×




Hennessy and Harvey-Jones: Two Responses to the Crisis in Chemicals SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis

Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution

Case Study Description of Hennessy and Harvey-Jones: Two Responses to the Crisis in Chemicals


Responding to the crisis in chemicals in the early 1980's, Allied Chemical (U.S.) and ICI (U.K.) appoint new chairmen to revitalize each company's strategy, culture, and organization. Hennessy, an outsider with a background in managing conglomerates, has strong ideas about Allied's proper strategy. He buys and sells businesses at a terrific clip and shakes up Allied's management, culture, and organization. More of a consensus builder than Hennessy and with a less abrasive management style, Harvey-Jones instigates large organizational and strategic changes at ICI. Allows students to compare the effectiveness of different management styles and leadership and to consider the different roles of a general manager.

Authors :: Christopher A. Bartlett, Robert W. Lightfoot

Topics :: Leadership & Managing People

Tags :: Crisis management, Leadership transitions, Managing people, Organizational culture, Organizational structure, SWOT Analysis, SWOT Matrix, TOWS, Weighted SWOT Analysis

Swot Analysis of "Hennessy and Harvey-Jones: Two Responses to the Crisis in Chemicals" written by Christopher A. Bartlett, Robert W. Lightfoot includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Hennessy Allied's facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Hennessy and Harvey-Jones: Two Responses to the Crisis in Chemicals case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Crisis management, Leadership transitions, Managing people, Organizational culture, Organizational structure and Leadership & Managing People.


Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Hennessy and Harvey-Jones: Two Responses to the Crisis in Chemicals casestudy better are - – increasing commodity prices, geopolitical disruptions, digital marketing is dominated by two big players Facebook and Google, increasing energy prices, competitive advantages are harder to sustain because of technology dispersion, challanges to central banks by blockchain based private currencies, there is increasing trade war between United States & China, talent flight as more people leaving formal jobs, banking and financial system is disrupted by Bitcoin and other crypto currencies, etc



12 Hrs

$59.99
per Page
  • 100% Plagiarism Free
  • On Time Delivery | 27x7
  • PayPal Secure
  • 300 Words / Page
  • Buy Now

24 Hrs

$49.99
per Page
  • 100% Plagiarism Free
  • On Time Delivery | 27x7
  • PayPal Secure
  • 300 Words / Page
  • Buy Now

48 Hrs

$39.99
per Page
  • 100% Plagiarism Free
  • On Time Delivery | 27x7
  • PayPal Secure
  • 300 Words / Page
  • Buy Now







Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Hennessy and Harvey-Jones: Two Responses to the Crisis in Chemicals


SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Hennessy and Harvey-Jones: Two Responses to the Crisis in Chemicals case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Hennessy Allied's, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Hennessy Allied's 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 Hennessy and Harvey-Jones: Two Responses to the Crisis in Chemicals can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Hennessy and Harvey-Jones: Two Responses to the Crisis in Chemicals case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Hennessy Allied's
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 Hennessy Allied's




Strengths Hennessy and Harvey-Jones: Two Responses to the Crisis in Chemicals | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis

The strengths of Hennessy Allied's in Hennessy and Harvey-Jones: Two Responses to the Crisis in Chemicals Harvard Business Review case study are -

Operational resilience

– The operational resilience strategy in the Hennessy and Harvey-Jones: Two Responses to the Crisis in Chemicals 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.

Training and development

– Hennessy Allied's has one of the best training and development program in the industry. The effectiveness of the training programs can be measured in Hennessy and Harvey-Jones: Two Responses to the Crisis in Chemicals 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.

Low bargaining power of suppliers

– Suppliers of Hennessy Allied's in the sector have low bargaining power. Hennessy and Harvey-Jones: Two Responses to the Crisis in Chemicals has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Hennessy Allied's to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.

Effective Research and Development (R&D)

– Hennessy Allied's 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 Hennessy and Harvey-Jones: Two Responses to the Crisis in Chemicals - staying ahead in the industry in terms of – new product launches, superior customer experience, highly competitive pricing strategies, and great returns to the shareholders.

Ability to lead change in Leadership & Managing People field

– Hennessy Allied's 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 Hennessy Allied's in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.

Innovation driven organization

– Hennessy Allied's is one of the most innovative firm in sector. Manager in Hennessy and Harvey-Jones: Two Responses to the Crisis in Chemicals Harvard Business Review case study can use Clayton Christensen Disruptive Innovation strategies to further increase the scale of innovtions in the organization.

High brand equity

– Hennessy Allied's has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Hennessy Allied's to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.

Cross disciplinary teams

– Horizontal connected teams at the Hennessy Allied's 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.

Ability to recruit top talent

– Hennessy Allied's is one of the leading recruiters in the industry. Managers in the Hennessy and Harvey-Jones: Two Responses to the Crisis in Chemicals are in a position to attract the best talent available. The firm has a robust talent identification program that helps in identifying the brightest.

Organizational Resilience of Hennessy Allied's

– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing that Hennessy Allied's does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.

Diverse revenue streams

– Hennessy Allied's is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided firm in Hennessy and Harvey-Jones: Two Responses to the Crisis in Chemicals 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.

Successful track record of launching new products

– Hennessy Allied's has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Hennessy Allied's 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 Hennessy and Harvey-Jones: Two Responses to the Crisis in Chemicals | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis

The weaknesses of Hennessy and Harvey-Jones: Two Responses to the Crisis in Chemicals are -

Slow to strategic competitive environment developments

– As Hennessy and Harvey-Jones: Two Responses to the Crisis in Chemicals HBR case study mentions - Hennessy Allied's 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.

Interest costs

– Compare to the competition, Hennessy Allied's 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.

