Pathways to Independence: Welfare-to-Work at Marriott International SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Leadership & Managing People
Strategy / MBA Resources
Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of Pathways to Independence: Welfare-to-Work at Marriott International
In 1991 Marriott International established a program called Pathways to Independence to recruit and train people from the welfare rolls. The program graduated over 1,000 people in eight years and retained about 20% more of its participants than regular hires. Now the program director wished to double the program size. The questions: Was this feasible with a decreasing supply of employable welfare recipients? Could the quality control required at Marriott be maintained with such a large and rapid expansion?
Swot Analysis of "Pathways to Independence: Welfare-to-Work at Marriott International" written by Rosabeth Moss Kanter, Ellen Pruyne includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Marriott Welfare facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Pathways to Independence: Welfare-to-Work at Marriott International case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Currency, Developing employees, Employee retention, Growth strategy, Innovation, Leadership, Social enterprise, Supply chain, Talent management and Leadership & Managing People.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Pathways to Independence: Welfare-to-Work at Marriott International casestudy better are - – increasing commodity prices, increasing transportation and logistics costs, challanges to central banks by blockchain based private currencies, geopolitical disruptions, talent flight as more people leaving formal jobs, there is backlash against globalization, competitive advantages are harder to sustain because of technology dispersion,
central banks are concerned over increasing inflation, there is increasing trade war between United States & China, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Pathways to Independence: Welfare-to-Work at Marriott International
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Pathways to Independence: Welfare-to-Work at Marriott International case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Marriott Welfare, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Marriott Welfare 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 Pathways to Independence: Welfare-to-Work at Marriott International can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Pathways to Independence: Welfare-to-Work at Marriott International case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Marriott Welfare
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 Marriott Welfare
Strengths Pathways to Independence: Welfare-to-Work at Marriott International | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Marriott Welfare in Pathways to Independence: Welfare-to-Work at Marriott International Harvard Business Review case study are -
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of Marriott Welfare in the sector have low bargaining power. Pathways to Independence: Welfare-to-Work at Marriott International has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Marriott Welfare to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
Innovation driven organization
– Marriott Welfare is one of the most innovative firm in sector. Manager in Pathways to Independence: Welfare-to-Work at Marriott International Harvard Business Review case study can use Clayton Christensen Disruptive Innovation strategies to further increase the scale of innovtions in the organization.
Diverse revenue streams
– Marriott Welfare is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided firm in Pathways to Independence: Welfare-to-Work at Marriott International 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.
Highly skilled collaborators
– Marriott Welfare 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 Pathways to Independence: Welfare-to-Work at Marriott International HBR case study have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
Organizational Resilience of Marriott Welfare
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing that Marriott Welfare does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
Training and development
– Marriott Welfare has one of the best training and development program in the industry. The effectiveness of the training programs can be measured in Pathways to Independence: Welfare-to-Work at Marriott International 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.
Learning organization
- Marriott Welfare 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 Marriott Welfare is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders in Pathways to Independence: Welfare-to-Work at Marriott International Harvard Business Review case study emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
Digital Transformation in Leadership & Managing People segment
- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For Marriott Welfare digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Marriott Welfare 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 brand equity
– Marriott Welfare has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Marriott Welfare to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Superior customer experience
– The customer experience strategy of Marriott Welfare in the segment is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.
Strong track record of project management
– Marriott Welfare is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.
Successful track record of launching new products
– Marriott Welfare has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Marriott Welfare 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.
Weaknesses Pathways to Independence: Welfare-to-Work at Marriott International | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Pathways to Independence: Welfare-to-Work at Marriott International are -
Skills based hiring
– The stress on hiring functional specialists at Marriott Welfare 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.
Ability to respond to the competition
– As the decision making is very deliberative, highlighted in the case study Pathways to Independence: Welfare-to-Work at Marriott International, in the dynamic environment Marriott Welfare has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. Marriott Welfare has reasonably good record with similar level competitors but it has struggled with new entrants taking away niches of its business.
Slow decision making process
– As mentioned earlier in the report, Marriott Welfare 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. Marriott Welfare even though has strong showing on digital transformation primary two stages, it has struggled to capitalize the power of digital transformation in marketing efforts and new venture efforts.
