Ponce de Leon: Confidential Instructions for Newman Knight, Elaine Bennett's Agent SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Leadership & Managing People
Strategy / MBA Resources
Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of Ponce de Leon: Confidential Instructions for Newman Knight, Elaine Bennett's Agent
Ponce de Leon (POL) is a four-party negotiation exercise in which a film studio is trying to sign a major actress to star in an upcoming movie. The negotiation centers around the different extrinsic and intrinsic motivations underlying each of these party's approach to the movie, and therefore to the negotiation. The exercise allows exploration of the risks of "monetizing" different types of extrinsic (e.g. pay, awards, status) and intrinsic (e.g. love of the work, values) motivation.
Swot Analysis of "Ponce de Leon: Confidential Instructions for Newman Knight, Elaine Bennett's Agent" written by Ian I. Larkin includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Leon Ponce facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Ponce de Leon: Confidential Instructions for Newman Knight, Elaine Bennett's Agent case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Difficult conversations, Influence, Motivating people, Negotiations and Leadership & Managing People.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Ponce de Leon: Confidential Instructions for Newman Knight, Elaine Bennett's Agent casestudy better are - – increasing government debt because of Covid-19 spendings, increasing energy prices, there is backlash against globalization, increasing transportation and logistics costs, banking and financial system is disrupted by Bitcoin and other crypto currencies, there is increasing trade war between United States & China, central banks are concerned over increasing inflation,
talent flight as more people leaving formal jobs, challanges to central banks by blockchain based private currencies, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Ponce de Leon: Confidential Instructions for Newman Knight, Elaine Bennett's Agent
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Ponce de Leon: Confidential Instructions for Newman Knight, Elaine Bennett's Agent case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Leon Ponce, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Leon Ponce 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 Ponce de Leon: Confidential Instructions for Newman Knight, Elaine Bennett's Agent can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Ponce de Leon: Confidential Instructions for Newman Knight, Elaine Bennett's Agent case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Leon Ponce
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 Leon Ponce
Strengths Ponce de Leon: Confidential Instructions for Newman Knight, Elaine Bennett's Agent | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Leon Ponce in Ponce de Leon: Confidential Instructions for Newman Knight, Elaine Bennett's Agent Harvard Business Review case study are -
High brand equity
– Leon Ponce has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Leon Ponce to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Leadership & Managing People industry
– Ponce de Leon: Confidential Instructions for Newman Knight, Elaine Bennett's Agent firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Leon Ponce to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Leadership & Managing People industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Leon Ponce to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Analytics focus
– Leon Ponce 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 Ian I. Larkin 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.
Organizational Resilience of Leon Ponce
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing that Leon Ponce does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
Effective Research and Development (R&D)
– Leon Ponce 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 Ponce de Leon: Confidential Instructions for Newman Knight, Elaine Bennett's Agent - staying ahead in the industry in terms of – new product launches, superior customer experience, highly competitive pricing strategies, and great returns to the shareholders.
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of Leon Ponce in the sector have low bargaining power. Ponce de Leon: Confidential Instructions for Newman Knight, Elaine Bennett's Agent has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Leon Ponce to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
Ability to recruit top talent
– Leon Ponce is one of the leading recruiters in the industry. Managers in the Ponce de Leon: Confidential Instructions for Newman Knight, Elaine Bennett's Agent are in a position to attract the best talent available. The firm has a robust talent identification program that helps in identifying the brightest.
Learning organization
- Leon Ponce 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 Leon Ponce is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders in Ponce de Leon: Confidential Instructions for Newman Knight, Elaine Bennett's Agent Harvard Business Review case study emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
Digital Transformation in Leadership & Managing People segment
- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For Leon Ponce digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Leon Ponce 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.
Strong track record of project management
– Leon Ponce is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.
High switching costs
– The high switching costs that Leon Ponce 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.
Successful track record of launching new products
– Leon Ponce has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Leon Ponce 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 Ponce de Leon: Confidential Instructions for Newman Knight, Elaine Bennett's Agent | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Ponce de Leon: Confidential Instructions for Newman Knight, Elaine Bennett's Agent are -
High bargaining power of channel partners
– Because of the regulatory requirements, Ian I. Larkin suggests that, Leon Ponce 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.
Low market penetration in new markets
– Outside its home market of Leon Ponce, firm in the HBR case study Ponce de Leon: Confidential Instructions for Newman Knight, Elaine Bennett's Agent needs to spend more promotional, marketing, and advertising efforts to penetrate international markets.
