Note on Organized Labor in U.S. Public Education SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Leadership & Managing People
Strategy / MBA Resources
Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of Note on Organized Labor in U.S. Public Education
Surveys the history, structure, and activities of the two dominant U.S. teachers unions-the National Education Association (NEA) and the American Federation of Teachers (AFT). The NEA and AFT represent approximately 90% of U.S. public school teachers and have grown rapidly since the widespread legalization of collective bargaining among public sector employees, beginning in the 1960s. Focuses on noncontroversial data related to the growth and functioning of the AFT and NEA. Presents but does not evaluate the policy debates and research that cover the effects of unionism on student achievement and other attributes of the U.S. system of public education. Includes a bibliography.
Swot Analysis of "Note on Organized Labor in U.S. Public Education" written by Stig Leschly includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Aft Nea facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Note on Organized Labor in U.S. Public Education case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, and Leadership & Managing People.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Note on Organized Labor in U.S. Public Education casestudy better are - – increasing transportation and logistics costs, banking and financial system is disrupted by Bitcoin and other crypto currencies, increasing household debt because of falling income levels, geopolitical disruptions, wage bills are increasing, increasing inequality as vast percentage of new income is going to the top 1%, technology disruption,
increasing commodity prices, talent flight as more people leaving formal jobs, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Note on Organized Labor in U.S. Public Education
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Note on Organized Labor in U.S. Public Education case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Aft Nea, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Aft Nea 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 Note on Organized Labor in U.S. Public Education can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Note on Organized Labor in U.S. Public Education case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Aft Nea
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 Aft Nea
Strengths Note on Organized Labor in U.S. Public Education | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Aft Nea in Note on Organized Labor in U.S. Public Education Harvard Business Review case study are -
High switching costs
– The high switching costs that Aft Nea 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.
High brand equity
– Aft Nea has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Aft Nea to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Strong track record of project management
– Aft Nea is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.
Effective Research and Development (R&D)
– Aft Nea 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 Note on Organized Labor in U.S. Public Education - staying ahead in the industry in terms of – new product launches, superior customer experience, highly competitive pricing strategies, and great returns to the shareholders.
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of Aft Nea in the sector have low bargaining power. Note on Organized Labor in U.S. Public Education has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Aft Nea to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
Superior customer experience
– The customer experience strategy of Aft Nea in the segment is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.
Organizational Resilience of Aft Nea
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing that Aft Nea does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
Diverse revenue streams
– Aft Nea is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided firm in Note on Organized Labor in U.S. Public Education 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.
Analytics focus
– Aft Nea 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 Stig Leschly 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.
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Leadership & Managing People industry
– Note on Organized Labor in U.S. Public Education firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Aft Nea to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Leadership & Managing People industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Aft Nea to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Ability to recruit top talent
– Aft Nea is one of the leading recruiters in the industry. Managers in the Note on Organized Labor in U.S. Public Education are in a position to attract the best talent available. The firm has a robust talent identification program that helps in identifying the brightest.
Highly skilled collaborators
– Aft Nea 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 Note on Organized Labor in U.S. Public Education HBR case study have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
Weaknesses Note on Organized Labor in U.S. Public Education | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Note on Organized Labor in U.S. Public Education are -
Low market penetration in new markets
– Outside its home market of Aft Nea, firm in the HBR case study Note on Organized Labor in U.S. Public Education needs to spend more promotional, marketing, and advertising efforts to penetrate international markets.
Products dominated business model
– Even though Aft Nea 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 - Note on Organized Labor in U.S. Public Education should strive to include more intangible value offerings along with its core products and services.
Interest costs
– Compare to the competition, Aft Nea 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.
High dependence on star products
– The top 2 products and services of the firm as mentioned in the Note on Organized Labor in U.S. Public Education 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 Aft Nea has relatively successful track record of launching new products.
Slow decision making process
– As mentioned earlier in the report, Aft Nea 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. Aft Nea 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.
Need for greater diversity
– Aft Nea 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.
Slow to harness new channels of communication
– Even though competitors are using new communication channels such as Instagram, Tiktok, and Snap, Aft Nea is slow explore the new channels of communication. These new channels of communication mentioned in marketing section of case study Note on Organized Labor in U.S. Public Education 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 bargaining power of channel partners
– Because of the regulatory requirements, Stig Leschly suggests that, Aft Nea is facing high bargaining power of the channel partners. So far it has not able to streamline the operations to reduce the bargaining power of the value chain partners in the industry.
Aligning sales with marketing
– It come across in the case study Note on Organized Labor in U.S. Public Education 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 Note on Organized Labor in U.S. Public Education can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Aft Nea is planning to shift buying processes online.
No frontier risks strategy
– After analyzing the HBR case study Note on Organized Labor in U.S. Public Education, 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 Note on Organized Labor in U.S. Public Education, in the dynamic environment Aft Nea has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. Aft Nea has reasonably good record with similar level competitors but it has struggled with new entrants taking away niches of its business.
Opportunities Note on Organized Labor in U.S. Public Education | 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 Note on Organized Labor in U.S. Public Education are -
Reforming the budgeting process
- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects Aft Nea 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
– Aft Nea 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.
Buying journey improvements
– Aft Nea can improve the customer journey of consumers in the industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. Note on Organized Labor in U.S. Public Education 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.
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 Aft Nea 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.
Lowering marketing communication costs
– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Aft Nea 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.
Redefining models of collaboration and team work
– As explained in the weaknesses section, Aft Nea is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. Note on Organized Labor in U.S. Public Education 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.
Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities
– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Aft Nea 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 Aft Nea to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– Aft Nea 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 Note on Organized Labor in U.S. Public Education - to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Aft Nea to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
Building a culture of innovation
– managers at Aft Nea 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.
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. Aft Nea can tie-up with other value chain partners to explore new opportunities regarding meeting customer demands and building a rewarding and engaging relationship.
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Aft Nea has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Aft Nea to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the Note on Organized Labor in U.S. Public Education case study. Aft Nea can build new products and services such as - data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
Manufacturing automation
– Aft Nea 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.
Developing new processes and practices
– Aft Nea 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.
Threats Note on Organized Labor in U.S. Public Education External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Note on Organized Labor in U.S. Public Education are -
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. Aft Nea needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Leadership & Managing People industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Aft Nea is facing in Leadership & Managing People sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.
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 Aft Nea.
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Aft Nea 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.
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.
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Aft Nea has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Leadership & Managing People industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Aft Nea 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.
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Aft Nea 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.
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 Aft Nea in the Leadership & Managing People sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry in the industry are lowering. It can presents Aft Nea with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the sector.
Regulatory challenges
– Aft Nea 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 Aft Nea
– 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 Aft Nea.
Consumer confidence and its impact on Aft Nea 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.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Note on Organized Labor in U.S. Public Education 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 Note on Organized Labor in U.S. Public Education 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 Note on Organized Labor in U.S. Public Education 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 Note on Organized Labor in U.S. Public Education 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 Note on Organized Labor in U.S. Public Education 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 Aft Nea needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.