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Deciding Who Decides: The Debate Over A Gay Photo Exhibit In a Madison School (C) SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis

Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution

Case Study Description of Deciding Who Decides: The Debate Over A Gay Photo Exhibit In a Madison School (C)


When teachers at a Madison, Wisconsin elementary school announce plans to mount a photo exhibit featuring families with gay or lesbian parents, school system superintendent Cheryl Wilhoyte faces a vexing decision. She knows well that the exhibit will be controversial and will likely offend members of the community, especially a group of conservative Christian parents. She knows, too, that liberal teachers will view the issue as one involving academic freedom, keyed to the school's system's "anti-bias" curriculum. In this leadership case, the superintendent must decide, in effect, whether and/or how to decide. Should this be a school-level decision? Or does it demand her own intervention? She must even decide on what grounds she should base her decide about whether to become involved. The case is useful for discussions of leadership in a decentralized environment, as well as issues of how authorities must deal with cultural conflict in a public sector context. HKS Case Number 1442.0

Authors :: Susan Rosegrant

Topics :: Leadership & Managing People

Tags :: Decision making, Demographics, Diversity, Government, Leadership, Personnel policies, Social responsibility, SWOT Analysis, SWOT Matrix, TOWS, Weighted SWOT Analysis

Swot Analysis of "Deciding Who Decides: The Debate Over A Gay Photo Exhibit In a Madison School (C)" written by Susan Rosegrant includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Exhibit Gay facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Deciding Who Decides: The Debate Over A Gay Photo Exhibit In a Madison School (C) case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Decision making, Demographics, Diversity, Government, Leadership, Personnel policies, Social responsibility and Leadership & Managing People.


Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Deciding Who Decides: The Debate Over A Gay Photo Exhibit In a Madison School (C) casestudy better are - – customer relationship management is fast transforming because of increasing concerns over data privacy, technology disruption, challanges to central banks by blockchain based private currencies, increasing transportation and logistics costs, increasing commodity prices, digital marketing is dominated by two big players Facebook and Google, cloud computing is disrupting traditional business models, there is backlash against globalization, wage bills are increasing, etc



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Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Deciding Who Decides: The Debate Over A Gay Photo Exhibit In a Madison School (C)


SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Deciding Who Decides: The Debate Over A Gay Photo Exhibit In a Madison School (C) case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Exhibit Gay, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Exhibit Gay 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 Deciding Who Decides: The Debate Over A Gay Photo Exhibit In a Madison School (C) can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Deciding Who Decides: The Debate Over A Gay Photo Exhibit In a Madison School (C) case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Exhibit Gay
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 Exhibit Gay




Strengths Deciding Who Decides: The Debate Over A Gay Photo Exhibit In a Madison School (C) | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis

The strengths of Exhibit Gay in Deciding Who Decides: The Debate Over A Gay Photo Exhibit In a Madison School (C) Harvard Business Review case study are -

Highly skilled collaborators

– Exhibit Gay 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 Deciding Who Decides: The Debate Over A Gay Photo Exhibit In a Madison School (C) HBR case study have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.

Effective Research and Development (R&D)

– Exhibit Gay 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 Deciding Who Decides: The Debate Over A Gay Photo Exhibit In a Madison School (C) - staying ahead in the industry in terms of – new product launches, superior customer experience, highly competitive pricing strategies, and great returns to the shareholders.

Operational resilience

– The operational resilience strategy in the Deciding Who Decides: The Debate Over A Gay Photo Exhibit In a Madison School (C) 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.

Successful track record of launching new products

– Exhibit Gay has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Exhibit Gay 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

– Exhibit Gay 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 Exhibit Gay in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.

Learning organization

- Exhibit Gay 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 Exhibit Gay is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders in Deciding Who Decides: The Debate Over A Gay Photo Exhibit In a Madison School (C) Harvard Business Review case study emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.

Organizational Resilience of Exhibit Gay

– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing that Exhibit Gay does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.

Analytics focus

– Exhibit Gay 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 Susan Rosegrant 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.

Strong track record of project management

– Exhibit Gay 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 switching costs

– The high switching costs that Exhibit Gay has built up over years in its products and services combo offer has resulted in high retention of customers, lower marketing costs, and greater ability of the firm to focus on its customers.

Cross disciplinary teams

– Horizontal connected teams at the Exhibit Gay are driving operational speed, building greater agility, and keeping the organization nimble to compete with new competitors. It helps are organization to ideate new ideas, and execute them swiftly in the marketplace.

Training and development

– Exhibit Gay has one of the best training and development program in the industry. The effectiveness of the training programs can be measured in Deciding Who Decides: The Debate Over A Gay Photo Exhibit In a Madison School (C) 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.






Weaknesses Deciding Who Decides: The Debate Over A Gay Photo Exhibit In a Madison School (C) | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis

The weaknesses of Deciding Who Decides: The Debate Over A Gay Photo Exhibit In a Madison School (C) are -

Ability to respond to the competition

– As the decision making is very deliberative, highlighted in the case study Deciding Who Decides: The Debate Over A Gay Photo Exhibit In a Madison School (C), in the dynamic environment Exhibit Gay has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. Exhibit Gay has reasonably good record with similar level competitors but it has struggled with new entrants taking away niches of its business.

