Case Study Description of RL Wolfe: Implementing Self-Directed Teams
When students have the English-language PDF of this Brief Case in a coursepack, they will also have the option to purchase an audio version.Key topics include team design, team management, job design, employee empowerment, implementing change, and high performance workforces. In 2004, John Amasi, the director of production for a manufacturer of plastic pipe, introduced the concept of self-directed teams into a newly rehabbed plant in Corpus Christi, Texas. This was a major departure for RL Wolfe, whose other plants were unionized and rigidly hierarchical. By 2007, Corpus Christi is significantly outperforming the other plants in productivity, and Amasi tours the plant to identify remaining barriers to even higher productivity. Although the tour makes clear that many things are going right, it also reveals specific elements of the SDT concept that are not working optimally; some of these are communicated from the perspective of the workers themselves. At the end of the case, as Amasi sketches out ideas for increasing productivity at Corpus Christi, he also considers how he can persuade the unionized workforces at the other Wolfe plants to accept the SDT model. Topics Include: Designing Teams, Implementing Change, Self-Directed Teams, Workforce Management, General Management, Managing Teams, High Performance Workforce, Employee Empowerment, Motivation and Mid-size Plastic Pipe Manufacturing.
Swot Analysis of "RL Wolfe: Implementing Self-Directed Teams" written by David A. Garvin, Elizabeth Collins includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Amasi Wolfe facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in RL Wolfe: Implementing Self-Directed Teams case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Labor, Motivating people and Leadership & Managing People.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the RL Wolfe: Implementing Self-Directed Teams casestudy better are - – competitive advantages are harder to sustain because of technology dispersion, there is increasing trade war between United States & China, talent flight as more people leaving formal jobs, central banks are concerned over increasing inflation, increasing government debt because of Covid-19 spendings, cloud computing is disrupting traditional business models, wage bills are increasing,
increasing commodity prices, increasing energy prices, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of RL Wolfe: Implementing Self-Directed Teams
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in RL Wolfe: Implementing Self-Directed Teams case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Amasi Wolfe, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Amasi Wolfe 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 RL Wolfe: Implementing Self-Directed Teams can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in RL Wolfe: Implementing Self-Directed Teams case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Amasi Wolfe
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 Amasi Wolfe
Strengths RL Wolfe: Implementing Self-Directed Teams | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Amasi Wolfe in RL Wolfe: Implementing Self-Directed Teams Harvard Business Review case study are -
Organizational Resilience of Amasi Wolfe
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing that Amasi Wolfe does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
Diverse revenue streams
– Amasi Wolfe is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided firm in RL Wolfe: Implementing Self-Directed Teams 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.
High switching costs
– The high switching costs that Amasi Wolfe 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.
Operational resilience
– The operational resilience strategy in the RL Wolfe: Implementing Self-Directed Teams 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 Amasi Wolfe in the sector have low bargaining power. RL Wolfe: Implementing Self-Directed Teams has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Amasi Wolfe to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
Ability to recruit top talent
– Amasi Wolfe is one of the leading recruiters in the industry. Managers in the RL Wolfe: Implementing Self-Directed Teams are in a position to attract the best talent available. The firm has a robust talent identification program that helps in identifying the brightest.
Highly skilled collaborators
– Amasi Wolfe 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 RL Wolfe: Implementing Self-Directed Teams HBR case study have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
Superior customer experience
– The customer experience strategy of Amasi Wolfe in the segment is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.
Ability to lead change in Leadership & Managing People field
– Amasi Wolfe 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 Amasi Wolfe in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.
Successful track record of launching new products
– Amasi Wolfe has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Amasi Wolfe 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.
Learning organization
- Amasi Wolfe 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 Amasi Wolfe is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders in RL Wolfe: Implementing Self-Directed Teams Harvard Business Review case study emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
Effective Research and Development (R&D)
– Amasi Wolfe 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 RL Wolfe: Implementing Self-Directed Teams - staying ahead in the industry in terms of – new product launches, superior customer experience, highly competitive pricing strategies, and great returns to the shareholders.
Weaknesses RL Wolfe: Implementing Self-Directed Teams | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of RL Wolfe: Implementing Self-Directed Teams are -
High cash cycle compare to competitors
Amasi Wolfe 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.
Increasing silos among functional specialists
– The organizational structure of Amasi Wolfe is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Leadership & Managing People segment. Amasi Wolfe needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Amasi Wolfe to focus more on services rather than just following the product oriented approach.
