FloriA?n Coute: An EMBA at an Impasse (A) SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Leadership & Managing People
Strategy / MBA Resources
Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of FloriA?n Coute: An EMBA at an Impasse (A)
In October 2011 FloriA?n was pondering his next step and the direction his career should take. The situation at work was awkward. His position at Infraestructuras BrasileA?as (IB), a state-owned aeronautical company based in SA?o Paolo, was a guarantee of comfortable, stable employment. In January 2012, eager to grow professionally and seek out new challenges, FloriA?n started an Executive MBA (EMBA) at a business school. The EMBA was part-time and so could be done while continuing to work; some classes were at weekends, with more intensive sessions held over a few weeks during vacation.From the moment he started the course, FloriA?n's boss, Rafael Oliveira, gradually reduced his workload until FloriA?n found himself virtually unoccupied much of the time.After completing the EMBA and having spent, as he put it, nearly a year "in the wilderness", FloriA?n felt strongly that it was time to do something about the situation. There were various options to be considered. The first was to talk to his boss and get the situation back under control, which he thought would be difficult. FloriA?n had his pride and knew he was not very good at managing conflicts. Given his personality, rebuilding the relationship with Rafael would be difficult: "The damage is done. What's worse, I've lost standing and authority in the eyes of my colleagues."The second option was to try to move to a different job within the company. This was more appealing, but FloriA?n was concerned that his boss might have given the heads of other departments an unfavorable impression of FloriA?n's professional ability.The third possibility was to look for a new job elsewhere. In his present state of mind, FloriA?n was inclined to plump for this last option, which would probably also mean going outside the aeronautical industry, despite his more than five years' experience and extensive industry knowledge. The economic situation in the United States and Europe, which were IB's main international markets, also made this the most risky option.FloriA?n was worried he might be overlooking some important detail and so started to reflect on the events and circumstances that had led to the present situation.
Authors :: Guido Stein Martinez, Jose Ramon Pin Arboledas, Marta Cuadrado
Swot Analysis of "FloriA?n Coute: An EMBA at an Impasse (A)" written by Guido Stein Martinez, Jose Ramon Pin Arboledas, Marta Cuadrado includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Floria Emba facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in FloriA?n Coute: An EMBA at an Impasse (A) case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, and Leadership & Managing People.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the FloriA?n Coute: An EMBA at an Impasse (A) casestudy better are - – central banks are concerned over increasing inflation, challanges to central banks by blockchain based private currencies, increasing energy prices, digital marketing is dominated by two big players Facebook and Google, banking and financial system is disrupted by Bitcoin and other crypto currencies, cloud computing is disrupting traditional business models, technology disruption,
supply chains are disrupted by pandemic , there is backlash against globalization, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of FloriA?n Coute: An EMBA at an Impasse (A)
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in FloriA?n Coute: An EMBA at an Impasse (A) case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Floria Emba, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Floria Emba 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 FloriA?n Coute: An EMBA at an Impasse (A) can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in FloriA?n Coute: An EMBA at an Impasse (A) case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Floria Emba
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 Floria Emba
Strengths FloriA?n Coute: An EMBA at an Impasse (A) | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Floria Emba in FloriA?n Coute: An EMBA at an Impasse (A) Harvard Business Review case study are -
High brand equity
– Floria Emba has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Floria Emba to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Ability to lead change in Leadership & Managing People field
– Floria Emba 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 Floria Emba in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.
High switching costs
– The high switching costs that Floria Emba 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.
Learning organization
- Floria Emba 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 Floria Emba is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders in FloriA?n Coute: An EMBA at an Impasse (A) Harvard Business Review case study emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
Effective Research and Development (R&D)
– Floria Emba 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 FloriA?n Coute: An EMBA at an Impasse (A) - 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 recruit top talent
– Floria Emba is one of the leading recruiters in the industry. Managers in the FloriA?n Coute: An EMBA at an Impasse (A) are in a position to attract the best talent available. The firm has a robust talent identification program that helps in identifying the brightest.
Analytics focus
– Floria Emba 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 Guido Stein Martinez, Jose Ramon Pin Arboledas, Marta Cuadrado 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.
Highly skilled collaborators
– Floria Emba 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 FloriA?n Coute: An EMBA at an Impasse (A) HBR case study have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
Organizational Resilience of Floria Emba
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing that Floria Emba does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of Floria Emba in the sector have low bargaining power. FloriA?n Coute: An EMBA at an Impasse (A) has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Floria Emba to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
Cross disciplinary teams
– Horizontal connected teams at the Floria Emba 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.
