Amisha Gupta's First Year at Work SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Leadership & Managing People
Strategy / MBA Resources
Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of Amisha Gupta's First Year at Work
This case traces the various events that happen in the organizational journey of a newcomer to the corporate world. It is based on the real-life incidents of a new employee in a leading information technology (IT) services company, Xciting, in India. Xciting is one of India's top IT and IT-enabled services companies, with offices around the globe. With revenues in excess of $6 billion in 2010 and a global headcount of around 100,000, Xciting is a popular and reputable company in the global software services industry.The case covers the initial year of the employee's work with Xciting, following college graduation. She undergoes a training period with examinations in order to determine an appropriate work domain and relocation destination within India. She experiences organizational culture shock and location anxiety, and must respond to difficult co-workers and cancelled projects. In September 2011, with the first yearly review approaching, she reflects on her journey at Xciting and has to decide on what she wants to do with her career. Is there a mismatch between her expectations and those of Xciting? Author Srinivasan Tatachari is affiliated with Indian Institute of Management Udaipur.
Swot Analysis of "Amisha Gupta's First Year at Work" written by Srinivasan Tatachari includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Xciting Amisha facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Amisha Gupta's First Year at Work case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, and Leadership & Managing People.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Amisha Gupta's First Year at Work casestudy better are - – central banks are concerned over increasing inflation, wage bills are increasing, increasing commodity prices, supply chains are disrupted by pandemic , increasing transportation and logistics costs, challanges to central banks by blockchain based private currencies, increasing energy prices,
competitive advantages are harder to sustain because of technology dispersion, increasing inequality as vast percentage of new income is going to the top 1%, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Amisha Gupta's First Year at Work
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Amisha Gupta's First Year at Work case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Xciting Amisha, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Xciting Amisha 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 Amisha Gupta's First Year at Work can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Amisha Gupta's First Year at Work case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Xciting Amisha
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 Xciting Amisha
Strengths Amisha Gupta's First Year at Work | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Xciting Amisha in Amisha Gupta's First Year at Work Harvard Business Review case study are -
Ability to lead change in Leadership & Managing People field
– Xciting Amisha 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 Xciting Amisha in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.
Strong track record of project management
– Xciting Amisha is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of Xciting Amisha in the sector have low bargaining power. Amisha Gupta's First Year at Work has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Xciting Amisha to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
Training and development
– Xciting Amisha has one of the best training and development program in the industry. The effectiveness of the training programs can be measured in Amisha Gupta's First Year at Work 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.
Operational resilience
– The operational resilience strategy in the Amisha Gupta's First Year at Work 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.
Ability to recruit top talent
– Xciting Amisha is one of the leading recruiters in the industry. Managers in the Amisha Gupta's First Year at Work are in a position to attract the best talent available. The firm has a robust talent identification program that helps in identifying the brightest.
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Leadership & Managing People industry
– Amisha Gupta's First Year at Work firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Xciting Amisha to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Leadership & Managing People industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Xciting Amisha to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Effective Research and Development (R&D)
– Xciting Amisha 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 Amisha Gupta's First Year at Work - staying ahead in the industry in terms of – new product launches, superior customer experience, highly competitive pricing strategies, and great returns to the shareholders.
Digital Transformation in Leadership & Managing People segment
- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For Xciting Amisha digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Xciting Amisha has successfully integrated the four key components of digital transformation – digital integration in processes, digital integration in marketing and customer relationship management, digital integration into the value chain, and using technology to explore new products and market opportunities.
Innovation driven organization
– Xciting Amisha is one of the most innovative firm in sector. Manager in Amisha Gupta's First Year at Work Harvard Business Review case study can use Clayton Christensen Disruptive Innovation strategies to further increase the scale of innovtions in the organization.
Organizational Resilience of Xciting Amisha
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing that Xciting Amisha does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
Learning organization
- Xciting Amisha 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 Xciting Amisha is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders in Amisha Gupta's First Year at Work Harvard Business Review case study emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
Weaknesses Amisha Gupta's First Year at Work | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Amisha Gupta's First Year at Work are -
Slow to harness new channels of communication
– Even though competitors are using new communication channels such as Instagram, Tiktok, and Snap, Xciting Amisha is slow explore the new channels of communication. These new channels of communication mentioned in marketing section of case study Amisha Gupta's First Year at Work can help to provide better information regarding products and services. It can also build an online community to further reach out to potential customers.