Ability to respond to the competition
– As the decision making is very deliberative, highlighted in the case study Ponce de Leon: Confidential Instructions for Newman Knight, Elaine Bennett's Agent, in the dynamic environment Leon Ponce has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. Leon Ponce has reasonably good record with similar level competitors but it has struggled with new entrants taking away niches of its business.
Need for greater diversity
– Leon Ponce 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.
Products dominated business model
– Even though Leon Ponce 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 - Ponce de Leon: Confidential Instructions for Newman Knight, Elaine Bennett's Agent should strive to include more intangible value offerings along with its core products and services.
Slow to strategic competitive environment developments
– As Ponce de Leon: Confidential Instructions for Newman Knight, Elaine Bennett's Agent HBR case study mentions - Leon Ponce 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.
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 Leon Ponce supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes mentioned in the HBR case study - Ponce de Leon: Confidential Instructions for Newman Knight, Elaine Bennett's Agent, it is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left Leon Ponce vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.
Aligning sales with marketing
– It come across in the case study Ponce de Leon: Confidential Instructions for Newman Knight, Elaine Bennett's Agent 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 Ponce de Leon: Confidential Instructions for Newman Knight, Elaine Bennett's Agent can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Leon Ponce is planning to shift buying processes online.
Skills based hiring
– The stress on hiring functional specialists at Leon Ponce 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.
Compensation and incentives
– The revenue per employee as mentioned in the HBR case study Ponce de Leon: Confidential Instructions for Newman Knight, Elaine Bennett's Agent, is just above the industry average. Leon Ponce needs to redesign the compensation structure and incentives to increase the revenue per employees. Some of the steps that it can take are – hiring more specialists on project basis, etc.
High cash cycle compare to competitors
Leon Ponce 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.
Opportunities Ponce de Leon: Confidential Instructions for Newman Knight, Elaine Bennett's Agent | 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 Ponce de Leon: Confidential Instructions for Newman Knight, Elaine Bennett's Agent are -
Manufacturing automation
– Leon Ponce 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.
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Leon Ponce has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Leon Ponce to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the Ponce de Leon: Confidential Instructions for Newman Knight, Elaine Bennett's Agent case study. Leon Ponce can build new products and services such as - data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
Reforming the budgeting process
- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects Leon Ponce can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.
Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities
– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Leon Ponce to expand its talent hiring zone. According to McKinsey Global Institute, 20% of the high end workforce in fields such as finance, information technology, can continously work from remote local post Covid-19. This presents a really great opportunity for Leon Ponce to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– Leon Ponce 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 Ponce de Leon: Confidential Instructions for Newman Knight, Elaine Bennett's Agent - to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Leon Ponce to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
Developing new processes and practices
– Leon Ponce 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.
Increase in government spending
– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Leon Ponce can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Leon Ponce 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. Leon Ponce 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. Leon Ponce 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.
Learning at scale
– Online learning technologies has now opened space for Leon Ponce 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.
Lowering marketing communication costs
– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Leon Ponce 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.
Leveraging digital technologies
– Leon Ponce 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.
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. Leon Ponce can tie-up with other value chain partners to explore new opportunities regarding meeting customer demands and building a rewarding and engaging relationship.
Loyalty marketing
– Leon Ponce 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.
Threats Ponce de Leon: Confidential Instructions for Newman Knight, Elaine Bennett's Agent External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Ponce de Leon: Confidential Instructions for Newman Knight, Elaine Bennett's Agent are -
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Leon Ponce is facing in Leadership & Managing People sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.
Consumer confidence and its impact on Leon Ponce 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.
High dependence on third party suppliers
– Leon Ponce 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.
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Leon Ponce 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.
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. Leon Ponce 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.
Increasing wage structure of Leon Ponce
– 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 Leon Ponce.
Environmental challenges
– Leon Ponce 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. Leon Ponce can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Leadership & Managing People industry.
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 Leon Ponce in the Leadership & Managing People sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
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.
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry in the industry are lowering. It can presents Leon Ponce with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the sector.
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 Leon Ponce.
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. Leon Ponce can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
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. Leon Ponce needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Leadership & Managing People industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Ponce de Leon: Confidential Instructions for Newman Knight, Elaine Bennett's Agent 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 Ponce de Leon: Confidential Instructions for Newman Knight, Elaine Bennett's Agent 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 Ponce de Leon: Confidential Instructions for Newman Knight, Elaine Bennett's Agent 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 Ponce de Leon: Confidential Instructions for Newman Knight, Elaine Bennett's Agent 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 Ponce de Leon: Confidential Instructions for Newman Knight, Elaine Bennett's Agent 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 Leon Ponce needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.
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