Olympus and the Whistleblower President SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Leadership & Managing People
Strategy / MBA Resources
Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of Olympus and the Whistleblower President
The newly appointed president and chief operating officer (COO) of Olympus Corporation of Japan was called to an emergency board meeting. The purpose of the meeting was to discuss governance issues regarding corporate mergers and acquisitions (M&A). However, it would be no ordinary meeting. Since assuming the role of president in April 2011, the president discovered evidence of corporate fraud on a large scale. He had commissioned an external auditor report that showed a significant loss of shareholder value. His call for changes to be made to the Japanese board of directors had been met by resistance. How should he plan for the meeting? What could he expect? What position should he take? How should he influence decisions regarding the company's immediate problems and its longer-term corporate governance?
Authors :: Christopher Williams, Seijiro Takeshita
Swot Analysis of "Olympus and the Whistleblower President" written by Christopher Williams, Seijiro Takeshita includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Olympus Meeting facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Olympus and the Whistleblower President case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Crisis management, International business, Strategy and Leadership & Managing People.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Olympus and the Whistleblower President casestudy better are - – supply chains are disrupted by pandemic , digital marketing is dominated by two big players Facebook and Google, talent flight as more people leaving formal jobs, wage bills are increasing, challanges to central banks by blockchain based private currencies, increasing commodity prices, increasing transportation and logistics costs,
technology disruption, customer relationship management is fast transforming because of increasing concerns over data privacy, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Olympus and the Whistleblower President
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Olympus and the Whistleblower President case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Olympus Meeting, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Olympus Meeting 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 Olympus and the Whistleblower President can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Olympus and the Whistleblower President case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Olympus Meeting
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 Olympus Meeting
Strengths Olympus and the Whistleblower President | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Olympus Meeting in Olympus and the Whistleblower President Harvard Business Review case study are -
Analytics focus
– Olympus Meeting 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 Christopher Williams, Seijiro Takeshita can also help it to harness the power of analytics for – marketing optimization, demand forecasting, customer relationship management, inventory management, information sharing across the value chain etc.
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Leadership & Managing People industry
– Olympus and the Whistleblower President firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Olympus Meeting to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Leadership & Managing People industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Olympus Meeting to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Ability to lead change in Leadership & Managing People field
– Olympus Meeting 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 Olympus Meeting 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 Olympus Meeting 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.
High brand equity
– Olympus Meeting has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Olympus Meeting to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Successful track record of launching new products
– Olympus Meeting has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Olympus Meeting 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.
Organizational Resilience of Olympus Meeting
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing that Olympus Meeting does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
Highly skilled collaborators
– Olympus Meeting 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 Olympus and the Whistleblower President HBR case study have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
Innovation driven organization
– Olympus Meeting is one of the most innovative firm in sector. Manager in Olympus and the Whistleblower President Harvard Business Review case study can use Clayton Christensen Disruptive Innovation strategies to further increase the scale of innovtions in the organization.
Ability to recruit top talent
– Olympus Meeting is one of the leading recruiters in the industry. Managers in the Olympus and the Whistleblower President are in a position to attract the best talent available. The firm has a robust talent identification program that helps in identifying the brightest.
Superior customer experience
– The customer experience strategy of Olympus Meeting in the segment is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.
Operational resilience
– The operational resilience strategy in the Olympus and the Whistleblower President 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.
Weaknesses Olympus and the Whistleblower President | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Olympus and the Whistleblower President are -
Need for greater diversity
– Olympus Meeting 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 Olympus Meeting products
– To increase the profitability and margins on the products, Olympus Meeting needs to provide more differentiated products than what it is currently offering in the marketplace.
Employees’ incomplete understanding of strategy
– From the instances in the HBR case study Olympus and the Whistleblower President, it seems that the employees of Olympus Meeting 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.
Low market penetration in new markets
– Outside its home market of Olympus Meeting, firm in the HBR case study Olympus and the Whistleblower President needs to spend more promotional, marketing, and advertising efforts to penetrate international markets.
Aligning sales with marketing
– It come across in the case study Olympus and the Whistleblower President 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 Olympus and the Whistleblower President can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Olympus Meeting is planning to shift buying processes online.
Ability to respond to the competition
– As the decision making is very deliberative, highlighted in the case study Olympus and the Whistleblower President, in the dynamic environment Olympus Meeting has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. Olympus Meeting has reasonably good record with similar level competitors but it has struggled with new entrants taking away niches of its business.
Increasing silos among functional specialists
– The organizational structure of Olympus Meeting is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Leadership & Managing People segment. Olympus Meeting needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Olympus Meeting to focus more on services rather than just following the product oriented approach.
Slow decision making process
– As mentioned earlier in the report, Olympus Meeting 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. Olympus Meeting 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.
High bargaining power of channel partners
– Because of the regulatory requirements, Christopher Williams, Seijiro Takeshita suggests that, Olympus Meeting 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.
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 Olympus Meeting supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes mentioned in the HBR case study - Olympus and the Whistleblower President, it is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left Olympus Meeting vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.
Workers concerns about automation
– As automation is fast increasing in the segment, Olympus Meeting 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.
Opportunities Olympus and the Whistleblower President | 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 Olympus and the Whistleblower President are -
Loyalty marketing
– Olympus Meeting 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.
Leveraging digital technologies
– Olympus Meeting can leverage digital technologies such as artificial intelligence and machine learning to automate the production process, customer analytics to get better insights into consumer behavior, realtime digital dashboards to get better sales tracking, logistics and transportation, product tracking, etc.
Redefining models of collaboration and team work
– As explained in the weaknesses section, Olympus Meeting is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. Olympus and the Whistleblower President 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.
Learning at scale
– Online learning technologies has now opened space for Olympus Meeting 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.
Developing new processes and practices
– Olympus Meeting 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.
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– Olympus Meeting 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 Olympus and the Whistleblower President - to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Olympus Meeting to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
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 Olympus Meeting in the consumer business. Now Olympus Meeting can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Olympus Meeting has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Olympus Meeting to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the Olympus and the Whistleblower President case study. Olympus Meeting can build new products and services such as - data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains
– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Olympus Meeting 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, Olympus and the Whistleblower President, 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 Olympus Meeting 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.
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 Olympus Meeting 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 Olympus Meeting can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.
Better consumer reach
– The expansion of the 5G network will help Olympus Meeting to increase its market reach. Olympus Meeting 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.
Threats Olympus and the Whistleblower President External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Olympus and the Whistleblower President are -
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 Olympus Meeting.
Consumer confidence and its impact on Olympus Meeting 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.
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.
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. Olympus Meeting 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.
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. Olympus Meeting can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry in the industry are lowering. It can presents Olympus Meeting with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the sector.
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Olympus Meeting is facing in Leadership & Managing People sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Olympus Meeting 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 Olympus and the Whistleblower President .
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Olympus Meeting 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.
Increasing wage structure of Olympus Meeting
– 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 Olympus Meeting.
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Olympus Meeting 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.
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, as highlighted in case study Olympus and the Whistleblower President, Olympus Meeting 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 .
High dependence on third party suppliers
– Olympus Meeting 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 Olympus and the Whistleblower President 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 Olympus and the Whistleblower President 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 Olympus and the Whistleblower President 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 Olympus and the Whistleblower President 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 Olympus and the Whistleblower President 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 Olympus Meeting needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.