Products dominated business model
– Even though Xciting Amisha has some of the most successful products in the industry, this business model has made each new product launch extremely critical for continuous financial growth of the organization. firm in the HBR case study - Amisha Gupta's First Year at Work should strive to include more intangible value offerings along with its core products and services.
Increasing silos among functional specialists
– The organizational structure of Xciting Amisha is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Leadership & Managing People segment. Xciting Amisha needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Xciting Amisha to focus more on services rather than just following the product oriented approach.
Ability to respond to the competition
– As the decision making is very deliberative, highlighted in the case study Amisha Gupta's First Year at Work, in the dynamic environment Xciting Amisha has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. Xciting Amisha has reasonably good record with similar level competitors but it has struggled with new entrants taking away niches of its business.
High cash cycle compare to competitors
Xciting Amisha 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.
Slow to strategic competitive environment developments
– As Amisha Gupta's First Year at Work HBR case study mentions - Xciting Amisha 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.
Employees’ incomplete understanding of strategy
– From the instances in the HBR case study Amisha Gupta's First Year at Work, it seems that the employees of Xciting Amisha 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.
Capital Spending Reduction
– Even during the low interest decade, Xciting Amisha 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.
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 Xciting Amisha supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes mentioned in the HBR case study - Amisha Gupta's First Year at Work, it is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left Xciting Amisha vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.
No frontier risks strategy
– After analyzing the HBR case study Amisha Gupta's First Year at Work, 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.
High operating costs
– Compare to the competitors, firm in the HBR case study Amisha Gupta's First Year at Work 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 Xciting Amisha 's lucrative customers.
Opportunities Amisha Gupta's First Year at Work | 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 Amisha Gupta's First Year at Work are -
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 Xciting Amisha in the consumer business. Now Xciting Amisha 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 Xciting Amisha has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Xciting Amisha to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the Amisha Gupta's First Year at Work case study. Xciting Amisha can build new products and services such as - data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
Loyalty marketing
– Xciting Amisha 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.
Developing new processes and practices
– Xciting Amisha 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.
Leveraging digital technologies
– Xciting Amisha 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.
Buying journey improvements
– Xciting Amisha can improve the customer journey of consumers in the industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. Amisha Gupta's First Year at Work 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.
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. Xciting Amisha 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. Xciting Amisha 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.
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. Xciting Amisha can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.
Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains
– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Xciting Amisha 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, Amisha Gupta's First Year at Work, 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 Xciting Amisha 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.
Increase in government spending
– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Xciting Amisha can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Xciting Amisha operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Leadership & Managing People sector.
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. Xciting Amisha can tie-up with other value chain partners to explore new opportunities regarding meeting customer demands and building a rewarding and engaging relationship.
Better consumer reach
– The expansion of the 5G network will help Xciting Amisha to increase its market reach. Xciting Amisha 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 Amisha Gupta's First Year at Work External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Amisha Gupta's First Year at Work are -
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.
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Xciting Amisha 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 Amisha Gupta's First Year at Work .
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 Xciting Amisha in the Leadership & Managing People sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
Increasing wage structure of Xciting Amisha
– 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 Xciting Amisha.
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. Xciting Amisha 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 Xciting Amisha with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the sector.
Environmental challenges
– Xciting Amisha 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. Xciting Amisha can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Leadership & Managing People industry.
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 Xciting Amisha business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Xciting Amisha 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.
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. Xciting Amisha needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Leadership & Managing People industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
Regulatory challenges
– Xciting Amisha 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.
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.
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Xciting Amisha has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Leadership & Managing People industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Xciting Amisha 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 Amisha Gupta's First Year at Work 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 Amisha Gupta's First Year at Work 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 Amisha Gupta's First Year at Work 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 Amisha Gupta's First Year at Work 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 Amisha Gupta's First Year at Work 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 Xciting Amisha needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.
