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 - – central banks are concerned over increasing inflation, increasing inequality as vast percentage of new income is going to the top 1%, increasing household debt because of falling income levels, technology disruption, customer relationship management is fast transforming because of increasing concerns over data privacy, banking and financial system is disrupted by Bitcoin and other crypto currencies, increasing energy prices,
wage bills are increasing, challanges to central banks by blockchain based private currencies, 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 -
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.
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.
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.
Operational resilience
– The operational resilience strategy in the Shareholder Democracy: Does Gretchen Get It Right? 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.
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.
Training and development
– Morgenson Gretchen has one of the best training and development program in the industry. The effectiveness of the training programs can be measured in Shareholder Democracy: Does Gretchen Get It Right? 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.
Learning organization
- Morgenson Gretchen 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 Morgenson Gretchen is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders in Shareholder Democracy: Does Gretchen Get It Right? Harvard Business Review case study emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Leadership & Managing People industry
– Shareholder Democracy: Does Gretchen Get It Right? firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Morgenson Gretchen to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Leadership & Managing People industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Morgenson Gretchen to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
High switching costs
– The high switching costs that Morgenson Gretchen 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.
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.
Organizational Resilience of Morgenson Gretchen
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing that Morgenson Gretchen does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
Ability to recruit top talent
– Morgenson Gretchen is one of the leading recruiters in the industry. Managers in the Shareholder Democracy: Does Gretchen Get It Right? are in a position to attract the best talent available. The firm has a robust talent identification program that helps in identifying the brightest.
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 -
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.
Lack of clear differentiation of Morgenson Gretchen products
– To increase the profitability and margins on the products, Morgenson Gretchen 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 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.
Slow to harness new channels of communication
– Even though competitors are using new communication channels such as Instagram, Tiktok, and Snap, Morgenson Gretchen is slow explore the new channels of communication. These new channels of communication mentioned in marketing section of case study Shareholder Democracy: Does Gretchen Get It Right? can help to provide better information regarding products and services. It can also build an online community to further reach out to potential 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.
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.
No frontier risks strategy
– After analyzing the HBR case study Shareholder Democracy: Does Gretchen Get It Right?, 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.
Increasing silos among functional specialists
– The organizational structure of Morgenson Gretchen is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Leadership & Managing People segment. Morgenson Gretchen needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Morgenson Gretchen to focus more on services rather than just following the product oriented approach.
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.
Interest costs
– Compare to the competition, Morgenson Gretchen 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.
Workers concerns about automation
– As automation is fast increasing in the segment, Morgenson Gretchen needs to come up with a strategy to reduce the workers concern regarding automation. Without a clear strategy, it could lead to disruption and uncertainty within the organization.
Opportunities 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 -
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 Morgenson Gretchen in the consumer business. Now Morgenson Gretchen can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.
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.
Increase in government spending
– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Morgenson Gretchen can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Morgenson Gretchen operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Leadership & Managing People sector.
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.
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. Morgenson Gretchen can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.
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.
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.
Learning at scale
– Online learning technologies has now opened space for Morgenson Gretchen 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.
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.
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.
Loyalty marketing
– Morgenson Gretchen 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.
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.
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 -
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, 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? .
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 Morgenson Gretchen.
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.
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. Morgenson Gretchen 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.
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Morgenson Gretchen 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
– Morgenson Gretchen 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.
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.
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Morgenson Gretchen has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Leadership & Managing People industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Morgenson Gretchen 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.
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 Morgenson Gretchen business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
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.
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.
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.
