More School or Less Tax: Optimizing the Negotiation Results SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Leadership & Managing People
Strategy / MBA Resources
Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of More School or Less Tax: Optimizing the Negotiation Results
In response to a 22 per cent growth rate in their city over a 10-year period, the members of the McAllen Independent District School Board form a committee to research and analyze several potential expansion projects that would accommodate the growing number of students in the area. The committee discovers certain funding opportunities that may represent attractive options for discharging financial responsibilities to the city's residents, but in order for these funding options to be considered, the residents will first need to be convinced that the selected option is sound. This process will require a series of careful steps on the part of the committee, including thoughtful negotiation. Authors Joo Y. Jung, Young S. Cho, and Allan Beck are affiliated with University of Texas - Pan American
Swot Analysis of "More School or Less Tax: Optimizing the Negotiation Results" written by Joo Y. Jung, Young S. Cho, Allan Beck includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Committee Residents facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in More School or Less Tax: Optimizing the Negotiation Results case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, and Leadership & Managing People.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the More School or Less Tax: Optimizing the Negotiation Results casestudy better are - – there is increasing trade war between United States & China, increasing energy prices, increasing household debt because of falling income levels, increasing inequality as vast percentage of new income is going to the top 1%, competitive advantages are harder to sustain because of technology dispersion, supply chains are disrupted by pandemic , digital marketing is dominated by two big players Facebook and Google,
customer relationship management is fast transforming because of increasing concerns over data privacy, geopolitical disruptions, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of More School or Less Tax: Optimizing the Negotiation Results
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in More School or Less Tax: Optimizing the Negotiation Results case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Committee Residents, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Committee Residents 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 More School or Less Tax: Optimizing the Negotiation Results can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in More School or Less Tax: Optimizing the Negotiation Results case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Committee Residents
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 Committee Residents
Strengths More School or Less Tax: Optimizing the Negotiation Results | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Committee Residents in More School or Less Tax: Optimizing the Negotiation Results Harvard Business Review case study are -
Innovation driven organization
– Committee Residents is one of the most innovative firm in sector. Manager in More School or Less Tax: Optimizing the Negotiation Results Harvard Business Review case study can use Clayton Christensen Disruptive Innovation strategies to further increase the scale of innovtions in the organization.
Training and development
– Committee Residents has one of the best training and development program in the industry. The effectiveness of the training programs can be measured in More School or Less Tax: Optimizing the Negotiation Results 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.
Highly skilled collaborators
– Committee Residents 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 More School or Less Tax: Optimizing the Negotiation Results HBR case study have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
Strong track record of project management
– Committee Residents is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.
Organizational Resilience of Committee Residents
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing that Committee Residents does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of Committee Residents in the sector have low bargaining power. More School or Less Tax: Optimizing the Negotiation Results has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Committee Residents to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
Ability to recruit top talent
– Committee Residents is one of the leading recruiters in the industry. Managers in the More School or Less Tax: Optimizing the Negotiation Results are in a position to attract the best talent available. The firm has a robust talent identification program that helps in identifying the brightest.
High brand equity
– Committee Residents has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Committee Residents to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Leadership & Managing People industry
– More School or Less Tax: Optimizing the Negotiation Results firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Committee Residents to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Leadership & Managing People industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Committee Residents to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Successful track record of launching new products
– Committee Residents has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Committee Residents 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.
Superior customer experience
– The customer experience strategy of Committee Residents in the segment is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.
Analytics focus
– Committee Residents 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 Joo Y. Jung, Young S. Cho, Allan Beck 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.
Weaknesses More School or Less Tax: Optimizing the Negotiation Results | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of More School or Less Tax: Optimizing the Negotiation Results are -
High dependence on star products
– The top 2 products and services of the firm as mentioned in the More School or Less Tax: Optimizing the Negotiation Results HBR case study still accounts for major business revenue. This dependence on star products in has resulted into insufficient focus on developing new products, even though Committee Residents has relatively successful track record of launching new products.
Capital Spending Reduction
– Even during the low interest decade, Committee Residents 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.
Ability to respond to the competition
– As the decision making is very deliberative, highlighted in the case study More School or Less Tax: Optimizing the Negotiation Results, in the dynamic environment Committee Residents has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. Committee Residents has reasonably good record with similar level competitors but it has struggled with new entrants taking away niches of its business.
Aligning sales with marketing
– It come across in the case study More School or Less Tax: Optimizing the Negotiation Results 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 More School or Less Tax: Optimizing the Negotiation Results can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Committee Residents is planning to shift buying processes online.
Compensation and incentives
– The revenue per employee as mentioned in the HBR case study More School or Less Tax: Optimizing the Negotiation Results, is just above the industry average. Committee Residents 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.
Low market penetration in new markets
– Outside its home market of Committee Residents, firm in the HBR case study More School or Less Tax: Optimizing the Negotiation Results needs to spend more promotional, marketing, and advertising efforts to penetrate international markets.
Slow to strategic competitive environment developments
– As More School or Less Tax: Optimizing the Negotiation Results HBR case study mentions - Committee Residents 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.
Interest costs
– Compare to the competition, Committee Residents 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 More School or Less Tax: Optimizing the Negotiation Results, 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.
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 Committee Residents supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes mentioned in the HBR case study - More School or Less Tax: Optimizing the Negotiation Results, it is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left Committee Residents vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.
Skills based hiring
– The stress on hiring functional specialists at Committee Residents 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.
Opportunities More School or Less Tax: Optimizing the Negotiation Results | 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 More School or Less Tax: Optimizing the Negotiation Results are -
Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities
– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Committee Residents 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 Committee Residents to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
Developing new processes and practices
– Committee Residents 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.
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– Committee Residents 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 More School or Less Tax: Optimizing the Negotiation Results - to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Committee Residents to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
Lowering marketing communication costs
– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Committee Residents 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 Committee Residents 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.
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. Committee Residents 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. Committee Residents 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.
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 Committee Residents in the consumer business. Now Committee Residents can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Committee Residents has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Committee Residents to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the More School or Less Tax: Optimizing the Negotiation Results case study. Committee Residents 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 Committee Residents 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.
Loyalty marketing
– Committee Residents 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.
Learning at scale
– Online learning technologies has now opened space for Committee Residents 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
– Committee Residents 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.
Better consumer reach
– The expansion of the 5G network will help Committee Residents to increase its market reach. Committee Residents 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.
Threats More School or Less Tax: Optimizing the Negotiation Results External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study More School or Less Tax: Optimizing the Negotiation Results are -
High dependence on third party suppliers
– Committee Residents 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.
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 Committee Residents business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
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. Committee Residents 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
– Committee Residents 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. Committee Residents can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Leadership & Managing People industry.
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. Committee Residents needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Leadership & Managing People industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Committee Residents 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 More School or Less Tax: Optimizing the Negotiation Results .
Consumer confidence and its impact on Committee Residents 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 More School or Less Tax: Optimizing the Negotiation Results, Committee Residents 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 .
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 Committee Residents in the Leadership & Managing People sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
Regulatory challenges
– Committee Residents 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.
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. Committee Residents 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.
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Committee Residents 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.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of More School or Less Tax: Optimizing the Negotiation Results 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 More School or Less Tax: Optimizing the Negotiation Results 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 More School or Less Tax: Optimizing the Negotiation Results 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 More School or Less Tax: Optimizing the Negotiation Results 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 More School or Less Tax: Optimizing the Negotiation Results 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 Committee Residents needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.