Employees’ incomplete understanding of strategy

– From the instances in the HBR case study Hennessy and Harvey-Jones: Two Responses to the Crisis in Chemicals, it seems that the employees of Hennessy Allied's 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.

High operating costs

– Compare to the competitors, firm in the HBR case study Hennessy and Harvey-Jones: Two Responses to the Crisis in Chemicals 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 Hennessy Allied's 's lucrative customers.

Low market penetration in new markets

– Outside its home market of Hennessy Allied's, firm in the HBR case study Hennessy and Harvey-Jones: Two Responses to the Crisis in Chemicals needs to spend more promotional, marketing, and advertising efforts to penetrate international markets.

Lack of clear differentiation of Hennessy Allied's products

– To increase the profitability and margins on the products, Hennessy Allied's needs to provide more differentiated products than what it is currently offering in the marketplace.

Skills based hiring

– The stress on hiring functional specialists at Hennessy Allied's has created an environment where the organization is dominated by functional specialists rather than management generalist. This has resulted into product oriented approach rather than marketing oriented approach or consumers oriented approach.

Capital Spending Reduction

– Even during the low interest decade, Hennessy Allied's 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 Hennessy and Harvey-Jones: Two Responses to the Crisis in Chemicals, 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.

Aligning sales with marketing

– It come across in the case study Hennessy and Harvey-Jones: Two Responses to the Crisis in Chemicals 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 Hennessy and Harvey-Jones: Two Responses to the Crisis in Chemicals can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Hennessy Allied's is planning to shift buying processes online.

Slow decision making process

– As mentioned earlier in the report, Hennessy Allied's 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. Hennessy Allied's 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.




Opportunities Hennessy and Harvey-Jones: Two Responses to the Crisis in Chemicals | 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 Hennessy and Harvey-Jones: Two Responses to the Crisis in Chemicals are -

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. Hennessy Allied's 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 Hennessy Allied's in the consumer business. Now Hennessy Allied's can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.

Developing new processes and practices

– Hennessy Allied's 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.

Learning at scale

– Online learning technologies has now opened space for Hennessy Allied's 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.

Better consumer reach

– The expansion of the 5G network will help Hennessy Allied's to increase its market reach. Hennessy Allied's 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.

Loyalty marketing

– Hennessy Allied's 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.

Using analytics as competitive advantage

– Hennessy Allied's 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 Hennessy and Harvey-Jones: Two Responses to the Crisis in Chemicals - to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Hennessy Allied's to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.

Building a culture of innovation

– managers at Hennessy Allied's 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.

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 Hennessy Allied's 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.

Reforming the budgeting process

- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects Hennessy Allied's can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.

Manufacturing automation

– Hennessy Allied's 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.

Buying journey improvements

– Hennessy Allied's can improve the customer journey of consumers in the industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. Hennessy and Harvey-Jones: Two Responses to the Crisis in Chemicals suggest that firm can provide automated chats to help consumers solve their own problems, provide online suggestions to get maximum out of the products and services, and help consumers to build a community where they can interact with each other to develop new features and uses.

Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains

– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Hennessy Allied's 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, Hennessy and Harvey-Jones: Two Responses to the Crisis in Chemicals, to buy more products closer to the markets, and it can leverage its size and influence to get better deal from the local markets.




Threats Hennessy and Harvey-Jones: Two Responses to the Crisis in Chemicals External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis


The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Hennessy and Harvey-Jones: Two Responses to the Crisis in Chemicals are -

Consumer confidence and its impact on Hennessy Allied's 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.

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 Hennessy Allied's business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.

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.

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 Hennessy Allied's.

Barriers of entry lowering

– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry in the industry are lowering. It can presents Hennessy Allied's with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the sector.

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. Hennessy Allied's 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.

Learning curve for new practices

– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, as highlighted in case study Hennessy and Harvey-Jones: Two Responses to the Crisis in Chemicals, Hennessy Allied's 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 .

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. Hennessy Allied's can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.

Environmental challenges

– Hennessy Allied's 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. Hennessy Allied's can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Leadership & Managing People industry.

Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution

– Hennessy Allied's has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Leadership & Managing People industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Hennessy Allied's 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.

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 Hennessy Allied's in the Leadership & Managing People sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.

Stagnating economy with rate increase

– Hennessy Allied's can face lack of demand in the market place because of Fed actions to reduce inflation. This can lead to sluggish growth in the economy, lower demands, lower investments, higher borrowing costs, and consolidation in the field.

Trade war between China and United States

– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Hennessy Allied's 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.




Weighted SWOT Analysis of Hennessy and Harvey-Jones: Two Responses to the Crisis in Chemicals 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 Hennessy and Harvey-Jones: Two Responses to the Crisis in Chemicals 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 Hennessy and Harvey-Jones: Two Responses to the Crisis in Chemicals 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 Hennessy and Harvey-Jones: Two Responses to the Crisis in Chemicals 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 Hennessy and Harvey-Jones: Two Responses to the Crisis in Chemicals 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 Hennessy Allied's needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.



--- ---

How Much? (C) SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix

Clayton Rose , Finance & Accounting


ICI-Nobel's Explosives Co. SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix

Robert S. Collins, Michael L. Gibbs, Henning Von Spreckelsen , Technology & Operations


Worldzap SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix

Rohit Deshpande, Carin-Isabel Knoop, Suma Raju, David Kiron , Sales & Marketing


Axonify: Budgeting for Rapid Growth SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix

Howard Armitage, Dave Pooley, Alan Webb , Finance & Accounting


Science of Social Influence - HP Brandclout SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix

Srujana H M, Sudeep Chatterjee, Kratika Shakya, Dinesh Kumar Unnikrishnan , Leadership & Managing People


Oliver's Diner SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix

P. Fraser Johnson, Larry Menor , Technology & Operations