Case Study Description of Martha Goldberg Aronson: Challenges at Mid-Career (B)
Martha Goldberg Aronson of Medtronic is trying to decide whether to accept the offer from Medtronic CEO Bill Hawkins to become senior vice president and chief talent officer. Aronson returned from an executive role in Europe just 18 months before as vice president, investor relations, but sees herself as a fine executive. Thus, she is undecided about taking a senior staff position.
Swot Analysis of "Martha Goldberg Aronson: Challenges at Mid-Career (B)" written by William W. George includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Aronson Goldberg facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Martha Goldberg Aronson: Challenges at Mid-Career (B) case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Leadership, Organizational structure and Leadership & Managing People.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Martha Goldberg Aronson: Challenges at Mid-Career (B) casestudy better are - – geopolitical disruptions, increasing inequality as vast percentage of new income is going to the top 1%, challanges to central banks by blockchain based private currencies, increasing household debt because of falling income levels, central banks are concerned over increasing inflation, digital marketing is dominated by two big players Facebook and Google, talent flight as more people leaving formal jobs,
technology disruption, customer relationship management is fast transforming because of increasing concerns over data privacy, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Martha Goldberg Aronson: Challenges at Mid-Career (B)
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Martha Goldberg Aronson: Challenges at Mid-Career (B) case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Aronson Goldberg, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Aronson Goldberg 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 Martha Goldberg Aronson: Challenges at Mid-Career (B) can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Martha Goldberg Aronson: Challenges at Mid-Career (B) case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Aronson Goldberg
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 Aronson Goldberg
Strengths Martha Goldberg Aronson: Challenges at Mid-Career (B) | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Aronson Goldberg in Martha Goldberg Aronson: Challenges at Mid-Career (B) Harvard Business Review case study are -
Ability to lead change in Leadership & Managing People field
– Aronson Goldberg 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 Aronson Goldberg in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.
Diverse revenue streams
– Aronson Goldberg is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided firm in Martha Goldberg Aronson: Challenges at Mid-Career (B) 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.
Cross disciplinary teams
– Horizontal connected teams at the Aronson Goldberg are driving operational speed, building greater agility, and keeping the organization nimble to compete with new competitors. It helps are organization to ideate new ideas, and execute them swiftly in the marketplace.
Learning organization
- Aronson Goldberg 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 Aronson Goldberg is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders in Martha Goldberg Aronson: Challenges at Mid-Career (B) Harvard Business Review case study emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
High switching costs
– The high switching costs that Aronson Goldberg 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.
Strong track record of project management
– Aronson Goldberg is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.
Training and development
– Aronson Goldberg has one of the best training and development program in the industry. The effectiveness of the training programs can be measured in Martha Goldberg Aronson: Challenges at Mid-Career (B) 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.
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Leadership & Managing People industry
– Martha Goldberg Aronson: Challenges at Mid-Career (B) firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Aronson Goldberg to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Leadership & Managing People industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Aronson Goldberg to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Successful track record of launching new products
– Aronson Goldberg has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Aronson Goldberg 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.
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of Aronson Goldberg in the sector have low bargaining power. Martha Goldberg Aronson: Challenges at Mid-Career (B) has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Aronson Goldberg to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
Superior customer experience
– The customer experience strategy of Aronson Goldberg in the segment is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.
Highly skilled collaborators
– Aronson Goldberg 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 Martha Goldberg Aronson: Challenges at Mid-Career (B) HBR case study have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
Weaknesses Martha Goldberg Aronson: Challenges at Mid-Career (B) | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Martha Goldberg Aronson: Challenges at Mid-Career (B) are -
High operating costs
– Compare to the competitors, firm in the HBR case study Martha Goldberg Aronson: Challenges at Mid-Career (B) 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 Aronson Goldberg 's lucrative customers.
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 Aronson Goldberg supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes mentioned in the HBR case study - Martha Goldberg Aronson: Challenges at Mid-Career (B), it is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left Aronson Goldberg vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.
Aligning sales with marketing
– It come across in the case study Martha Goldberg Aronson: Challenges at Mid-Career (B) 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 Martha Goldberg Aronson: Challenges at Mid-Career (B) can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Aronson Goldberg is planning to shift buying processes online.
