Duke Power Co.: Affirmative Action (A) SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Leadership & Managing People
Strategy / MBA Resources
Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of Duke Power Co.: Affirmative Action (A)
Presents the dilemmas faced by the executive vice president of construction who is committed to pursuing affirmative action goals but is required by the financial condition of the company to lay off one-third of its construction workforce, which contains many recently hired minorities. The primary teaching objective is to promote analysis of ethical issues, including cost/benefit, principles, organizational constraints, etc.
Authors :: Kenneth E. Goodpaster, David E. Whiteside
Topics :: Leadership & Managing People
Tags :: Downsizing, Ethics, Human resource management, Social responsibility, SWOT Analysis, SWOT Matrix, TOWS, Weighted SWOT Analysis
Swot Analysis of "Duke Power Co.: Affirmative Action (A)" written by Kenneth E. Goodpaster, David E. Whiteside includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Affirmative Construction facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Duke Power Co.: Affirmative Action (A) case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Downsizing, Ethics, Human resource management, Social responsibility and Leadership & Managing People.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Duke Power Co.: Affirmative Action (A) casestudy better are - – geopolitical disruptions, supply chains are disrupted by pandemic , cloud computing is disrupting traditional business models, digital marketing is dominated by two big players Facebook and Google, technology disruption, central banks are concerned over increasing inflation, increasing inequality as vast percentage of new income is going to the top 1%,
increasing commodity prices, wage bills are increasing, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Duke Power Co.: Affirmative Action (A)
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Duke Power Co.: Affirmative Action (A) case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Affirmative Construction, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Affirmative Construction 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 Duke Power Co.: Affirmative Action (A) can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Duke Power Co.: Affirmative Action (A) case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Affirmative Construction
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 Affirmative Construction
Strengths Duke Power Co.: Affirmative Action (A) | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Affirmative Construction in Duke Power Co.: Affirmative Action (A) Harvard Business Review case study are -
Ability to lead change in Leadership & Managing People field
– Affirmative Construction 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 Affirmative Construction in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.
Ability to recruit top talent
– Affirmative Construction is one of the leading recruiters in the industry. Managers in the Duke Power Co.: Affirmative Action (A) 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
– Affirmative Construction has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Affirmative Construction to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Analytics focus
– Affirmative Construction 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 Kenneth E. Goodpaster, David E. Whiteside 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.
Innovation driven organization
– Affirmative Construction is one of the most innovative firm in sector. Manager in Duke Power Co.: Affirmative Action (A) Harvard Business Review case study can use Clayton Christensen Disruptive Innovation strategies to further increase the scale of innovtions in the organization.
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Leadership & Managing People industry
– Duke Power Co.: Affirmative Action (A) firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Affirmative Construction to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Leadership & Managing People industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Affirmative Construction to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Superior customer experience
– The customer experience strategy of Affirmative Construction in the segment is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.
Training and development
– Affirmative Construction has one of the best training and development program in the industry. The effectiveness of the training programs can be measured in Duke Power Co.: Affirmative Action (A) 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.
Successful track record of launching new products
– Affirmative Construction has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Affirmative Construction 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.
Highly skilled collaborators
– Affirmative Construction 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 Duke Power Co.: Affirmative Action (A) HBR case study have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of Affirmative Construction in the sector have low bargaining power. Duke Power Co.: Affirmative Action (A) has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Affirmative Construction to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
High switching costs
– The high switching costs that Affirmative Construction 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.
Weaknesses Duke Power Co.: Affirmative Action (A) | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Duke Power Co.: Affirmative Action (A) are -
Employees’ incomplete understanding of strategy
– From the instances in the HBR case study Duke Power Co.: Affirmative Action (A), it seems that the employees of Affirmative Construction don’t have comprehensive understanding of the firm’s strategy. This is reflected in number of promotional campaigns over the last few years that had mixed messaging and competing priorities. Some of the strategic activities and services promoted in the promotional campaigns were not consistent with the organization’s strategy.
