Business and Government: Campaign Contributions and Lobbying in the United States SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Leadership & Managing People
Strategy / MBA Resources
Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of Business and Government: Campaign Contributions and Lobbying in the United States
This note on business-government relations introduces students to the state of campaign contributions and lobbying by corporations in the United States. The note develops two hypotheses as to the impact of corporate political engagement: (i) a vehicle to facilitate good government; and (ii) an instrument of special-interest capture. The note can be used to generate a discussion on the following issues: (1) In a democratic capitalist society, what is the appropriate role of business in government? (2) When it comes to political contributions, should corporations have the same rights and responsibilities as individuals? The note also describes the various practical choices businesses face on political engagement, including disclosure options and options to engage through trade or ideological associations. This description can be used to encourage business students to develop an aspiration for their companies' political engagement strategies
Authors :: Karthik Ramanna, Sandra J. Sucher, Ian McKown Cornell
Swot Analysis of "Business and Government: Campaign Contributions and Lobbying in the United States" written by Karthik Ramanna, Sandra J. Sucher, Ian McKown Cornell includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Contributions Political facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Business and Government: Campaign Contributions and Lobbying in the United States case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Ethics, Government and Leadership & Managing People.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Business and Government: Campaign Contributions and Lobbying in the United States casestudy better are - – increasing inequality as vast percentage of new income is going to the top 1%, digital marketing is dominated by two big players Facebook and Google, geopolitical disruptions, cloud computing is disrupting traditional business models, wage bills are increasing, there is backlash against globalization, challanges to central banks by blockchain based private currencies,
increasing government debt because of Covid-19 spendings, increasing commodity prices, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Business and Government: Campaign Contributions and Lobbying in the United States
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Business and Government: Campaign Contributions and Lobbying in the United States case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Contributions Political, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Contributions Political 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 Business and Government: Campaign Contributions and Lobbying in the United States can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Business and Government: Campaign Contributions and Lobbying in the United States case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Contributions Political
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 Contributions Political
Strengths Business and Government: Campaign Contributions and Lobbying in the United States | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Contributions Political in Business and Government: Campaign Contributions and Lobbying in the United States Harvard Business Review case study are -
Innovation driven organization
– Contributions Political is one of the most innovative firm in sector. Manager in Business and Government: Campaign Contributions and Lobbying in the United States Harvard Business Review case study can use Clayton Christensen Disruptive Innovation strategies to further increase the scale of innovtions in the organization.
Organizational Resilience of Contributions Political
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing that Contributions Political does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
Highly skilled collaborators
– Contributions Political 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 Business and Government: Campaign Contributions and Lobbying in the United States HBR case study have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
Diverse revenue streams
– Contributions Political is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided firm in Business and Government: Campaign Contributions and Lobbying in the United States 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.
Superior customer experience
– The customer experience strategy of Contributions Political in the segment is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.
Successful track record of launching new products
– Contributions Political has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Contributions Political 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.
Digital Transformation in Leadership & Managing People segment
- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For Contributions Political digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Contributions Political 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.
Effective Research and Development (R&D)
– Contributions Political 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 Business and Government: Campaign Contributions and Lobbying in the United States - staying ahead in the industry in terms of – new product launches, superior customer experience, highly competitive pricing strategies, and great returns to the shareholders.
Cross disciplinary teams
– Horizontal connected teams at the Contributions Political 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.
Ability to lead change in Leadership & Managing People field
– Contributions Political 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 Contributions Political in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.
Training and development
– Contributions Political has one of the best training and development program in the industry. The effectiveness of the training programs can be measured in Business and Government: Campaign Contributions and Lobbying in the United States 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.
High switching costs
– The high switching costs that Contributions Political 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 Business and Government: Campaign Contributions and Lobbying in the United States | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Business and Government: Campaign Contributions and Lobbying in the United States are -
Aligning sales with marketing
– It come across in the case study Business and Government: Campaign Contributions and Lobbying in the United States 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 Business and Government: Campaign Contributions and Lobbying in the United States can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Contributions Political is planning to shift buying processes online.