Low market penetration in new markets
– Outside its home market of Aronson Goldberg, firm in the HBR case study Martha Goldberg Aronson: Challenges at Mid-Career (B) needs to spend more promotional, marketing, and advertising efforts to penetrate international markets.
Compensation and incentives
– The revenue per employee as mentioned in the HBR case study Martha Goldberg Aronson: Challenges at Mid-Career (B), is just above the industry average. Aronson Goldberg 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.
Capital Spending Reduction
– Even during the low interest decade, Aronson Goldberg 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.
Ability to respond to the competition
– As the decision making is very deliberative, highlighted in the case study Martha Goldberg Aronson: Challenges at Mid-Career (B), in the dynamic environment Aronson Goldberg has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. Aronson Goldberg has reasonably good record with similar level competitors but it has struggled with new entrants taking away niches of its business.
Skills based hiring
– The stress on hiring functional specialists at Aronson Goldberg 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.
No frontier risks strategy
– After analyzing the HBR case study Martha Goldberg Aronson: Challenges at Mid-Career (B), 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.
Products dominated business model
– Even though Aronson Goldberg 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 - Martha Goldberg Aronson: Challenges at Mid-Career (B) should strive to include more intangible value offerings along with its core products and services.
High dependence on star products
– The top 2 products and services of the firm as mentioned in the Martha Goldberg Aronson: Challenges at Mid-Career (B) 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 Aronson Goldberg has relatively successful track record of launching new products.
Opportunities Martha Goldberg Aronson: Challenges at Mid-Career (B) | 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 Martha Goldberg Aronson: Challenges at Mid-Career (B) are -
Better consumer reach
– The expansion of the 5G network will help Aronson Goldberg to increase its market reach. Aronson Goldberg 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.
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 Aronson Goldberg 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.
Increase in government spending
– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Aronson Goldberg can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Aronson Goldberg 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 Aronson Goldberg has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Aronson Goldberg to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the Martha Goldberg Aronson: Challenges at Mid-Career (B) case study. Aronson Goldberg can build new products and services such as - data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
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. Aronson Goldberg 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. Aronson Goldberg 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.
Manufacturing automation
– Aronson Goldberg 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.
Lowering marketing communication costs
– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Aronson Goldberg 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.
Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains
– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Aronson Goldberg 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, Martha Goldberg Aronson: Challenges at Mid-Career (B), to buy more products closer to the markets, and it can leverage its size and influence to get better deal from the local markets.
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– Aronson Goldberg 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 Martha Goldberg Aronson: Challenges at Mid-Career (B) - to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Aronson Goldberg to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
Low interest rates
– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Aronson Goldberg 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.
Developing new processes and practices
– Aronson Goldberg 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.
Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities
– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Aronson Goldberg 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 Aronson Goldberg to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
Learning at scale
– Online learning technologies has now opened space for Aronson Goldberg 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.
Threats Martha Goldberg Aronson: Challenges at Mid-Career (B) External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Martha Goldberg Aronson: Challenges at Mid-Career (B) are -
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 Aronson Goldberg.
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.
High dependence on third party suppliers
– Aronson Goldberg 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.
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. Aronson Goldberg 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.
Consumer confidence and its impact on Aronson Goldberg 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 international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Aronson Goldberg 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 Martha Goldberg Aronson: Challenges at Mid-Career (B) .
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Aronson Goldberg 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
– Aronson Goldberg 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. Aronson Goldberg can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Leadership & Managing People industry.
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, as highlighted in case study Martha Goldberg Aronson: Challenges at Mid-Career (B), Aronson Goldberg 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 .
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry in the industry are lowering. It can presents Aronson Goldberg with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the sector.
Aging population
– As the populations of most advanced economies are aging, it will lead to high social security costs, higher savings among population, and lower demand for goods and services in the economy. The household savings in US, France, UK, Germany, and Japan are growing faster than predicted because of uncertainty caused by pandemic.
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Aronson Goldberg has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Leadership & Managing People industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Aronson Goldberg 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.
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Aronson Goldberg 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.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Martha Goldberg Aronson: Challenges at Mid-Career (B) 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 Martha Goldberg Aronson: Challenges at Mid-Career (B) 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 Martha Goldberg Aronson: Challenges at Mid-Career (B) 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 Martha Goldberg Aronson: Challenges at Mid-Career (B) 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 Martha Goldberg Aronson: Challenges at Mid-Career (B) 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 Aronson Goldberg needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.
