An Interview with John Fahey, President and CEO of National Geographic Society, Video SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Leadership & Managing People
Strategy / MBA Resources
Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of An Interview with John Fahey, President and CEO of National Geographic Society, Video
In January 2010, John Fahey, president, CEO, and chairman of the board of trustees' executive committee of the Washington, D.C.-based National Geographic Society (NGS), must decide how best to organize the 121-year old mission-driven organization for a world of accelerating digital convergence and decreasing magazine sales. Historically a proponent of evolutionary change, he is considering a radical move: creating a senior management position responsible for e-commerce to coordinate web-based offerings and outreach across the Society's various departments, transition NGS from its many disparate and independent direct mail efforts to a more integrated and strategic e-commerce strategy, and leverage the NGS relationship with its members-currently defined as magazine subscribers, since a subscription comes with Society membership. Putting the final touches on the position and its reporting arrangements has led to significant debate within the organization, and Fahey is torn about how to proceed.
Swot Analysis of "An Interview with John Fahey, President and CEO of National Geographic Society, Video" written by David A. Garvin includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Ngs Fahey facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in An Interview with John Fahey, President and CEO of National Geographic Society, Video case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Change management, Organizational structure and Leadership & Managing People.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the An Interview with John Fahey, President and CEO of National Geographic Society, Video casestudy better are - – wage bills are increasing, increasing household debt because of falling income levels, increasing energy prices, there is increasing trade war between United States & China, challanges to central banks by blockchain based private currencies, increasing transportation and logistics costs, digital marketing is dominated by two big players Facebook and Google,
increasing inequality as vast percentage of new income is going to the top 1%, there is backlash against globalization, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of An Interview with John Fahey, President and CEO of National Geographic Society, Video
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in An Interview with John Fahey, President and CEO of National Geographic Society, Video case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Ngs Fahey, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Ngs Fahey 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 An Interview with John Fahey, President and CEO of National Geographic Society, Video can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in An Interview with John Fahey, President and CEO of National Geographic Society, Video case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Ngs Fahey
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 Ngs Fahey
Strengths An Interview with John Fahey, President and CEO of National Geographic Society, Video | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Ngs Fahey in An Interview with John Fahey, President and CEO of National Geographic Society, Video Harvard Business Review case study are -
Digital Transformation in Leadership & Managing People segment
- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For Ngs Fahey digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Ngs Fahey 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.
Highly skilled collaborators
– Ngs Fahey 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 An Interview with John Fahey, President and CEO of National Geographic Society, Video HBR case study have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
Ability to lead change in Leadership & Managing People field
– Ngs Fahey 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 Ngs Fahey 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
– Ngs Fahey is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.
Successful track record of launching new products
– Ngs Fahey has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Ngs Fahey 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.
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Leadership & Managing People industry
– An Interview with John Fahey, President and CEO of National Geographic Society, Video firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Ngs Fahey to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Leadership & Managing People industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Ngs Fahey to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Learning organization
- Ngs Fahey 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 Ngs Fahey is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders in An Interview with John Fahey, President and CEO of National Geographic Society, Video Harvard Business Review case study emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
High switching costs
– The high switching costs that Ngs Fahey 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.
Superior customer experience
– The customer experience strategy of Ngs Fahey in the segment is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of Ngs Fahey in the sector have low bargaining power. An Interview with John Fahey, President and CEO of National Geographic Society, Video has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Ngs Fahey to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
Diverse revenue streams
– Ngs Fahey is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided firm in An Interview with John Fahey, President and CEO of National Geographic Society, Video case study a diverse revenue stream that has helped it to survive disruptions such as global pandemic in Covid-19, financial disruption of 2008, and supply chain disruption of 2021.
High brand equity
– Ngs Fahey has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Ngs Fahey to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Weaknesses An Interview with John Fahey, President and CEO of National Geographic Society, Video | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of An Interview with John Fahey, President and CEO of National Geographic Society, Video are -
Slow to strategic competitive environment developments
– As An Interview with John Fahey, President and CEO of National Geographic Society, Video HBR case study mentions - Ngs Fahey 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 An Interview with John Fahey, President and CEO of National Geographic Society, Video, 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, Ngs Fahey 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. Ngs Fahey 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.
Employees’ incomplete understanding of strategy
– From the instances in the HBR case study An Interview with John Fahey, President and CEO of National Geographic Society, Video, it seems that the employees of Ngs Fahey 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.