Lack of clear differentiation of Affirmative Construction products
– To increase the profitability and margins on the products, Affirmative Construction needs to provide more differentiated products than what it is currently offering in the marketplace.
No frontier risks strategy
– After analyzing the HBR case study Duke Power Co.: Affirmative Action (A), 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 star products
– The top 2 products and services of the firm as mentioned in the Duke Power Co.: Affirmative Action (A) 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 Affirmative Construction has relatively successful track record of launching new products.
Products dominated business model
– Even though Affirmative Construction 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 - Duke Power Co.: Affirmative Action (A) should strive to include more intangible value offerings along with its core products and services.
Increasing silos among functional specialists
– The organizational structure of Affirmative Construction is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Leadership & Managing People segment. Affirmative Construction needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Affirmative Construction to focus more on services rather than just following the product oriented approach.
Skills based hiring
– The stress on hiring functional specialists at Affirmative Construction 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.
High bargaining power of channel partners
– Because of the regulatory requirements, Kenneth E. Goodpaster, David E. Whiteside suggests that, Affirmative Construction 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.
Capital Spending Reduction
– Even during the low interest decade, Affirmative Construction 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.
Slow to strategic competitive environment developments
– As Duke Power Co.: Affirmative Action (A) HBR case study mentions - Affirmative Construction 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 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 Affirmative Construction supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes mentioned in the HBR case study - Duke Power Co.: Affirmative Action (A), it is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left Affirmative Construction vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.
Opportunities Duke Power Co.: Affirmative Action (A) | 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 Duke Power Co.: Affirmative Action (A) are -
Buying journey improvements
– Affirmative Construction can improve the customer journey of consumers in the industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. Duke Power Co.: Affirmative Action (A) 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.
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Affirmative Construction has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Affirmative Construction to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the Duke Power Co.: Affirmative Action (A) case study. Affirmative Construction can build new products and services such as - data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
Developing new processes and practices
– Affirmative Construction 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.
Manufacturing automation
– Affirmative Construction 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.
Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains
– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Affirmative Construction 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, Duke Power Co.: Affirmative Action (A), to buy more products closer to the markets, and it can leverage its size and influence to get better deal from the local markets.
Loyalty marketing
– Affirmative Construction 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.
Redefining models of collaboration and team work
– As explained in the weaknesses section, Affirmative Construction is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. Duke Power Co.: Affirmative Action (A) 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.
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 Affirmative Construction in the consumer business. Now Affirmative Construction can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– Affirmative Construction 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 Duke Power Co.: Affirmative Action (A) - to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Affirmative Construction to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
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 Affirmative Construction 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.
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. Affirmative Construction can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.
Increase in government spending
– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Affirmative Construction can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Affirmative Construction operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Leadership & Managing People sector.
Leveraging digital technologies
– Affirmative Construction 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.
Threats Duke Power Co.: Affirmative Action (A) External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Duke Power Co.: Affirmative Action (A) are -
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. Affirmative Construction can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
Consumer confidence and its impact on Affirmative Construction 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.
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Affirmative Construction 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 Duke Power Co.: Affirmative Action (A) .
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 Affirmative Construction business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
High dependence on third party suppliers
– Affirmative Construction 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.
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 Affirmative Construction in the Leadership & Managing People sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
Instability in the European markets
– European Union markets are facing three big challenges post Covid – expanded balance sheets, Brexit related business disruption, and aggressive Russia looking to distract the existing security mechanism. Affirmative Construction 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.
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Affirmative Construction 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.
Increasing wage structure of Affirmative Construction
– 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 Affirmative Construction.
Environmental challenges
– Affirmative Construction 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. Affirmative Construction can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Leadership & Managing People industry.
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry in the industry are lowering. It can presents Affirmative Construction with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the sector.
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Affirmative Construction 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
– Affirmative Construction 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.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Duke Power Co.: Affirmative Action (A) 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 Duke Power Co.: Affirmative Action (A) 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 Duke Power Co.: Affirmative Action (A) 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 Duke Power Co.: Affirmative Action (A) 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 Duke Power Co.: Affirmative Action (A) 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 Affirmative Construction needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.