To What End? Re-thinking Terrorist Attack Exercises in San Jose SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Leadership & Managing People
Strategy / MBA Resources
Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of To What End? Re-thinking Terrorist Attack Exercises in San Jose
This case study tells the story of San Jose, California, one of the first 27 cities in the country to participate in a federal domestic preparedness program. Between 1997 and 1999, a specially created city task force mounted several full-scale terrorist attack exercises, but-despite the best of intentions-found all of them frustrating, demoralizing, and divisive, creating ill will between the exercise planners and the first responders. In response, the San Jose task force took a step back and analyzed their situation. In place of traditional full-scale exercises, San Jose drew on several existing prototypes to create a new "facilitated exercise" model that emphasized teaching over testing, and was much better received by first responders. For teaching flexibility, the case has been divided into three parts. The main case describes San Jose's early experience, ending at a crucial moment, when the task force was forced to face the fact that its approach was not working. It is designed to spark a class discussion about what seems to be going awry, and how the problems might be solved. HKS Case Number 1815.0
Swot Analysis of "To What End? Re-thinking Terrorist Attack Exercises in San Jose" written by Pamela Varley, Arnold Howitt includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Jose San facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in To What End? Re-thinking Terrorist Attack Exercises in San Jose case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Government, Project management, Risk management, Security & privacy, Strategic planning, Workspaces and Leadership & Managing People.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the To What End? Re-thinking Terrorist Attack Exercises in San Jose casestudy better are - – cloud computing is disrupting traditional business models, geopolitical disruptions, increasing household debt because of falling income levels, competitive advantages are harder to sustain because of technology dispersion, there is backlash against globalization, challanges to central banks by blockchain based private currencies, banking and financial system is disrupted by Bitcoin and other crypto currencies,
there is increasing trade war between United States & China, increasing government debt because of Covid-19 spendings, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of To What End? Re-thinking Terrorist Attack Exercises in San Jose
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in To What End? Re-thinking Terrorist Attack Exercises in San Jose case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Jose San, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Jose San 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 To What End? Re-thinking Terrorist Attack Exercises in San Jose can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in To What End? Re-thinking Terrorist Attack Exercises in San Jose case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Jose San
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 Jose San
Strengths To What End? Re-thinking Terrorist Attack Exercises in San Jose | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Jose San in To What End? Re-thinking Terrorist Attack Exercises in San Jose Harvard Business Review case study are -
Superior customer experience
– The customer experience strategy of Jose San in the segment is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.
Operational resilience
– The operational resilience strategy in the To What End? Re-thinking Terrorist Attack Exercises in San Jose 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.
Effective Research and Development (R&D)
– Jose San 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 To What End? Re-thinking Terrorist Attack Exercises in San Jose - staying ahead in the industry in terms of – new product launches, superior customer experience, highly competitive pricing strategies, and great returns to the shareholders.
Diverse revenue streams
– Jose San is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided firm in To What End? Re-thinking Terrorist Attack Exercises in San Jose 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.
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of Jose San in the sector have low bargaining power. To What End? Re-thinking Terrorist Attack Exercises in San Jose has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Jose San to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Leadership & Managing People industry
– To What End? Re-thinking Terrorist Attack Exercises in San Jose firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Jose San to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Leadership & Managing People industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Jose San to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Training and development
– Jose San has one of the best training and development program in the industry. The effectiveness of the training programs can be measured in To What End? Re-thinking Terrorist Attack Exercises in San Jose 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.
Digital Transformation in Leadership & Managing People segment
- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For Jose San digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Jose San has successfully integrated the four key components of digital transformation – digital integration in processes, digital integration in marketing and customer relationship management, digital integration into the value chain, and using technology to explore new products and market opportunities.
Learning organization
- Jose San 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 Jose San is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders in To What End? Re-thinking Terrorist Attack Exercises in San Jose Harvard Business Review case study emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
Analytics focus
– Jose San 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 Pamela Varley, Arnold Howitt 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.
Cross disciplinary teams
– Horizontal connected teams at the Jose San 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
– Jose San has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Jose San to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Weaknesses To What End? Re-thinking Terrorist Attack Exercises in San Jose | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of To What End? Re-thinking Terrorist Attack Exercises in San Jose are -
Workers concerns about automation
– As automation is fast increasing in the segment, Jose San 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.
