came to understand that for much of the 20th century, the Dickinson community had lacked a strong sense of organizational purpose. By autumn, Durden had turned to the life and writings of Dr. Benjamin Rush, the man responsible for securing the college charter in 1783, as the inspiration for the story. After introducing Durden and the challenges confronting Dickinson, the case describes the early history of the college and the ideas and accomplishments of Rush. It then provides students with a brief overview of the strategic challenges that had surfaced for Dickinson by the mid1990s. Finally, the conclusion indicates that Durden still had to resolve many issues associated with the identity story.
Swot Analysis of "Dickinson College: Inspiration for a Leadership Story (In the Vision of a Founding Father)" written by Michael J. Fratantuono includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Durden Dickinson facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Dickinson College: Inspiration for a Leadership Story (In the Vision of a Founding Father) case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Competitive strategy, Leadership, Managing people and Leadership & Managing People.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Dickinson College: Inspiration for a Leadership Story (In the Vision of a Founding Father) casestudy better are - – increasing household debt because of falling income levels, increasing energy prices, increasing commodity prices, technology disruption, geopolitical disruptions, talent flight as more people leaving formal jobs, competitive advantages are harder to sustain because of technology dispersion,
digital marketing is dominated by two big players Facebook and Google, central banks are concerned over increasing inflation, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Dickinson College: Inspiration for a Leadership Story (In the Vision of a Founding Father)
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Dickinson College: Inspiration for a Leadership Story (In the Vision of a Founding Father) case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Durden Dickinson, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Durden Dickinson 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 Dickinson College: Inspiration for a Leadership Story (In the Vision of a Founding Father) can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Dickinson College: Inspiration for a Leadership Story (In the Vision of a Founding Father) case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Durden Dickinson
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 Durden Dickinson
Strengths Dickinson College: Inspiration for a Leadership Story (In the Vision of a Founding Father) | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Durden Dickinson in Dickinson College: Inspiration for a Leadership Story (In the Vision of a Founding Father) Harvard Business Review case study are -
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of Durden Dickinson in the sector have low bargaining power. Dickinson College: Inspiration for a Leadership Story (In the Vision of a Founding Father) has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Durden Dickinson 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
– Dickinson College: Inspiration for a Leadership Story (In the Vision of a Founding Father) firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Durden Dickinson to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Leadership & Managing People industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Durden Dickinson to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Ability to lead change in Leadership & Managing People field
– Durden Dickinson 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 Durden Dickinson in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.
Strong track record of project management
– Durden Dickinson is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.
High brand equity
– Durden Dickinson has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Durden Dickinson to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Analytics focus
– Durden Dickinson 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 Michael J. Fratantuono 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.
Innovation driven organization
– Durden Dickinson is one of the most innovative firm in sector. Manager in Dickinson College: Inspiration for a Leadership Story (In the Vision of a Founding Father) Harvard Business Review case study can use Clayton Christensen Disruptive Innovation strategies to further increase the scale of innovtions in the organization.
Diverse revenue streams
– Durden Dickinson is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided firm in Dickinson College: Inspiration for a Leadership Story (In the Vision of a Founding Father) 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.
Learning organization
- Durden Dickinson 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 Durden Dickinson is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders in Dickinson College: Inspiration for a Leadership Story (In the Vision of a Founding Father) Harvard Business Review case study emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
Digital Transformation in Leadership & Managing People segment
- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For Durden Dickinson digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Durden Dickinson 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.
Operational resilience
– The operational resilience strategy in the Dickinson College: Inspiration for a Leadership Story (In the Vision of a Founding Father) 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.
Superior customer experience
– The customer experience strategy of Durden Dickinson in the segment is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.
Weaknesses Dickinson College: Inspiration for a Leadership Story (In the Vision of a Founding Father) | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Dickinson College: Inspiration for a Leadership Story (In the Vision of a Founding Father) are -
Slow to harness new channels of communication
– Even though competitors are using new communication channels such as Instagram, Tiktok, and Snap, Durden Dickinson is slow explore the new channels of communication. These new channels of communication mentioned in marketing section of case study Dickinson College: Inspiration for a Leadership Story (In the Vision of a Founding Father) can help to provide better information regarding products and services. It can also build an online community to further reach out to potential customers.
Workers concerns about automation
– As automation is fast increasing in the segment, Durden Dickinson 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.
