All Means ALL: Maintaining Success in Norfolk Public Schools SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Leadership & Managing People
Strategy / MBA Resources
Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of All Means ALL: Maintaining Success in Norfolk Public Schools
This is a Darden case study.Stephen Jones, the newly hired superintendent of Norfolk Public Schools (NPS), wants to pick up where his predecessor John Simpson left off. During his six-year tenure, Simpson had managed a successful turnaround for the school division and garnered tremendous praise. Yet one accolade continued to elude NPS: the prestigious Broad Prize in Urban Education. How can Jones step into a well-performing organization and continue the momentum? What actions can he take to succeed where his predecessor had not? What can Jones do to take NPS to the next level?
Authors :: Megan Gillespie, Dorothy C. Kelly, Tierney Fairchild
Swot Analysis of "All Means ALL: Maintaining Success in Norfolk Public Schools" written by Megan Gillespie, Dorothy C. Kelly, Tierney Fairchild includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Nps Jones facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in All Means ALL: Maintaining Success in Norfolk Public Schools case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Organizational culture, Product development and Leadership & Managing People.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the All Means ALL: Maintaining Success in Norfolk Public Schools casestudy better are - – wage bills are increasing, increasing inequality as vast percentage of new income is going to the top 1%, central banks are concerned over increasing inflation, increasing household debt because of falling income levels, increasing transportation and logistics costs, challanges to central banks by blockchain based private currencies, there is increasing trade war between United States & China,
supply chains are disrupted by pandemic , there is backlash against globalization, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of All Means ALL: Maintaining Success in Norfolk Public Schools
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in All Means ALL: Maintaining Success in Norfolk Public Schools case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Nps Jones, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Nps Jones 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 All Means ALL: Maintaining Success in Norfolk Public Schools can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in All Means ALL: Maintaining Success in Norfolk Public Schools case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Nps Jones
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 Nps Jones
Strengths All Means ALL: Maintaining Success in Norfolk Public Schools | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Nps Jones in All Means ALL: Maintaining Success in Norfolk Public Schools Harvard Business Review case study are -
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Leadership & Managing People industry
– All Means ALL: Maintaining Success in Norfolk Public Schools firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Nps Jones to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Leadership & Managing People industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Nps Jones to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Superior customer experience
– The customer experience strategy of Nps Jones in the segment is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.
Learning organization
- Nps Jones 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 Nps Jones is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders in All Means ALL: Maintaining Success in Norfolk Public Schools Harvard Business Review case study emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
Diverse revenue streams
– Nps Jones is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided firm in All Means ALL: Maintaining Success in Norfolk Public Schools 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.
Organizational Resilience of Nps Jones
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing that Nps Jones does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
Innovation driven organization
– Nps Jones is one of the most innovative firm in sector. Manager in All Means ALL: Maintaining Success in Norfolk Public Schools Harvard Business Review case study can use Clayton Christensen Disruptive Innovation strategies to further increase the scale of innovtions in the organization.
Analytics focus
– Nps Jones 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 Megan Gillespie, Dorothy C. Kelly, Tierney Fairchild can also help it to harness the power of analytics for – marketing optimization, demand forecasting, customer relationship management, inventory management, information sharing across the value chain etc.
Ability to lead change in Leadership & Managing People field
– Nps Jones 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 Nps Jones in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of Nps Jones in the sector have low bargaining power. All Means ALL: Maintaining Success in Norfolk Public Schools has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Nps Jones to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
Successful track record of launching new products
– Nps Jones has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Nps Jones 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.
Effective Research and Development (R&D)
– Nps Jones 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 All Means ALL: Maintaining Success in Norfolk Public Schools - staying ahead in the industry in terms of – new product launches, superior customer experience, highly competitive pricing strategies, and great returns to the shareholders.
High brand equity
– Nps Jones has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Nps Jones to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Weaknesses All Means ALL: Maintaining Success in Norfolk Public Schools | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of All Means ALL: Maintaining Success in Norfolk Public Schools are -
Products dominated business model
– Even though Nps Jones has some of the most successful products in the industry, this business model has made each new product launch extremely critical for continuous financial growth of the organization. firm in the HBR case study - All Means ALL: Maintaining Success in Norfolk Public Schools should strive to include more intangible value offerings along with its core products and services.
Need for greater diversity
– Nps Jones 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.
Compensation and incentives
– The revenue per employee as mentioned in the HBR case study All Means ALL: Maintaining Success in Norfolk Public Schools, is just above the industry average. Nps Jones 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.
