Shareholder Democracy: Does Gretchen Get It Right? SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Leadership & Managing People
Strategy / MBA Resources
Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of Shareholder Democracy: Does Gretchen Get It Right?
By 2007, Gretchen Morgenson, assistant editor and columnist at The New York Times, had gained significant attention from business leaders, regulators, and academics for her coverage of a wide range of financial and governance issues. Morgenson wrote the majority of her articles about corporate malfeasance at the executive and board level, drawing attention to both prominent and lesser-known examples of misbehavior in corporate America. Not everyone, however, agreed with her depiction of and analytical approach to covering governance issues. Critics charged that, although many of the trends she pointed to were worthy of debate, her articles did not appropriately take a comprehensive view or acknowledge the broad implications of her positions. To some extent, Morgenson's critics were as aggressive in their rebuttal as she was in her assertions. Outside observers were left to wonder whether the polemics employed by both parties helped to further a broad public understanding of the issues under debate or whether they instead fueled the rancor, leaving both sides impossibly divided over the role of shareholders and directors in corporate governance.
Swot Analysis of "Shareholder Democracy: Does Gretchen Get It Right?" written by David F. Larcker, Brian Tayan includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Morgenson Gretchen facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Shareholder Democracy: Does Gretchen Get It Right? case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Corporate communications and Leadership & Managing People.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Shareholder Democracy: Does Gretchen Get It Right? casestudy better are - – cloud computing is disrupting traditional business models, increasing energy prices, wage bills are increasing, increasing commodity prices, competitive advantages are harder to sustain because of technology dispersion, digital marketing is dominated by two big players Facebook and Google, increasing government debt because of Covid-19 spendings,
increasing household debt because of falling income levels, central banks are concerned over increasing inflation, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Shareholder Democracy: Does Gretchen Get It Right?
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Shareholder Democracy: Does Gretchen Get It Right? case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Morgenson Gretchen, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Morgenson Gretchen 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 Shareholder Democracy: Does Gretchen Get It Right? can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Shareholder Democracy: Does Gretchen Get It Right? case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Morgenson Gretchen
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 Morgenson Gretchen
Strengths Shareholder Democracy: Does Gretchen Get It Right? | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Morgenson Gretchen in Shareholder Democracy: Does Gretchen Get It Right? Harvard Business Review case study are -
Successful track record of launching new products
– Morgenson Gretchen has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Morgenson Gretchen 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.
High brand equity
– Morgenson Gretchen has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Morgenson Gretchen to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Strong track record of project management
– Morgenson Gretchen is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.
Innovation driven organization
– Morgenson Gretchen is one of the most innovative firm in sector. Manager in Shareholder Democracy: Does Gretchen Get It Right? Harvard Business Review case study can use Clayton Christensen Disruptive Innovation strategies to further increase the scale of innovtions in the organization.
Ability to lead change in Leadership & Managing People field
– Morgenson Gretchen 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 Morgenson Gretchen in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.
Diverse revenue streams
– Morgenson Gretchen is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided firm in Shareholder Democracy: Does Gretchen Get It Right? 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.
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of Morgenson Gretchen in the sector have low bargaining power. Shareholder Democracy: Does Gretchen Get It Right? has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Morgenson Gretchen to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
Effective Research and Development (R&D)
– Morgenson Gretchen 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 Shareholder Democracy: Does Gretchen Get It Right? - staying ahead in the industry in terms of – new product launches, superior customer experience, highly competitive pricing strategies, and great returns to the shareholders.
Highly skilled collaborators
– Morgenson Gretchen 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 Shareholder Democracy: Does Gretchen Get It Right? HBR case study have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
Analytics focus
– Morgenson Gretchen 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 David F. Larcker, Brian Tayan 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.
Digital Transformation in Leadership & Managing People segment
- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For Morgenson Gretchen digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Morgenson Gretchen 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.
Superior customer experience
– The customer experience strategy of Morgenson Gretchen in the segment is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.
Weaknesses Shareholder Democracy: Does Gretchen Get It Right? | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Shareholder Democracy: Does Gretchen Get It Right? are -
High cash cycle compare to competitors
Morgenson Gretchen 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.
Capital Spending Reduction
– Even during the low interest decade, Morgenson Gretchen 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.
Need for greater diversity
– Morgenson Gretchen 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.