Compensation and incentives
– The revenue per employee as mentioned in the HBR case study Pathways to Independence: Welfare-to-Work at Marriott International, is just above the industry average. Marriott Welfare 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.
Aligning sales with marketing
– It come across in the case study Pathways to Independence: Welfare-to-Work at Marriott International 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 Pathways to Independence: Welfare-to-Work at Marriott International can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Marriott Welfare is planning to shift buying processes online.
Low market penetration in new markets
– Outside its home market of Marriott Welfare, firm in the HBR case study Pathways to Independence: Welfare-to-Work at Marriott International needs to spend more promotional, marketing, and advertising efforts to penetrate international markets.
Capital Spending Reduction
– Even during the low interest decade, Marriott Welfare 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.
Slow to harness new channels of communication
– Even though competitors are using new communication channels such as Instagram, Tiktok, and Snap, Marriott Welfare is slow explore the new channels of communication. These new channels of communication mentioned in marketing section of case study Pathways to Independence: Welfare-to-Work at Marriott International can help to provide better information regarding products and services. It can also build an online community to further reach out to potential customers.
Increasing silos among functional specialists
– The organizational structure of Marriott Welfare is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Leadership & Managing People segment. Marriott Welfare needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Marriott Welfare to focus more on services rather than just following the product oriented approach.
High dependence on star products
– The top 2 products and services of the firm as mentioned in the Pathways to Independence: Welfare-to-Work at Marriott International 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 Marriott Welfare has relatively successful track record of launching new products.
Interest costs
– Compare to the competition, Marriott Welfare 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.
Opportunities Pathways to Independence: Welfare-to-Work at Marriott International | 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 Pathways to Independence: Welfare-to-Work at Marriott International are -
Building a culture of innovation
– managers at Marriott Welfare 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.
Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains
– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Marriott Welfare 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, Pathways to Independence: Welfare-to-Work at Marriott International, to buy more products closer to the markets, and it can leverage its size and influence to get better deal from the local markets.
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 Marriott Welfare 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.
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– Marriott Welfare 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 Pathways to Independence: Welfare-to-Work at Marriott International - to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Marriott Welfare to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
Learning at scale
– Online learning technologies has now opened space for Marriott Welfare 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.
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. Marriott Welfare 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. Marriott Welfare 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.
Loyalty marketing
– Marriott Welfare 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.
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. Marriott Welfare can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.
Manufacturing automation
– Marriott Welfare 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.
Better consumer reach
– The expansion of the 5G network will help Marriott Welfare to increase its market reach. Marriott Welfare 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.
Low interest rates
– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Marriott Welfare 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.
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. Marriott Welfare can tie-up with other value chain partners to explore new opportunities regarding meeting customer demands and building a rewarding and engaging relationship.
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Marriott Welfare has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Marriott Welfare to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the Pathways to Independence: Welfare-to-Work at Marriott International case study. Marriott Welfare can build new products and services such as - data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
Threats Pathways to Independence: Welfare-to-Work at Marriott International External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Pathways to Independence: Welfare-to-Work at Marriott International are -
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, as highlighted in case study Pathways to Independence: Welfare-to-Work at Marriott International, Marriott Welfare 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 .
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Marriott Welfare has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Leadership & Managing People industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Marriott Welfare 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.
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Marriott Welfare 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.
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. Marriott Welfare 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.
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.
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. Marriott Welfare needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Leadership & Managing People industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Marriott Welfare 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 Pathways to Independence: Welfare-to-Work at Marriott International .
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 Marriott Welfare in the Leadership & Managing People sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry in the industry are lowering. It can presents Marriott Welfare with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the sector.
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. Marriott Welfare can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
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 Marriott Welfare business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
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 Marriott Welfare.
High dependence on third party suppliers
– Marriott Welfare 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.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Pathways to Independence: Welfare-to-Work at Marriott International 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 Pathways to Independence: Welfare-to-Work at Marriott International 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 Pathways to Independence: Welfare-to-Work at Marriott International 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 Pathways to Independence: Welfare-to-Work at Marriott International 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 Pathways to Independence: Welfare-to-Work at Marriott International 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 Marriott Welfare needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.