High cash cycle compare to competitors

Exhibit Gay 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.

High operating costs

– Compare to the competitors, firm in the HBR case study Deciding Who Decides: The Debate Over A Gay Photo Exhibit In a Madison School (C) 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 Exhibit Gay 's lucrative customers.

Increasing silos among functional specialists

– The organizational structure of Exhibit Gay is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Leadership & Managing People segment. Exhibit Gay needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Exhibit Gay to focus more on services rather than just following the product oriented approach.

Skills based hiring

– The stress on hiring functional specialists at Exhibit Gay 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.

Compensation and incentives

– The revenue per employee as mentioned in the HBR case study Deciding Who Decides: The Debate Over A Gay Photo Exhibit In a Madison School (C), is just above the industry average. Exhibit Gay 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 Exhibit Gay, firm in the HBR case study Deciding Who Decides: The Debate Over A Gay Photo Exhibit In a Madison School (C) needs to spend more promotional, marketing, and advertising efforts to penetrate international markets.

Slow decision making process

– As mentioned earlier in the report, Exhibit Gay 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. Exhibit Gay 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.

Workers concerns about automation

– As automation is fast increasing in the segment, Exhibit Gay 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.

Lack of clear differentiation of Exhibit Gay products

– To increase the profitability and margins on the products, Exhibit Gay needs to provide more differentiated products than what it is currently offering in the marketplace.

Slow to harness new channels of communication

– Even though competitors are using new communication channels such as Instagram, Tiktok, and Snap, Exhibit Gay is slow explore the new channels of communication. These new channels of communication mentioned in marketing section of case study Deciding Who Decides: The Debate Over A Gay Photo Exhibit In a Madison School (C) can help to provide better information regarding products and services. It can also build an online community to further reach out to potential customers.




Opportunities Deciding Who Decides: The Debate Over A Gay Photo Exhibit In a Madison School (C) | 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 Deciding Who Decides: The Debate Over A Gay Photo Exhibit In a Madison School (C) are -

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 Exhibit Gay 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.

Better consumer reach

– The expansion of the 5G network will help Exhibit Gay to increase its market reach. Exhibit Gay 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.

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. Exhibit Gay can tie-up with other value chain partners to explore new opportunities regarding meeting customer demands and building a rewarding and engaging relationship.

Increase in government spending

– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Exhibit Gay can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Exhibit Gay operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Leadership & Managing People sector.

Buying journey improvements

– Exhibit Gay can improve the customer journey of consumers in the industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. Deciding Who Decides: The Debate Over A Gay Photo Exhibit In a Madison School (C) 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.

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. Exhibit Gay can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.

Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities

– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Exhibit Gay 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 Exhibit Gay to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.

Redefining models of collaboration and team work

– As explained in the weaknesses section, Exhibit Gay is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. Deciding Who Decides: The Debate Over A Gay Photo Exhibit In a Madison School (C) 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

– Exhibit Gay 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 Deciding Who Decides: The Debate Over A Gay Photo Exhibit In a Madison School (C) - to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Exhibit Gay to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.

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. Exhibit Gay 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. Exhibit Gay 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.

Low interest rates

– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Exhibit Gay 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.

Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains

– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Exhibit Gay can build a diversified supply chain model across various countries in - South East Asia, India, and other parts of the world. This reconfiguration of global supply chain can help, as suggested in case study, Deciding Who Decides: The Debate Over A Gay Photo Exhibit In a Madison School (C), to buy more products closer to the markets, and it can leverage its size and influence to get better deal from the local markets.

Reforming the budgeting process

- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects Exhibit Gay can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.




Threats Deciding Who Decides: The Debate Over A Gay Photo Exhibit In a Madison School (C) External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis


The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Deciding Who Decides: The Debate Over A Gay Photo Exhibit In a Madison School (C) are -

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 Exhibit Gay business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.

High dependence on third party suppliers

– Exhibit Gay 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. Exhibit Gay can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.

Shortening product life cycle

– it is one of the major threat that Exhibit Gay is facing in Leadership & Managing People sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.

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. Exhibit Gay 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.

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.

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.

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. Exhibit Gay 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 Exhibit Gay 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.

Regulatory challenges

– Exhibit Gay 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.

Increasing wage structure of Exhibit Gay

– 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 Exhibit Gay.

Environmental challenges

– Exhibit Gay 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. Exhibit Gay can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Leadership & Managing People industry.

Learning curve for new practices

– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, as highlighted in case study Deciding Who Decides: The Debate Over A Gay Photo Exhibit In a Madison School (C), Exhibit Gay may face longer learning curve for training and development of existing employees. This can open space for more nimble competitors in the field of Leadership & Managing People .




Weighted SWOT Analysis of Deciding Who Decides: The Debate Over A Gay Photo Exhibit In a Madison School (C) 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 Deciding Who Decides: The Debate Over A Gay Photo Exhibit In a Madison School (C) 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 Deciding Who Decides: The Debate Over A Gay Photo Exhibit In a Madison School (C) 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 Deciding Who Decides: The Debate Over A Gay Photo Exhibit In a Madison School (C) 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 Deciding Who Decides: The Debate Over A Gay Photo Exhibit In a Madison School (C) 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 Exhibit Gay needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.



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