Capital Spending Reduction
– Even during the low interest decade, Durden Dickinson has not been able to do capital spending to the tune of the competition. This has resulted into fewer innovations and company facing stiff competition from both existing competitors and new entrants who are disrupting the industry using digital technology.
Increasing silos among functional specialists
– The organizational structure of Durden Dickinson is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Leadership & Managing People segment. Durden Dickinson needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Durden Dickinson to focus more on services rather than just following the product oriented approach.
Lack of clear differentiation of Durden Dickinson products
– To increase the profitability and margins on the products, Durden Dickinson needs to provide more differentiated products than what it is currently offering in the marketplace.
Need for greater diversity
– Durden Dickinson 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.
High operating costs
– Compare to the competitors, firm in the HBR case study Dickinson College: Inspiration for a Leadership Story (In the Vision of a Founding Father) has high operating costs in the. This can be harder to sustain given the new emerging competition from nimble players who are using technology to attract Durden Dickinson 's lucrative customers.
Employees’ incomplete understanding of strategy
– From the instances in the HBR case study Dickinson College: Inspiration for a Leadership Story (In the Vision of a Founding Father), it seems that the employees of Durden Dickinson 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 decision making process
– As mentioned earlier in the report, Durden Dickinson 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. Durden Dickinson 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.
Compensation and incentives
– The revenue per employee as mentioned in the HBR case study Dickinson College: Inspiration for a Leadership Story (In the Vision of a Founding Father), is just above the industry average. Durden Dickinson 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.
Slow to strategic competitive environment developments
– As Dickinson College: Inspiration for a Leadership Story (In the Vision of a Founding Father) HBR case study mentions - Durden Dickinson 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.
Opportunities Dickinson College: Inspiration for a Leadership Story (In the Vision of a Founding Father) | 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 Dickinson College: Inspiration for a Leadership Story (In the Vision of a Founding Father) are -
Manufacturing automation
– Durden Dickinson 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.
Learning at scale
– Online learning technologies has now opened space for Durden Dickinson 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.
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 Durden Dickinson in the consumer business. Now Durden Dickinson can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.
Developing new processes and practices
– Durden Dickinson 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.
Buying journey improvements
– Durden Dickinson can improve the customer journey of consumers in the industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. Dickinson College: Inspiration for a Leadership Story (In the Vision of a Founding Father) 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 Durden Dickinson 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.
Low interest rates
– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Durden Dickinson can still utilize the low interest rates to borrow money for capital investment. Secondly it can also use the increase of government spending in infrastructure projects to get new business.
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. Durden Dickinson 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. Durden Dickinson 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 Durden Dickinson 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.
Redefining models of collaboration and team work
– As explained in the weaknesses section, Durden Dickinson is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. Dickinson College: Inspiration for a Leadership Story (In the Vision of a Founding Father) 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.
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– Durden Dickinson 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 Dickinson College: Inspiration for a Leadership Story (In the Vision of a Founding Father) - to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Durden Dickinson to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
Increase in government spending
– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Durden Dickinson can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Durden Dickinson operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Leadership & Managing People sector.
Reforming the budgeting process
- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects Durden Dickinson can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.
Threats Dickinson College: Inspiration for a Leadership Story (In the Vision of a Founding Father) External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Dickinson College: Inspiration for a Leadership Story (In the Vision of a Founding Father) are -
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.
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 Durden Dickinson business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Durden Dickinson has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Leadership & Managing People industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Durden Dickinson 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.
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry in the industry are lowering. It can presents Durden Dickinson with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the sector.
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. Durden Dickinson 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.
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 Durden Dickinson.
Consumer confidence and its impact on Durden Dickinson 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.
Regulatory challenges
– Durden Dickinson 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.
High dependence on third party suppliers
– Durden Dickinson 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.
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. Durden Dickinson can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Durden Dickinson 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.
Environmental challenges
– Durden Dickinson 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. Durden Dickinson 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 Durden Dickinson is facing in Leadership & Managing People sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Dickinson College: Inspiration for a Leadership Story (In the Vision of a Founding Father) 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 Dickinson College: Inspiration for a Leadership Story (In the Vision of a Founding Father) 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 Dickinson College: Inspiration for a Leadership Story (In the Vision of a Founding Father) 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 Dickinson College: Inspiration for a Leadership Story (In the Vision of a Founding Father) 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 Dickinson College: Inspiration for a Leadership Story (In the Vision of a Founding Father) 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 Durden Dickinson needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.
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