Jesse Holman Jones and the Reconstruction Finance Corp. SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Leadership & Managing People
Strategy / MBA Resources
Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of Jesse Holman Jones and the Reconstruction Finance Corp.
Jesse Holman Jones is regarded as one of the most influential men in reviving the American economy from the Great Depression. With only an 8th grade education, he rose to the top of the banking, real estate, and lumber industries, as well as the upper echelons of politics as the head of Reconstruction Finance Corp. (RFC), as secretary of commerce and, during World War I, as director general of military relief for the American Red Cross. He was responsible for the transformation of his adopted city Houston, Texas, into the most important city for international commerce in the South. After Franklin D. Roosevelt, Jones was the single most influential and powerful man in the New Deal by virtue of his control of the billions of dollars RFC held. With this power, he greatly affected many American cities and the way our financial system currently operates. A rewritten version of an earlier case.
Authors :: Nitin Nohria, Anthony J. Mayo, Bridget Gurtler
Swot Analysis of "Jesse Holman Jones and the Reconstruction Finance Corp." written by Nitin Nohria, Anthony J. Mayo, Bridget Gurtler includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Holman Rfc facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Jesse Holman Jones and the Reconstruction Finance Corp. case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Leadership, Organizational culture and Leadership & Managing People.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Jesse Holman Jones and the Reconstruction Finance Corp. casestudy better are - – customer relationship management is fast transforming because of increasing concerns over data privacy, increasing inequality as vast percentage of new income is going to the top 1%, cloud computing is disrupting traditional business models, technology disruption, wage bills are increasing, central banks are concerned over increasing inflation, geopolitical disruptions,
digital marketing is dominated by two big players Facebook and Google, increasing commodity prices, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Jesse Holman Jones and the Reconstruction Finance Corp.
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Jesse Holman Jones and the Reconstruction Finance Corp. case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Holman Rfc, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Holman Rfc 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 Jesse Holman Jones and the Reconstruction Finance Corp. can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Jesse Holman Jones and the Reconstruction Finance Corp. case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Holman Rfc
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 Holman Rfc
Strengths Jesse Holman Jones and the Reconstruction Finance Corp. | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Holman Rfc in Jesse Holman Jones and the Reconstruction Finance Corp. Harvard Business Review case study are -
Successful track record of launching new products
– Holman Rfc has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Holman Rfc 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.
Strong track record of project management
– Holman Rfc is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.
High brand equity
– Holman Rfc has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Holman Rfc to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Analytics focus
– Holman Rfc 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 Nitin Nohria, Anthony J. Mayo, Bridget Gurtler 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.
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Leadership & Managing People industry
– Jesse Holman Jones and the Reconstruction Finance Corp. firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Holman Rfc to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Leadership & Managing People industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Holman Rfc to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Ability to lead change in Leadership & Managing People field
– Holman Rfc 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 Holman Rfc in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.
Superior customer experience
– The customer experience strategy of Holman Rfc in the segment is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.
Innovation driven organization
– Holman Rfc is one of the most innovative firm in sector. Manager in Jesse Holman Jones and the Reconstruction Finance Corp. Harvard Business Review case study can use Clayton Christensen Disruptive Innovation strategies to further increase the scale of innovtions in the organization.
Effective Research and Development (R&D)
– Holman Rfc 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 Jesse Holman Jones and the Reconstruction Finance Corp. - 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
– Holman Rfc is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided firm in Jesse Holman Jones and the Reconstruction Finance Corp. 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 Holman Rfc in the sector have low bargaining power. Jesse Holman Jones and the Reconstruction Finance Corp. has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Holman Rfc to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
Training and development
– Holman Rfc has one of the best training and development program in the industry. The effectiveness of the training programs can be measured in Jesse Holman Jones and the Reconstruction Finance Corp. 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.
Weaknesses Jesse Holman Jones and the Reconstruction Finance Corp. | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Jesse Holman Jones and the Reconstruction Finance Corp. are -
Increasing silos among functional specialists
– The organizational structure of Holman Rfc is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Leadership & Managing People segment. Holman Rfc needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Holman Rfc to focus more on services rather than just following the product oriented approach.
