Anne Mulcahy: Leading Xerox Through the Perfect Storm (A) SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Leadership & Managing People
Strategy / MBA Resources
Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of Anne Mulcahy: Leading Xerox Through the Perfect Storm (A)
This case is accompanied by a Video Short that can be shown in class or included in a digital coursepack. Instructors should consider the timing of making the video available to students, as it may reveal key case details.In 2000, Xerox faces bankruptcy amid a liquidity crisis, collapsed profitability, and an expanding SEC investigation. Traces the career and leadership development of Anne Mulcahy, a former sales executive unexpectedly named COO of the beleaguered company as a last effort to turn Xerox around. Describes how Mulcahy assembles and motivates her team, frames her priorities, and fills her knowledge gaps in the face of critics doubtful of Xerox's ability to change. Raises questions in her mind about stakeholder priorities, employee motivation, difficult strategic trade-offs, and finding profitability while trying to avoid bankruptcy.
Swot Analysis of "Anne Mulcahy: Leading Xerox Through the Perfect Storm (A)" written by William W. George, Andrew N. McLean includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Mulcahy Xerox facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Anne Mulcahy: Leading Xerox Through the Perfect Storm (A) case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Collaboration, Corporate governance, Crisis management, Financial management, Government, Leadership, Organizational culture, Strategy, Work-life balance and Leadership & Managing People.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Anne Mulcahy: Leading Xerox Through the Perfect Storm (A) casestudy better are - – customer relationship management is fast transforming because of increasing concerns over data privacy, geopolitical disruptions, digital marketing is dominated by two big players Facebook and Google, increasing government debt because of Covid-19 spendings, competitive advantages are harder to sustain because of technology dispersion, cloud computing is disrupting traditional business models, central banks are concerned over increasing inflation,
increasing energy prices, banking and financial system is disrupted by Bitcoin and other crypto currencies, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Anne Mulcahy: Leading Xerox Through the Perfect Storm (A)
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Anne Mulcahy: Leading Xerox Through the Perfect Storm (A) case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Mulcahy Xerox, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Mulcahy Xerox 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 Anne Mulcahy: Leading Xerox Through the Perfect Storm (A) can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Anne Mulcahy: Leading Xerox Through the Perfect Storm (A) case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Mulcahy Xerox
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 Mulcahy Xerox
Strengths Anne Mulcahy: Leading Xerox Through the Perfect Storm (A) | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Mulcahy Xerox in Anne Mulcahy: Leading Xerox Through the Perfect Storm (A) Harvard Business Review case study are -
High switching costs
– The high switching costs that Mulcahy Xerox 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.
Effective Research and Development (R&D)
– Mulcahy Xerox 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 Anne Mulcahy: Leading Xerox Through the Perfect Storm (A) - staying ahead in the industry in terms of – new product launches, superior customer experience, highly competitive pricing strategies, and great returns to the shareholders.
Strong track record of project management
– Mulcahy Xerox is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.
Operational resilience
– The operational resilience strategy in the Anne Mulcahy: Leading Xerox Through the Perfect Storm (A) 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.
Ability to lead change in Leadership & Managing People field
– Mulcahy Xerox 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 Mulcahy Xerox in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.
Superior customer experience
– The customer experience strategy of Mulcahy Xerox in the segment is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.
Highly skilled collaborators
– Mulcahy Xerox 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 Anne Mulcahy: Leading Xerox Through the Perfect Storm (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 Mulcahy Xerox in the sector have low bargaining power. Anne Mulcahy: Leading Xerox Through the Perfect Storm (A) has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Mulcahy Xerox to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
Cross disciplinary teams
– Horizontal connected teams at the Mulcahy Xerox 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.
Diverse revenue streams
– Mulcahy Xerox is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided firm in Anne Mulcahy: Leading Xerox Through the Perfect Storm (A) 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.
High brand equity
– Mulcahy Xerox has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Mulcahy Xerox to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Ability to recruit top talent
– Mulcahy Xerox is one of the leading recruiters in the industry. Managers in the Anne Mulcahy: Leading Xerox Through the Perfect Storm (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.
Weaknesses Anne Mulcahy: Leading Xerox Through the Perfect Storm (A) | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Anne Mulcahy: Leading Xerox Through the Perfect Storm (A) are -
High operating costs
– Compare to the competitors, firm in the HBR case study Anne Mulcahy: Leading Xerox Through the Perfect Storm (A) 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 Mulcahy Xerox 's lucrative customers.
Lack of clear differentiation of Mulcahy Xerox products
– To increase the profitability and margins on the products, Mulcahy Xerox needs to provide more differentiated products than what it is currently offering in the marketplace.
