To What End? Re-thinking Terrorist Attack Exercises in San Jose (Sequel 1) 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 (Sequel 1)
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. Sequel 1 is a continuation of the main case study (1815.0) and is designed to be read in the middle of class. It describes the new facilitated exercise model in brief. Students could then be asked to assess the approach taken by San Jose. HKS Case Number 1815.1
Swot Analysis of "To What End? Re-thinking Terrorist Attack Exercises in San Jose (Sequel 1)" 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 (Sequel 1) 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 (Sequel 1) casestudy better are - – competitive advantages are harder to sustain because of technology dispersion, cloud computing is disrupting traditional business models, increasing energy prices, there is increasing trade war between United States & China, geopolitical disruptions, digital marketing is dominated by two big players Facebook and Google, increasing inequality as vast percentage of new income is going to the top 1%,
talent flight as more people leaving formal jobs, increasing household debt because of falling income levels, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of To What End? Re-thinking Terrorist Attack Exercises in San Jose (Sequel 1)
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 (Sequel 1) 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 (Sequel 1) 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 (Sequel 1) 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 (Sequel 1) | 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 (Sequel 1) Harvard Business Review case study are -
Strong track record of project management
– Jose San is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.
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 (Sequel 1) 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.
Ability to lead change in Leadership & Managing People field
– Jose San 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 Jose San in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.
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.
Ability to recruit top talent
– Jose San is one of the leading recruiters in the industry. Managers in the To What End? Re-thinking Terrorist Attack Exercises in San Jose (Sequel 1) are in a position to attract the best talent available. The firm has a robust talent identification program that helps in identifying the brightest.
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 (Sequel 1) - staying ahead in the industry in terms of – new product launches, superior customer experience, highly competitive pricing strategies, and great returns to the shareholders.
Organizational Resilience of Jose San
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing that Jose San does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
High switching costs
– The high switching costs that Jose San 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.
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.
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.
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 (Sequel 1) 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.
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 (Sequel 1) Harvard Business Review case study emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
Weaknesses To What End? Re-thinking Terrorist Attack Exercises in San Jose (Sequel 1) | 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 (Sequel 1) are -
Aligning sales with marketing
– It come across in the case study To What End? Re-thinking Terrorist Attack Exercises in San Jose (Sequel 1) 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 To What End? Re-thinking Terrorist Attack Exercises in San Jose (Sequel 1) can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Jose San is planning to shift buying processes online.
Employees’ incomplete understanding of strategy
– From the instances in the HBR case study To What End? Re-thinking Terrorist Attack Exercises in San Jose (Sequel 1), 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.
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 (Sequel 1) 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 (Sequel 1), 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.
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.
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.
High dependence on star products
– The top 2 products and services of the firm as mentioned in the To What End? Re-thinking Terrorist Attack Exercises in San Jose (Sequel 1) 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 Jose San has relatively successful track record of launching new products.
Skills based hiring
– The stress on hiring functional specialists at Jose San 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.
Capital Spending Reduction
– Even during the low interest decade, Jose San has not been able to do capital spending to the tune of the competition. This has resulted into fewer innovations and company facing stiff competition from both existing competitors and new entrants who are disrupting the industry using digital technology.
Low market penetration in new markets
– Outside its home market of Jose San, firm in the HBR case study To What End? Re-thinking Terrorist Attack Exercises in San Jose (Sequel 1) needs to spend more promotional, marketing, and advertising efforts to penetrate international markets.
Opportunities To What End? Re-thinking Terrorist Attack Exercises in San Jose (Sequel 1) | 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 (Sequel 1) are -
Redefining models of collaboration and team work
– As explained in the weaknesses section, Jose San is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. To What End? Re-thinking Terrorist Attack Exercises in San Jose (Sequel 1) 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.
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.
Lowering marketing communication costs
– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Jose San 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.
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 (Sequel 1) 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.
Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains
– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Jose San 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, To What End? Re-thinking Terrorist Attack Exercises in San Jose (Sequel 1), to buy more products closer to the markets, and it can leverage its size and influence to get better deal from the local markets.
Leveraging digital technologies
– Jose San 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.
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.
Reconfiguring business model
– The expansion of digital payment system, the bringing down of international transactions costs using Bitcoin and other blockchain based currencies, etc can help Jose San to reconfigure its entire business model. For example it can used blockchain based technologies to reduce piracy of its products in the big markets such as China. Secondly it can use the popularity of e-commerce in various developing markets to build a Direct to Customer business model rather than the current Channel Heavy distribution network.
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.
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.
Reforming the budgeting process
- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects Jose San can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.
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.
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.
Threats To What End? Re-thinking Terrorist Attack Exercises in San Jose (Sequel 1) 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 (Sequel 1) are -
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.
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.
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.
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.
Environmental challenges
– Jose San 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. Jose San can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Leadership & Managing People industry.
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. Jose San 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.
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 (Sequel 1) .
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.
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.
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.
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.
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 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.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of To What End? Re-thinking Terrorist Attack Exercises in San Jose (Sequel 1) 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 (Sequel 1) 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 (Sequel 1) 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 (Sequel 1) 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 (Sequel 1) 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.