Slow decision making process
– As mentioned earlier in the report, Amasi Wolfe 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. Amasi Wolfe 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 strategic competitive environment developments
– As RL Wolfe: Implementing Self-Directed Teams HBR case study mentions - Amasi Wolfe 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.
Slow to harness new channels of communication
– Even though competitors are using new communication channels such as Instagram, Tiktok, and Snap, Amasi Wolfe is slow explore the new channels of communication. These new channels of communication mentioned in marketing section of case study RL Wolfe: Implementing Self-Directed Teams can help to provide better information regarding products and services. It can also build an online community to further reach out to potential customers.
Interest costs
– Compare to the competition, Amasi Wolfe 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.
High bargaining power of channel partners
– Because of the regulatory requirements, David A. Garvin, Elizabeth Collins suggests that, Amasi Wolfe is facing high bargaining power of the channel partners. So far it has not able to streamline the operations to reduce the bargaining power of the value chain partners in the industry.
Aligning sales with marketing
– It come across in the case study RL Wolfe: Implementing Self-Directed Teams 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 RL Wolfe: Implementing Self-Directed Teams can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Amasi Wolfe is planning to shift buying processes online.
Compensation and incentives
– The revenue per employee as mentioned in the HBR case study RL Wolfe: Implementing Self-Directed Teams, is just above the industry average. Amasi Wolfe 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.
Ability to respond to the competition
– As the decision making is very deliberative, highlighted in the case study RL Wolfe: Implementing Self-Directed Teams, in the dynamic environment Amasi Wolfe has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. Amasi Wolfe has reasonably good record with similar level competitors but it has struggled with new entrants taking away niches of its business.
Low market penetration in new markets
– Outside its home market of Amasi Wolfe, firm in the HBR case study RL Wolfe: Implementing Self-Directed Teams needs to spend more promotional, marketing, and advertising efforts to penetrate international markets.
Opportunities RL Wolfe: Implementing Self-Directed Teams | 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 RL Wolfe: Implementing Self-Directed Teams are -
Learning at scale
– Online learning technologies has now opened space for Amasi Wolfe 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.
Redefining models of collaboration and team work
– As explained in the weaknesses section, Amasi Wolfe is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. RL Wolfe: Implementing Self-Directed Teams 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.
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. Amasi Wolfe 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. Amasi Wolfe 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.
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. Amasi Wolfe 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 Amasi Wolfe has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Amasi Wolfe to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the RL Wolfe: Implementing Self-Directed Teams case study. Amasi Wolfe can build new products and services such as - data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, 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. Amasi Wolfe can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.
Reforming the budgeting process
- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects Amasi Wolfe can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.
Building a culture of innovation
– managers at Amasi Wolfe 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.
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– Amasi Wolfe 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 RL Wolfe: Implementing Self-Directed Teams - to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Amasi Wolfe to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
Loyalty marketing
– Amasi Wolfe 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.
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 Amasi Wolfe 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, Amasi Wolfe can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Amasi Wolfe operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Leadership & Managing People sector.
Developing new processes and practices
– Amasi Wolfe 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.
Threats RL Wolfe: Implementing Self-Directed Teams External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study RL Wolfe: Implementing Self-Directed Teams 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 Amasi Wolfe business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
Environmental challenges
– Amasi Wolfe 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. Amasi Wolfe can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Leadership & Managing People industry.
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Amasi Wolfe 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 RL Wolfe: Implementing Self-Directed Teams .
Regulatory challenges
– Amasi Wolfe 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. Amasi Wolfe 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.
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Amasi Wolfe 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.
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.
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, as highlighted in case study RL Wolfe: Implementing Self-Directed Teams, Amasi Wolfe 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 .
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 Amasi Wolfe in the Leadership & Managing People sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
High dependence on third party suppliers
– Amasi Wolfe 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.
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. Amasi Wolfe needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Leadership & Managing People industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
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. Amasi Wolfe can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
Increasing wage structure of Amasi Wolfe
– 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 Amasi Wolfe.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of RL Wolfe: Implementing Self-Directed Teams 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 RL Wolfe: Implementing Self-Directed Teams 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 RL Wolfe: Implementing Self-Directed Teams 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 RL Wolfe: Implementing Self-Directed Teams 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 RL Wolfe: Implementing Self-Directed Teams 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 Amasi Wolfe needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.