Superior customer experience
– The customer experience strategy of Floria Emba in the segment is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.
Weaknesses FloriA?n Coute: An EMBA at an Impasse (A) | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of FloriA?n Coute: An EMBA at an Impasse (A) are -
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 Floria Emba supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes mentioned in the HBR case study - FloriA?n Coute: An EMBA at an Impasse (A), it is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left Floria Emba vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.
High operating costs
– Compare to the competitors, firm in the HBR case study FloriA?n Coute: An EMBA at an Impasse (A) 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 Floria Emba 's lucrative customers.
Capital Spending Reduction
– Even during the low interest decade, Floria Emba 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.
Workers concerns about automation
– As automation is fast increasing in the segment, Floria Emba needs to come up with a strategy to reduce the workers concern regarding automation. Without a clear strategy, it could lead to disruption and uncertainty within the organization.
Need for greater diversity
– Floria Emba has taken concrete steps on diversity, equity, and inclusion. But the efforts so far has resulted in limited success. It needs to expand the recruitment and selection process to hire more people from the minorities and underprivileged background.
Lack of clear differentiation of Floria Emba products
– To increase the profitability and margins on the products, Floria Emba needs to provide more differentiated products than what it is currently offering in the marketplace.
High bargaining power of channel partners
– Because of the regulatory requirements, Guido Stein Martinez, Jose Ramon Pin Arboledas, Marta Cuadrado suggests that, Floria Emba 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.
Employees’ incomplete understanding of strategy
– From the instances in the HBR case study FloriA?n Coute: An EMBA at an Impasse (A), it seems that the employees of Floria Emba 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.
Slow to strategic competitive environment developments
– As FloriA?n Coute: An EMBA at an Impasse (A) HBR case study mentions - Floria Emba 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.
No frontier risks strategy
– After analyzing the HBR case study FloriA?n Coute: An EMBA at an Impasse (A), 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, Floria Emba 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. Floria Emba 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 FloriA?n Coute: An EMBA at an Impasse (A) | 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 FloriA?n Coute: An EMBA at an Impasse (A) are -
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 Floria Emba 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.
Loyalty marketing
– Floria Emba 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.
Redefining models of collaboration and team work
– As explained in the weaknesses section, Floria Emba is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. FloriA?n Coute: An EMBA at an Impasse (A) 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.
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. Floria Emba can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.
Developing new processes and practices
– Floria Emba 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.
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 Floria Emba in the consumer business. Now Floria Emba can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.
Manufacturing automation
– Floria Emba 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.
Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains
– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Floria Emba 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, FloriA?n Coute: An EMBA at an Impasse (A), to buy more products closer to the markets, and it can leverage its size and influence to get better deal from the local markets.
Lowering marketing communication costs
– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Floria Emba in the field of marketing communication. It will bring down the cost of doing business, provide technology platform to build new products in the Leadership & Managing People segment, and it will provide faster access to the consumers.
Better consumer reach
– The expansion of the 5G network will help Floria Emba to increase its market reach. Floria Emba 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.
Increase in government spending
– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Floria Emba can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Floria Emba operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Leadership & Managing People sector.
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. Floria Emba 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. Floria Emba 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.
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Floria Emba has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Floria Emba to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the FloriA?n Coute: An EMBA at an Impasse (A) case study. Floria Emba can build new products and services such as - data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
Threats FloriA?n Coute: An EMBA at an Impasse (A) External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study FloriA?n Coute: An EMBA at an Impasse (A) 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 Floria Emba business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
High dependence on third party suppliers
– Floria Emba 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.
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Floria Emba is facing in Leadership & Managing People sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.
Increasing wage structure of Floria Emba
– 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 Floria Emba.
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 Floria Emba.
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Floria Emba 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 FloriA?n Coute: An EMBA at an Impasse (A) .
Regulatory challenges
– Floria Emba 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.
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, as highlighted in case study FloriA?n Coute: An EMBA at an Impasse (A), Floria Emba 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 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.
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. Floria Emba 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.
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 Floria Emba in the Leadership & Managing People sector and impact the bottomline 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. Floria Emba can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Floria Emba has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Leadership & Managing People industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Floria Emba 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.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of FloriA?n Coute: An EMBA at an Impasse (A) 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 FloriA?n Coute: An EMBA at an Impasse (A) 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 FloriA?n Coute: An EMBA at an Impasse (A) 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 FloriA?n Coute: An EMBA at an Impasse (A) 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 FloriA?n Coute: An EMBA at an Impasse (A) 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 Floria Emba needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.