Lack of clear differentiation of Contributions Political products
– To increase the profitability and margins on the products, Contributions Political needs to provide more differentiated products than what it is currently offering in the marketplace.
Workers concerns about automation
– As automation is fast increasing in the segment, Contributions Political 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.
Slow to strategic competitive environment developments
– As Business and Government: Campaign Contributions and Lobbying in the United States HBR case study mentions - Contributions Political 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.
Interest costs
– Compare to the competition, Contributions Political has borrowed money from the capital market at higher rates. It needs to restructure the interest payment and costs so that it can compete better and improve profitability.
High cash cycle compare to competitors
Contributions Political 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.
Slow decision making process
– As mentioned earlier in the report, Contributions Political 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. Contributions Political 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 Business and Government: Campaign Contributions and Lobbying in the United States, is just above the industry average. Contributions Political 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.
Skills based hiring
– The stress on hiring functional specialists at Contributions Political 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.
Slow to harness new channels of communication
– Even though competitors are using new communication channels such as Instagram, Tiktok, and Snap, Contributions Political is slow explore the new channels of communication. These new channels of communication mentioned in marketing section of case study Business and Government: Campaign Contributions and Lobbying in the United States can help to provide better information regarding products and services. It can also build an online community to further reach out to potential customers.
Products dominated business model
– Even though Contributions Political 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 - Business and Government: Campaign Contributions and Lobbying in the United States should strive to include more intangible value offerings along with its core products and services.
Opportunities Business and Government: Campaign Contributions and Lobbying in the United States | 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 Business and Government: Campaign Contributions and Lobbying in the United States are -
Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities
– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Contributions Political 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 Contributions Political to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
Redefining models of collaboration and team work
– As explained in the weaknesses section, Contributions Political is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. Business and Government: Campaign Contributions and Lobbying in the United States 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.
Building a culture of innovation
– managers at Contributions Political 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.
Increase in government spending
– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Contributions Political can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Contributions Political operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Leadership & Managing People sector.
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. Contributions Political can tie-up with other value chain partners to explore new opportunities regarding meeting customer demands and building a rewarding and engaging relationship.
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 Contributions Political in the consumer business. Now Contributions Political can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.
Manufacturing automation
– Contributions Political 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.
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Contributions Political has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Contributions Political to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the Business and Government: Campaign Contributions and Lobbying in the United States case study. Contributions Political can build new products and services such as - data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
Better consumer reach
– The expansion of the 5G network will help Contributions Political to increase its market reach. Contributions Political 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.
Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains
– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Contributions Political 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, Business and Government: Campaign Contributions and Lobbying in the United States, to buy more products closer to the markets, and it can leverage its size and influence to get better deal from the local markets.
Developing new processes and practices
– Contributions Political 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
– Contributions Political can improve the customer journey of consumers in the industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. Business and Government: Campaign Contributions and Lobbying in the United States 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.
Lowering marketing communication costs
– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Contributions Political 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.
Threats Business and Government: Campaign Contributions and Lobbying in the United States External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Business and Government: Campaign Contributions and Lobbying in the United States are -
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 Contributions Political business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
Increasing wage structure of Contributions Political
– 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 Contributions Political.
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.
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. Contributions Political needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Leadership & Managing People industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
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 Contributions Political.
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.
Environmental challenges
– Contributions Political 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. Contributions Political 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 Contributions Political with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the sector.
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Contributions Political has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Leadership & Managing People industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Contributions Political 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.
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Contributions Political is facing in Leadership & Managing People sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.
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 Contributions Political in the Leadership & Managing People sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Contributions Political 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.
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, as highlighted in case study Business and Government: Campaign Contributions and Lobbying in the United States, Contributions Political 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 .
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Business and Government: Campaign Contributions and Lobbying in the United States 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 Business and Government: Campaign Contributions and Lobbying in the United States 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 Business and Government: Campaign Contributions and Lobbying in the United States 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 Business and Government: Campaign Contributions and Lobbying in the United States 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 Business and Government: Campaign Contributions and Lobbying in the United States 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 Contributions Political needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.