Slow decision making process
– As mentioned earlier in the report, Morgenson Gretchen 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. Morgenson Gretchen 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.
Compensation and incentives
– The revenue per employee as mentioned in the HBR case study Shareholder Democracy: Does Gretchen Get It Right?, is just above the industry average. Morgenson Gretchen 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 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 Morgenson Gretchen supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes mentioned in the HBR case study - Shareholder Democracy: Does Gretchen Get It Right?, it is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left Morgenson Gretchen vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.
Skills based hiring
– The stress on hiring functional specialists at Morgenson Gretchen 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.
High operating costs
– Compare to the competitors, firm in the HBR case study Shareholder Democracy: Does Gretchen Get It Right? 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 Morgenson Gretchen 's lucrative customers.
Employees’ incomplete understanding of strategy
– From the instances in the HBR case study Shareholder Democracy: Does Gretchen Get It Right?, it seems that the employees of Morgenson Gretchen 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.
Aligning sales with marketing
– It come across in the case study Shareholder Democracy: Does Gretchen Get It Right? 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 Shareholder Democracy: Does Gretchen Get It Right? can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Morgenson Gretchen 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 Shareholder Democracy: Does Gretchen Get It Right?, in the dynamic environment Morgenson Gretchen has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. Morgenson Gretchen has reasonably good record with similar level competitors but it has struggled with new entrants taking away niches of its business.
Opportunities Shareholder Democracy: Does Gretchen Get It Right? | 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 Shareholder Democracy: Does Gretchen Get It Right? are -
Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains
– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Morgenson Gretchen 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, Shareholder Democracy: Does Gretchen Get It Right?, to buy more products closer to the markets, and it can leverage its size and influence to get better deal from the local markets.
Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities
– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Morgenson Gretchen 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 Morgenson Gretchen to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
Leveraging digital technologies
– Morgenson Gretchen 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.
Low interest rates
– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Morgenson Gretchen 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.
Reforming the budgeting process
- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects Morgenson Gretchen 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 Morgenson Gretchen to increase its market reach. Morgenson Gretchen 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.
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. Morgenson Gretchen can tie-up with other value chain partners to explore new opportunities regarding meeting customer demands and building a rewarding and engaging relationship.
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 Morgenson Gretchen 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.
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Morgenson Gretchen has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Morgenson Gretchen to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the Shareholder Democracy: Does Gretchen Get It Right? case study. Morgenson Gretchen can build new products and services such as - data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
Buying journey improvements
– Morgenson Gretchen can improve the customer journey of consumers in the industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. Shareholder Democracy: Does Gretchen Get It Right? 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.
Developing new processes and practices
– Morgenson Gretchen 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
– Morgenson Gretchen 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 Shareholder Democracy: Does Gretchen Get It Right? - to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Morgenson Gretchen to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
Redefining models of collaboration and team work
– As explained in the weaknesses section, Morgenson Gretchen is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. Shareholder Democracy: Does Gretchen Get It Right? 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.
Threats Shareholder Democracy: Does Gretchen Get It Right? External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Shareholder Democracy: Does Gretchen Get It Right? are -
Regulatory challenges
– Morgenson Gretchen 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.
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 Morgenson Gretchen in the Leadership & Managing People sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, as highlighted in case study Shareholder Democracy: Does Gretchen Get It Right?, Morgenson Gretchen 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 .
Environmental challenges
– Morgenson Gretchen 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. Morgenson Gretchen can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Leadership & Managing People industry.
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Morgenson Gretchen is facing in Leadership & Managing People sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry in the industry are lowering. It can presents Morgenson Gretchen with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the sector.
Consumer confidence and its impact on Morgenson Gretchen 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.
Increasing wage structure of Morgenson Gretchen
– 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 Morgenson Gretchen.
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. Morgenson Gretchen needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Leadership & Managing People industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Morgenson Gretchen 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 Shareholder Democracy: Does Gretchen Get It Right? .
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.
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. Morgenson Gretchen can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
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.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Shareholder Democracy: Does Gretchen Get It Right? 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 Shareholder Democracy: Does Gretchen Get It Right? 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 Shareholder Democracy: Does Gretchen Get It Right? 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 Shareholder Democracy: Does Gretchen Get It Right? 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 Shareholder Democracy: Does Gretchen Get It Right? 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 Morgenson Gretchen needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.