When the Uncountable Counts: An Alternative to Monitoring Employee Performance SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Leadership & Managing People
Strategy / MBA Resources
Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of When the Uncountable Counts: An Alternative to Monitoring Employee Performance
This article presents an alternative viewpoint to the accepted wisdom that detailed performance measurement of individual employees is necessary to achieve superior performance. As we reveal, managers of a market-leading German energy distribution company do not utilize performance measures to manage the performance of their employees; rather, operational excellence is achieved through mechanisms ultimately based on trust and responsibility. Building on observations at this firm, we put forward a set of proposed characteristics of companies that may not require formalized individual performance measurement systems in order to achieve high performance standards.
Swot Analysis of "When the Uncountable Counts: An Alternative to Monitoring Employee Performance" written by K. W. Platts, M. Sobotka includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Performance Uncountable facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in When the Uncountable Counts: An Alternative to Monitoring Employee Performance case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, and Leadership & Managing People.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the When the Uncountable Counts: An Alternative to Monitoring Employee Performance casestudy better are - – supply chains are disrupted by pandemic , wage bills are increasing, increasing commodity prices, talent flight as more people leaving formal jobs, technology disruption, there is backlash against globalization, banking and financial system is disrupted by Bitcoin and other crypto currencies,
digital marketing is dominated by two big players Facebook and Google, increasing household debt because of falling income levels, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of When the Uncountable Counts: An Alternative to Monitoring Employee Performance
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in When the Uncountable Counts: An Alternative to Monitoring Employee Performance case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Performance Uncountable, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Performance Uncountable 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 When the Uncountable Counts: An Alternative to Monitoring Employee Performance can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in When the Uncountable Counts: An Alternative to Monitoring Employee Performance case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Performance Uncountable
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 Performance Uncountable
Strengths When the Uncountable Counts: An Alternative to Monitoring Employee Performance | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Performance Uncountable in When the Uncountable Counts: An Alternative to Monitoring Employee Performance Harvard Business Review case study are -
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of Performance Uncountable in the sector have low bargaining power. When the Uncountable Counts: An Alternative to Monitoring Employee Performance has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Performance Uncountable to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
Digital Transformation in Leadership & Managing People segment
- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For Performance Uncountable digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Performance Uncountable has successfully integrated the four key components of digital transformation – digital integration in processes, digital integration in marketing and customer relationship management, digital integration into the value chain, and using technology to explore new products and market opportunities.
Learning organization
- Performance Uncountable 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 Performance Uncountable is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders in When the Uncountable Counts: An Alternative to Monitoring Employee Performance Harvard Business Review case study emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
Successful track record of launching new products
– Performance Uncountable has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Performance Uncountable 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.
Strong track record of project management
– Performance Uncountable is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.
Innovation driven organization
– Performance Uncountable is one of the most innovative firm in sector. Manager in When the Uncountable Counts: An Alternative to Monitoring Employee Performance Harvard Business Review case study can use Clayton Christensen Disruptive Innovation strategies to further increase the scale of innovtions in the organization.
Superior customer experience
– The customer experience strategy of Performance Uncountable in the segment is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.
Highly skilled collaborators
– Performance Uncountable 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 When the Uncountable Counts: An Alternative to Monitoring Employee Performance HBR case study have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
Ability to recruit top talent
– Performance Uncountable is one of the leading recruiters in the industry. Managers in the When the Uncountable Counts: An Alternative to Monitoring Employee Performance are in a position to attract the best talent available. The firm has a robust talent identification program that helps in identifying the brightest.
Organizational Resilience of Performance Uncountable
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing that Performance Uncountable does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
High switching costs
– The high switching costs that Performance Uncountable 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.
Ability to lead change in Leadership & Managing People field
– Performance Uncountable 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 Performance Uncountable in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.
Weaknesses When the Uncountable Counts: An Alternative to Monitoring Employee Performance | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of When the Uncountable Counts: An Alternative to Monitoring Employee Performance are -
Slow to strategic competitive environment developments
– As When the Uncountable Counts: An Alternative to Monitoring Employee Performance HBR case study mentions - Performance Uncountable 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.
High dependence on star products
– The top 2 products and services of the firm as mentioned in the When the Uncountable Counts: An Alternative to Monitoring Employee Performance 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 Performance Uncountable has relatively successful track record of launching new products.
Slow decision making process
– As mentioned earlier in the report, Performance Uncountable 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. Performance Uncountable 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.
No frontier risks strategy
– After analyzing the HBR case study When the Uncountable Counts: An Alternative to Monitoring Employee Performance, 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.