Products dominated business model
– Even though Ngs Fahey 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 - An Interview with John Fahey, President and CEO of National Geographic Society, Video should strive to include more intangible value offerings along with its core products and services.
High bargaining power of channel partners
– Because of the regulatory requirements, David A. Garvin suggests that, Ngs Fahey 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.
Interest costs
– Compare to the competition, Ngs Fahey has borrowed money from the capital market at higher rates. It needs to restructure the interest payment and costs so that it can compete better and improve profitability.
High operating costs
– Compare to the competitors, firm in the HBR case study An Interview with John Fahey, President and CEO of National Geographic Society, Video 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 Ngs Fahey 's lucrative customers.
High dependence on star products
– The top 2 products and services of the firm as mentioned in the An Interview with John Fahey, President and CEO of National Geographic Society, Video HBR case study still accounts for major business revenue. This dependence on star products in has resulted into insufficient focus on developing new products, even though Ngs Fahey has relatively successful track record of launching new products.
Lack of clear differentiation of Ngs Fahey products
– To increase the profitability and margins on the products, Ngs Fahey needs to provide more differentiated products than what it is currently offering in the marketplace.
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 Ngs Fahey supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes mentioned in the HBR case study - An Interview with John Fahey, President and CEO of National Geographic Society, Video, it is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left Ngs Fahey vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.
Opportunities An Interview with John Fahey, President and CEO of National Geographic Society, Video | 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 An Interview with John Fahey, President and CEO of National Geographic Society, Video are -
Low interest rates
– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Ngs Fahey can still utilize the low interest rates to borrow money for capital investment. Secondly it can also use the increase of government spending in infrastructure projects to get new business.
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. Ngs Fahey 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. Ngs Fahey 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.
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. Ngs Fahey can tie-up with other value chain partners to explore new opportunities regarding meeting customer demands and building a rewarding and engaging relationship.
Learning at scale
– Online learning technologies has now opened space for Ngs Fahey 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.
Leveraging digital technologies
– Ngs Fahey 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.
Lowering marketing communication costs
– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Ngs Fahey 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 Ngs Fahey 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.
Manufacturing automation
– Ngs Fahey can use the latest technology developments to improve its manufacturing and designing process in Leadership & Managing People segment. It can use CAD and 3D printing to build a quick prototype and pilot testing products. It can leverage automation using machine learning and artificial intelligence to do faster production at lowers costs, and it can leverage the growth in satellite and tracking technologies to improve inventory management, transportation, and shipping.
Buying journey improvements
– Ngs Fahey can improve the customer journey of consumers in the industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. An Interview with John Fahey, President and CEO of National Geographic Society, Video 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.
Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities
– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Ngs Fahey 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 Ngs Fahey to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
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 Ngs Fahey in the consumer business. Now Ngs Fahey can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.
Increase in government spending
– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Ngs Fahey can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Ngs Fahey operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Leadership & Managing People sector.
Loyalty marketing
– Ngs Fahey 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 An Interview with John Fahey, President and CEO of National Geographic Society, Video External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study An Interview with John Fahey, President and CEO of National Geographic Society, Video are -
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 Ngs Fahey in the Leadership & Managing People sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
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 Ngs Fahey.
Environmental challenges
– Ngs Fahey 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. Ngs Fahey can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Leadership & Managing People industry.
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.
Regulatory challenges
– Ngs Fahey 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.
Consumer confidence and its impact on Ngs Fahey 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
– Ngs Fahey 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 Ngs Fahey 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.
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Ngs Fahey 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.
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 Ngs Fahey business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry in the industry are lowering. It can presents Ngs Fahey with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the sector.
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, as highlighted in case study An Interview with John Fahey, President and CEO of National Geographic Society, Video, Ngs Fahey 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 .
Increasing wage structure of Ngs Fahey
– 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 Ngs Fahey.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of An Interview with John Fahey, President and CEO of National Geographic Society, Video 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 An Interview with John Fahey, President and CEO of National Geographic Society, Video 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 An Interview with John Fahey, President and CEO of National Geographic Society, Video 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 An Interview with John Fahey, President and CEO of National Geographic Society, Video 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 An Interview with John Fahey, President and CEO of National Geographic Society, Video 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 Ngs Fahey needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.
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