Kerstin Berger observes her new colleague Tina Orton gradually slide into complete dysfunction and burnout. Orton, just hired, is given very little guidance or support in a "set up to fail" job situation. In addition she is going through tremendous personal change. With a near-impossible project, a hands-off boss, and a new culture and language (she has just moved to Switzerland to be with her new husband on an expatriate assignment), Orton finds herself in an untenable situation. She asks for help but does not get it; instead she resorts to pathological overworking in an attempt at control-an attempt that does not work and that leaves her completely burned out. When one morning Orton cleans out her office, leaves her badge on her desk, and disappears, Berger is left to pick up the pieces of her project one month before launch. Learning objectives: To consider how it happens that accomplished professionals sometimes find themselves in impossible situations. To understand the nature of burnout and the factors behind it. To identify best (and worst) practices for hiring and "on-boarding" new professionals in IT and other staff functions. To think about our own biases about what constitutes success and failure, and to what extent situations dominate individuals in determining outcomes (fundamental attribution error).
Swot Analysis of "KERSTIN BERGER (A)" written by Maury Peiperl includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Orton Berger facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in KERSTIN BERGER (A) case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Gender, Stress and Leadership & Managing People.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the KERSTIN BERGER (A) casestudy better are - – cloud computing is disrupting traditional business models, talent flight as more people leaving formal jobs, supply chains are disrupted by pandemic , wage bills are increasing, increasing transportation and logistics costs, there is increasing trade war between United States & China, central banks are concerned over increasing inflation,
challanges to central banks by blockchain based private currencies, increasing government debt because of Covid-19 spendings, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of KERSTIN BERGER (A)
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in KERSTIN BERGER (A) case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Orton Berger, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Orton Berger 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 KERSTIN BERGER (A) can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in KERSTIN BERGER (A) case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Orton Berger
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 Orton Berger
Strengths KERSTIN BERGER (A) | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Orton Berger in KERSTIN BERGER (A) Harvard Business Review case study are -
Digital Transformation in Leadership & Managing People segment
- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For Orton Berger digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Orton Berger 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.
Operational resilience
– The operational resilience strategy in the KERSTIN BERGER (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 recruit top talent
– Orton Berger is one of the leading recruiters in the industry. Managers in the KERSTIN BERGER (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.
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of Orton Berger in the sector have low bargaining power. KERSTIN BERGER (A) has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Orton Berger to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
Learning organization
- Orton Berger 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 Orton Berger is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders in KERSTIN BERGER (A) Harvard Business Review case study emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
Training and development
– Orton Berger has one of the best training and development program in the industry. The effectiveness of the training programs can be measured in KERSTIN BERGER (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
– Orton Berger has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Orton Berger 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.
Diverse revenue streams
– Orton Berger is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided firm in KERSTIN BERGER (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.
Strong track record of project management
– Orton Berger is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.
Cross disciplinary teams
– Horizontal connected teams at the Orton Berger 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.
High brand equity
– Orton Berger has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Orton Berger to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Effective Research and Development (R&D)
– Orton Berger 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 KERSTIN BERGER (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.
Weaknesses KERSTIN BERGER (A) | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of KERSTIN BERGER (A) are -
Ability to respond to the competition
– As the decision making is very deliberative, highlighted in the case study KERSTIN BERGER (A), in the dynamic environment Orton Berger has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. Orton Berger has reasonably good record with similar level competitors but it has struggled with new entrants taking away niches of its business.
No frontier risks strategy
– After analyzing the HBR case study KERSTIN BERGER (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.
Increasing silos among functional specialists
– The organizational structure of Orton Berger is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Leadership & Managing People segment. Orton Berger needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Orton Berger to focus more on services rather than just following the product oriented approach.
Slow decision making process
– As mentioned earlier in the report, Orton Berger 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. Orton Berger 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.
Compensation and incentives
– The revenue per employee as mentioned in the HBR case study KERSTIN BERGER (A), is just above the industry average. Orton Berger needs to redesign the compensation structure and incentives to increase the revenue per employees. Some of the steps that it can take are – hiring more specialists on project basis, etc.
High operating costs
– Compare to the competitors, firm in the HBR case study KERSTIN BERGER (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 Orton Berger 's lucrative customers.
Low market penetration in new markets
– Outside its home market of Orton Berger, firm in the HBR case study KERSTIN BERGER (A) needs to spend more promotional, marketing, and advertising efforts to penetrate international markets.
Aligning sales with marketing
– It come across in the case study KERSTIN BERGER (A) 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 KERSTIN BERGER (A) can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Orton Berger is planning to shift buying processes online.
Slow to harness new channels of communication
– Even though competitors are using new communication channels such as Instagram, Tiktok, and Snap, Orton Berger is slow explore the new channels of communication. These new channels of communication mentioned in marketing section of case study KERSTIN BERGER (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.
Workers concerns about automation
– As automation is fast increasing in the segment, Orton Berger 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.
Skills based hiring
– The stress on hiring functional specialists at Orton Berger 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.
Opportunities KERSTIN BERGER (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 KERSTIN BERGER (A) are -
Learning at scale
– Online learning technologies has now opened space for Orton Berger 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.
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. Orton Berger 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. Orton Berger 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.
Developing new processes and practices
– Orton Berger 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.
Redefining models of collaboration and team work
– As explained in the weaknesses section, Orton Berger is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. KERSTIN BERGER (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.
Lowering marketing communication costs
– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Orton Berger 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.
Reforming the budgeting process
- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects Orton Berger can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– Orton Berger 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 KERSTIN BERGER (A) - to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Orton Berger to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
Increase in government spending
– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Orton Berger can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Orton Berger operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Leadership & Managing People sector.
Manufacturing automation
– Orton Berger 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.
Better consumer reach
– The expansion of the 5G network will help Orton Berger to increase its market reach. Orton Berger 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.
Leveraging digital technologies
– Orton Berger 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.
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 Orton Berger in the consumer business. Now Orton Berger can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.
Building a culture of innovation
– managers at Orton Berger 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.
Threats KERSTIN BERGER (A) External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study KERSTIN BERGER (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. Orton Berger can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry in the industry are lowering. It can presents Orton Berger with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the sector.
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 Orton Berger.
Environmental challenges
– Orton Berger 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. Orton Berger can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Leadership & Managing People industry.
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 Orton Berger 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. Orton Berger 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.
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, as highlighted in case study KERSTIN BERGER (A), Orton Berger 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 .
High dependence on third party suppliers
– Orton Berger 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.
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Orton Berger has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Leadership & Managing People industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Orton Berger 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.
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.
Increasing wage structure of Orton Berger
– 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 Orton Berger.
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Orton Berger 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 KERSTIN BERGER (A) .
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Orton Berger 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.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of KERSTIN BERGER (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 KERSTIN BERGER (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 KERSTIN BERGER (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 KERSTIN BERGER (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 KERSTIN BERGER (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 Orton Berger needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.