High operating costs
– Compare to the competitors, firm in the HBR case study All Means ALL: Maintaining Success in Norfolk Public Schools 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 Nps Jones 's lucrative customers.
No frontier risks strategy
– After analyzing the HBR case study All Means ALL: Maintaining Success in Norfolk Public Schools, 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.
Ability to respond to the competition
– As the decision making is very deliberative, highlighted in the case study All Means ALL: Maintaining Success in Norfolk Public Schools, in the dynamic environment Nps Jones has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. Nps Jones has reasonably good record with similar level competitors but it has struggled with new entrants taking away niches of its business.
Slow decision making process
– As mentioned earlier in the report, Nps Jones 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. Nps Jones 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.
Slow to strategic competitive environment developments
– As All Means ALL: Maintaining Success in Norfolk Public Schools HBR case study mentions - Nps Jones 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.
Increasing silos among functional specialists
– The organizational structure of Nps Jones is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Leadership & Managing People segment. Nps Jones needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Nps Jones to focus more on services rather than just following the product oriented approach.
Slow to harness new channels of communication
– Even though competitors are using new communication channels such as Instagram, Tiktok, and Snap, Nps Jones is slow explore the new channels of communication. These new channels of communication mentioned in marketing section of case study All Means ALL: Maintaining Success in Norfolk Public Schools can help to provide better information regarding products and services. It can also build an online community to further reach out to potential customers.
High cash cycle compare to competitors
Nps Jones has a high cash cycle compare to other players in the industry. It needs to shorten the cash cycle by 12% to be more competitive in the marketplace, reduce inventory costs, and be more profitable.
Opportunities All Means ALL: Maintaining Success in Norfolk Public Schools | 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 All Means ALL: Maintaining Success in Norfolk Public Schools are -
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. Nps Jones 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 Nps Jones 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.
Manufacturing automation
– Nps Jones 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.
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 Nps Jones in the consumer business. Now Nps Jones can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– Nps Jones 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 All Means ALL: Maintaining Success in Norfolk Public Schools - to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Nps Jones 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, Nps Jones can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Nps Jones operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Leadership & Managing People sector.
Better consumer reach
– The expansion of the 5G network will help Nps Jones to increase its market reach. Nps Jones 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.
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. Nps Jones 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. Nps Jones 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.
Lowering marketing communication costs
– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Nps Jones 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.
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Nps Jones has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Nps Jones to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the All Means ALL: Maintaining Success in Norfolk Public Schools case study. Nps Jones can build new products and services such as - data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
Building a culture of innovation
– managers at Nps Jones 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.
Reforming the budgeting process
- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects Nps Jones can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.
Loyalty marketing
– Nps Jones 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.
Threats All Means ALL: Maintaining Success in Norfolk Public Schools External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study All Means ALL: Maintaining Success in Norfolk Public Schools are -
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Nps Jones 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.
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 Nps Jones 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. Nps Jones needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Leadership & Managing People industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Nps Jones in the Leadership & Managing People industry. The Leadership & Managing People industry is already at various protected from local competition in China, with the rise of trade war the protection levels may go up. This presents a clear threat of current business model in Chinese market.
Technology 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.
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 Nps Jones in the Leadership & Managing People sector and impact the bottomline 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. Nps Jones will face different problems in different parts of Europe. For example it will face inflationary pressures in UK, France, and Germany, balance sheet expansion and demand challenges in Southern European countries, and geopolitical instability in the Eastern Europe.
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Nps Jones is facing in Leadership & Managing People sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.
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.
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Nps Jones can face downward pressure on margins from increasing competition from international players. The international players have stable revenue in their home market and can use those resources to penetrate prominent markets illustrated in HBR case study All Means ALL: Maintaining Success in Norfolk Public Schools .
High dependence on third party suppliers
– Nps Jones 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.
Increasing wage structure of Nps Jones
– Post Covid-19 there is a sharp increase in the wages especially in the jobs that require interaction with people. The increasing wages can put downward pressure on the margins of Nps Jones.
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 Nps Jones.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of All Means ALL: Maintaining Success in Norfolk Public Schools 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 All Means ALL: Maintaining Success in Norfolk Public Schools 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 All Means ALL: Maintaining Success in Norfolk Public Schools 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 All Means ALL: Maintaining Success in Norfolk Public Schools 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 All Means ALL: Maintaining Success in Norfolk Public Schools 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 Nps Jones needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.