Employees’ incomplete understanding of strategy
– From the instances in the HBR case study To What End? Re-thinking Terrorist Attack Exercises in San Jose, it seems that the employees of Jose San 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 operating costs
– Compare to the competitors, firm in the HBR case study To What End? Re-thinking Terrorist Attack Exercises in San Jose 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 Jose San 's lucrative customers.
Slow decision making process
– As mentioned earlier in the report, Jose San 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. Jose San 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.
Interest costs
– Compare to the competition, Jose San 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.
Lack of clear differentiation of Jose San products
– To increase the profitability and margins on the products, Jose San needs to provide more differentiated products than what it is currently offering in the marketplace.
Compensation and incentives
– The revenue per employee as mentioned in the HBR case study To What End? Re-thinking Terrorist Attack Exercises in San Jose, is just above the industry average. Jose San 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.
Increasing silos among functional specialists
– The organizational structure of Jose San is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Leadership & Managing People segment. Jose San needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Jose San to focus more on services rather than just following the product oriented approach.
Slow to harness new channels of communication
– Even though competitors are using new communication channels such as Instagram, Tiktok, and Snap, Jose San is slow explore the new channels of communication. These new channels of communication mentioned in marketing section of case study To What End? Re-thinking Terrorist Attack Exercises in San Jose can help to provide better information regarding products and services. It can also build an online community to further reach out to potential customers.
No frontier risks strategy
– After analyzing the HBR case study To What End? Re-thinking Terrorist Attack Exercises in San Jose, 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.
Products dominated business model
– Even though Jose San 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 - To What End? Re-thinking Terrorist Attack Exercises in San Jose should strive to include more intangible value offerings along with its core products and services.
Opportunities To What End? Re-thinking Terrorist Attack Exercises in San Jose | 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 To What End? Re-thinking Terrorist Attack Exercises in San Jose are -
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 Jose San in the consumer business. Now Jose San can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.
Developing new processes and practices
– Jose San 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.
Increase in government spending
– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Jose San can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Jose San operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Leadership & Managing People sector.
Building a culture of innovation
– managers at Jose San 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 Jose San 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.
Low interest rates
– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Jose San 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.
Better consumer reach
– The expansion of the 5G network will help Jose San to increase its market reach. Jose San 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.
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. Jose San can tie-up with other value chain partners to explore new opportunities regarding meeting customer demands and building a rewarding and engaging relationship.
Buying journey improvements
– Jose San can improve the customer journey of consumers in the industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. To What End? Re-thinking Terrorist Attack Exercises in San Jose 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.
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– Jose San 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 To What End? Re-thinking Terrorist Attack Exercises in San Jose - to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Jose San to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
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. Jose San can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.
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. Jose San 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. Jose San 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.
Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities
– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Jose San 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 Jose San to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
Threats To What End? Re-thinking Terrorist Attack Exercises in San Jose External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study To What End? Re-thinking Terrorist Attack Exercises in San Jose are -
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Jose San 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
– Jose San 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.
Consumer confidence and its impact on Jose San 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.
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.
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Jose San has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Leadership & Managing People industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Jose San 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.
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Jose San 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 To What End? Re-thinking Terrorist Attack Exercises in San Jose .
Increasing wage structure of Jose San
– 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 Jose San.
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. Jose San needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Leadership & Managing People industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, as highlighted in case study To What End? Re-thinking Terrorist Attack Exercises in San Jose, Jose San may face longer learning curve for training and development of existing employees. This can open space for more nimble competitors in the field of Leadership & Managing People .
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Jose San is facing in Leadership & Managing People sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.
High dependence on third party suppliers
– Jose San 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.
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 Jose San.
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Jose San 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 To What End? Re-thinking Terrorist Attack Exercises in San Jose 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 To What End? Re-thinking Terrorist Attack Exercises in San Jose 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 To What End? Re-thinking Terrorist Attack Exercises in San Jose 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 To What End? Re-thinking Terrorist Attack Exercises in San Jose 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 To What End? Re-thinking Terrorist Attack Exercises in San Jose 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 Jose San needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.