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 - – technology disruption, increasing government debt because of Covid-19 spendings, increasing household debt because of falling income levels, increasing commodity prices, geopolitical disruptions, talent flight as more people leaving formal jobs, there is backlash against globalization,
wage bills are increasing, there is increasing trade war between United States & China, 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 -
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.
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.
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.
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.
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Leadership & Managing People industry
– To What End? Re-thinking Terrorist Attack Exercises in San Jose (Sequel 1) 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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Operational resilience
– The operational resilience strategy in the To What End? Re-thinking Terrorist Attack Exercises in San Jose (Sequel 1) 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.
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.
Highly skilled collaborators
– Jose San 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 To What End? Re-thinking Terrorist Attack Exercises in San Jose (Sequel 1) HBR case study have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
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 -
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.
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.
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.
High operating costs
– Compare to the competitors, firm in the HBR case study To What End? Re-thinking Terrorist Attack Exercises in San Jose (Sequel 1) 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.
Need for greater diversity
– Jose San has taken concrete steps on diversity, equity, and inclusion. But the efforts so far has resulted in limited success. It needs to expand the recruitment and selection process to hire more people from the minorities and underprivileged background.
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.
High cash cycle compare to competitors
Jose San 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.
High dependence on existing supply chain
– The disruption in the global supply chains because of the Covid-19 pandemic and blockage of the Suez Canal illustrated the fragile nature of Jose San supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes mentioned in the HBR case study - To What End? Re-thinking Terrorist Attack Exercises in San Jose (Sequel 1), it is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left Jose San vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.
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 (Sequel 1) should strive to include more intangible value offerings along with its core products and services.
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.
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.
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 -
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.
Loyalty marketing
– Jose San has focused on building a highly responsive customer relationship management platform. This platform is built on in-house data and driven by analytics and artificial intelligence. The customer analytics can help the organization to fine tune its loyalty marketing efforts, increase the wallet share of the organization, reduce wastage on mainstream advertising spending, build better pricing strategies using personalization, etc.
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Jose San has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Jose San to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the To What End? Re-thinking Terrorist Attack Exercises in San Jose (Sequel 1) case study. Jose San can build new products and services such as - data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Manufacturing automation
– Jose San 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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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 -
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 Jose San business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
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.
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.
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.
Technology disruption because of hacks, piracy etc
– The colonial pipeline illustrated, how vulnerable modern organization are to international hackers, miscreants, and disruptors. The cyber security interruption, data leaks, etc can seriously jeopardize the future growth of the organization.
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for 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.
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 (Sequel 1), 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 .
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.
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. Jose San can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
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 Jose San in the Leadership & Managing People sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
Aging population
– As the populations of most advanced economies are aging, it will lead to high social security costs, higher savings among population, and lower demand for goods and services in the economy. The household savings in US, France, UK, Germany, and Japan are growing faster than predicted because of uncertainty caused by pandemic.
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.
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.