Slow to strategic competitive environment developments
– As Jesse Holman Jones and the Reconstruction Finance Corp. HBR case study mentions - Holman Rfc 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.
Products dominated business model
– Even though Holman Rfc 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 - Jesse Holman Jones and the Reconstruction Finance Corp. should strive to include more intangible value offerings along with its core products and services.
Interest costs
– Compare to the competition, Holman Rfc 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.
Compensation and incentives
– The revenue per employee as mentioned in the HBR case study Jesse Holman Jones and the Reconstruction Finance Corp., is just above the industry average. Holman Rfc 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 Holman Rfc 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.
No frontier risks strategy
– After analyzing the HBR case study Jesse Holman Jones and the Reconstruction Finance Corp., 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.
Slow decision making process
– As mentioned earlier in the report, Holman Rfc 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. Holman Rfc 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.
Slow to harness new channels of communication
– Even though competitors are using new communication channels such as Instagram, Tiktok, and Snap, Holman Rfc is slow explore the new channels of communication. These new channels of communication mentioned in marketing section of case study Jesse Holman Jones and the Reconstruction Finance Corp. can help to provide better information regarding products and services. It can also build an online community to further reach out to potential customers.
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 Holman Rfc supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes mentioned in the HBR case study - Jesse Holman Jones and the Reconstruction Finance Corp., it is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left Holman Rfc vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.
High cash cycle compare to competitors
Holman Rfc 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.
Opportunities Jesse Holman Jones and the Reconstruction Finance Corp. | 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 Jesse Holman Jones and the Reconstruction Finance Corp. are -
Loyalty marketing
– Holman Rfc 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.
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. Holman Rfc 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 Holman Rfc in the consumer business. Now Holman Rfc can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.
Manufacturing automation
– Holman Rfc 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.
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. Holman Rfc 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. Holman Rfc 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.
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. Holman Rfc can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.
Buying journey improvements
– Holman Rfc can improve the customer journey of consumers in the industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. Jesse Holman Jones and the Reconstruction Finance Corp. 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.
Redefining models of collaboration and team work
– As explained in the weaknesses section, Holman Rfc is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. Jesse Holman Jones and the Reconstruction Finance Corp. 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.
Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains
– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Holman Rfc 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, Jesse Holman Jones and the Reconstruction Finance Corp., to buy more products closer to the markets, and it can leverage its size and influence to get better deal from the local markets.
Low interest rates
– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Holman Rfc 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.
Learning at scale
– Online learning technologies has now opened space for Holman Rfc 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.
Building a culture of innovation
– managers at Holman Rfc 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.
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Holman Rfc has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Holman Rfc to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the Jesse Holman Jones and the Reconstruction Finance Corp. case study. Holman Rfc can build new products and services such as - data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
Threats Jesse Holman Jones and the Reconstruction Finance Corp. External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Jesse Holman Jones and the Reconstruction Finance Corp. are -
High dependence on third party suppliers
– Holman Rfc 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.
Increasing wage structure of Holman Rfc
– 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 Holman Rfc.
Consumer confidence and its impact on Holman Rfc 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.
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 Holman Rfc in the Leadership & Managing People sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, as highlighted in case study Jesse Holman Jones and the Reconstruction Finance Corp., Holman Rfc 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 international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Holman Rfc 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 Jesse Holman Jones and the Reconstruction Finance Corp. .
Regulatory challenges
– Holman Rfc 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.
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. Holman Rfc 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.
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 Holman Rfc business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry in the industry are lowering. It can presents Holman Rfc with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the sector.
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Holman Rfc 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.
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. Holman Rfc can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Jesse Holman Jones and the Reconstruction Finance Corp. 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 Jesse Holman Jones and the Reconstruction Finance Corp. 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 Jesse Holman Jones and the Reconstruction Finance Corp. 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 Jesse Holman Jones and the Reconstruction Finance Corp. 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 Jesse Holman Jones and the Reconstruction Finance Corp. 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 Holman Rfc needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.