Ability to respond to the competition
– As the decision making is very deliberative, highlighted in the case study Anne Mulcahy: Leading Xerox Through the Perfect Storm (A), in the dynamic environment Mulcahy Xerox has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. Mulcahy Xerox has reasonably good record with similar level competitors but it has struggled with new entrants taking away niches of its business.
Slow to harness new channels of communication
– Even though competitors are using new communication channels such as Instagram, Tiktok, and Snap, Mulcahy Xerox is slow explore the new channels of communication. These new channels of communication mentioned in marketing section of case study Anne Mulcahy: Leading Xerox Through the Perfect Storm (A) 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 cash cycle compare to competitors
Mulcahy Xerox 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.
Employees’ incomplete understanding of strategy
– From the instances in the HBR case study Anne Mulcahy: Leading Xerox Through the Perfect Storm (A), it seems that the employees of Mulcahy Xerox 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.
High dependence on star products
– The top 2 products and services of the firm as mentioned in the Anne Mulcahy: Leading Xerox Through the Perfect Storm (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 Mulcahy Xerox has relatively successful track record of launching new products.
No frontier risks strategy
– After analyzing the HBR case study Anne Mulcahy: Leading Xerox Through the Perfect Storm (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 bargaining power of channel partners
– Because of the regulatory requirements, William W. George, Andrew N. McLean suggests that, Mulcahy Xerox 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.
Need for greater diversity
– Mulcahy Xerox 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.
Low market penetration in new markets
– Outside its home market of Mulcahy Xerox, firm in the HBR case study Anne Mulcahy: Leading Xerox Through the Perfect Storm (A) needs to spend more promotional, marketing, and advertising efforts to penetrate international markets.
Opportunities Anne Mulcahy: Leading Xerox Through the Perfect Storm (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 Anne Mulcahy: Leading Xerox Through the Perfect Storm (A) are -
Leveraging digital technologies
– Mulcahy Xerox 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.
Buying journey improvements
– Mulcahy Xerox can improve the customer journey of consumers in the industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. Anne Mulcahy: Leading Xerox Through the Perfect Storm (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.
Increase in government spending
– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Mulcahy Xerox can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Mulcahy Xerox operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Leadership & Managing People sector.
Better consumer reach
– The expansion of the 5G network will help Mulcahy Xerox to increase its market reach. Mulcahy Xerox 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.
Loyalty marketing
– Mulcahy Xerox 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.
Building a culture of innovation
– managers at Mulcahy Xerox 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.
Learning at scale
– Online learning technologies has now opened space for Mulcahy Xerox to conduct training and development for its employees across the world. This will result in not only reducing the cost of training but also help employees in different part of the world to integrate with the headquarter work culture, ethos, and standards.
Manufacturing automation
– Mulcahy Xerox 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.
Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities
– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Mulcahy Xerox 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 Mulcahy Xerox to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
Low interest rates
– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Mulcahy Xerox 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.
Redefining models of collaboration and team work
– As explained in the weaknesses section, Mulcahy Xerox is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. Anne Mulcahy: Leading Xerox Through the Perfect Storm (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.
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. Mulcahy Xerox can tie-up with other value chain partners to explore new opportunities regarding meeting customer demands and building a rewarding and engaging relationship.
Developing new processes and practices
– Mulcahy Xerox 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 Anne Mulcahy: Leading Xerox Through the Perfect Storm (A) External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Anne Mulcahy: Leading Xerox Through the Perfect Storm (A) 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.
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Mulcahy Xerox 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.
High dependence on third party suppliers
– Mulcahy Xerox 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 Mulcahy Xerox in the Leadership & Managing People sector and impact the bottomline 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
– Mulcahy Xerox has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Leadership & Managing People industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Mulcahy Xerox 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.
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 Mulcahy Xerox.
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry in the industry are lowering. It can presents Mulcahy Xerox with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the sector.
Environmental challenges
– Mulcahy Xerox 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. Mulcahy Xerox can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Leadership & Managing People industry.
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Mulcahy Xerox 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 Anne Mulcahy: Leading Xerox Through the Perfect Storm (A) .
Increasing wage structure of Mulcahy Xerox
– 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 Mulcahy Xerox.
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. Mulcahy Xerox needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Leadership & Managing People industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Mulcahy Xerox 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 Anne Mulcahy: Leading Xerox Through the Perfect Storm (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 Anne Mulcahy: Leading Xerox Through the Perfect Storm (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 Anne Mulcahy: Leading Xerox Through the Perfect Storm (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 Anne Mulcahy: Leading Xerox Through the Perfect Storm (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 Anne Mulcahy: Leading Xerox Through the Perfect Storm (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 Mulcahy Xerox needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.