Low market penetration in new markets
– Outside its home market of Performance Uncountable, firm in the HBR case study When the Uncountable Counts: An Alternative to Monitoring Employee Performance needs to spend more promotional, marketing, and advertising efforts to penetrate international markets.
Workers concerns about automation
– As automation is fast increasing in the segment, Performance Uncountable 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.
Aligning sales with marketing
– It come across in the case study When the Uncountable Counts: An Alternative to Monitoring Employee Performance 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 When the Uncountable Counts: An Alternative to Monitoring Employee Performance can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Performance Uncountable is planning to shift buying processes online.
Need for greater diversity
– Performance Uncountable has taken concrete steps on diversity, equity, and inclusion. But the efforts so far has resulted in limited success. It needs to expand the recruitment and selection process to hire more people from the minorities and underprivileged background.
High cash cycle compare to competitors
Performance Uncountable 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.
Ability to respond to the competition
– As the decision making is very deliberative, highlighted in the case study When the Uncountable Counts: An Alternative to Monitoring Employee Performance, in the dynamic environment Performance Uncountable has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. Performance Uncountable has reasonably good record with similar level competitors but it has struggled with new entrants taking away niches of its business.
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 Performance Uncountable supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes mentioned in the HBR case study - When the Uncountable Counts: An Alternative to Monitoring Employee Performance, it is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left Performance Uncountable vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.
Opportunities When the Uncountable Counts: An Alternative to Monitoring Employee Performance | 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 When the Uncountable Counts: An Alternative to Monitoring Employee Performance are -
Low interest rates
– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Performance Uncountable 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.
Manufacturing automation
– Performance Uncountable 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.
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– Performance Uncountable 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 When the Uncountable Counts: An Alternative to Monitoring Employee Performance - to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Performance Uncountable to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
Developing new processes and practices
– Performance Uncountable can develop new processes and procedures in Leadership & Managing People industry using technology such as automation using artificial intelligence, real time transportation and products tracking, 3D modeling for concept development and new products pilot testing etc.
Buying journey improvements
– Performance Uncountable can improve the customer journey of consumers in the industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. When the Uncountable Counts: An Alternative to Monitoring Employee Performance 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.
Reforming the budgeting process
- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects Performance Uncountable can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.
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. Performance Uncountable 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. Performance Uncountable 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 Performance Uncountable in the consumer business. Now Performance Uncountable can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.
Loyalty marketing
– Performance Uncountable 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.
Leveraging digital technologies
– Performance Uncountable can leverage digital technologies such as artificial intelligence and machine learning to automate the production process, customer analytics to get better insights into consumer behavior, realtime digital dashboards to get better sales tracking, logistics and transportation, product tracking, etc.
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Performance Uncountable has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Performance Uncountable to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the When the Uncountable Counts: An Alternative to Monitoring Employee Performance case study. Performance Uncountable can build new products and services such as - data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
Increase in government spending
– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Performance Uncountable can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Performance Uncountable operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Leadership & Managing People sector.
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 Performance Uncountable 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.
Threats When the Uncountable Counts: An Alternative to Monitoring Employee Performance External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study When the Uncountable Counts: An Alternative to Monitoring Employee Performance are -
Technology disruption because of hacks, piracy etc
– The colonial pipeline illustrated, how vulnerable modern organization are to international hackers, miscreants, and disruptors. The cyber security interruption, data leaks, etc can seriously jeopardize the future growth of the organization.
Consumer confidence and its impact on Performance Uncountable 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.
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 Performance Uncountable.
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Performance Uncountable 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.
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. Performance Uncountable 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
– Performance Uncountable 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. Performance Uncountable can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Leadership & Managing People industry.
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 Performance Uncountable business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry in the industry are lowering. It can presents Performance Uncountable with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the sector.
High dependence on third party suppliers
– Performance Uncountable 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.
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, as highlighted in case study When the Uncountable Counts: An Alternative to Monitoring Employee Performance, Performance Uncountable 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 .
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Performance Uncountable is facing in Leadership & Managing People sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Performance Uncountable 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 When the Uncountable Counts: An Alternative to Monitoring Employee Performance .
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Performance Uncountable 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.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of When the Uncountable Counts: An Alternative to Monitoring Employee Performance 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 When the Uncountable Counts: An Alternative to Monitoring Employee Performance 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 When the Uncountable Counts: An Alternative to Monitoring Employee Performance 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 When the Uncountable Counts: An Alternative to Monitoring Employee Performance 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 When the Uncountable Counts: An Alternative to Monitoring Employee Performance 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 Performance Uncountable needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.