Labour Dispute at Dr. Reddy's: Tip of the Iceberg in a Globalization Effort SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Leadership & Managing People
Strategy / MBA Resources
Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of Labour Dispute at Dr. Reddy's: Tip of the Iceberg in a Globalization Effort
The case describes a dispute between the management of Dr. Reddy's and a trade union over the employment terms of contract workers. However, as events unfold over a period of 100 days, one realizes that this dispute reflects several underlying issues, such as accommodating untrained and less skilled contract workers when expertise and automation is what is required for meeting global standards, meeting the challenge of operating from a developing country characterized by local/ traditional value systems and approaches and at the same time having to meet the expectations of customers in the developed world. Basically the organization was struggling to reconcile the livelihood needs of it's unskilled contract workers with the competitive realities faced by the corporation. Had it been a straightforward matter of a wage dispute, the negotiation and settlement of the issue would have been far simpler. But when the dispute over service conditions is only a tip of the iceberg in a multi-stakeholder context, the dilemmas and negotiations become far more complex. Thus, the case presents an opportunity to explore several subjects, such as negotiations, dilemmas of companies from developing countries with an internationalization agenda, learning and general management.
Swot Analysis of "Labour Dispute at Dr. Reddy's: Tip of the Iceberg in a Globalization Effort" written by S. Ramnarayan, MV Anuradha includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Dispute Iceberg facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Labour Dispute at Dr. Reddy's: Tip of the Iceberg in a Globalization Effort case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Labor, Managing people, Negotiations and Leadership & Managing People.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Labour Dispute at Dr. Reddy's: Tip of the Iceberg in a Globalization Effort casestudy better are - – increasing government debt because of Covid-19 spendings, increasing energy prices, digital marketing is dominated by two big players Facebook and Google, wage bills are increasing, increasing transportation and logistics costs, supply chains are disrupted by pandemic , increasing inequality as vast percentage of new income is going to the top 1%,
there is increasing trade war between United States & China, customer relationship management is fast transforming because of increasing concerns over data privacy, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Labour Dispute at Dr. Reddy's: Tip of the Iceberg in a Globalization Effort
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Labour Dispute at Dr. Reddy's: Tip of the Iceberg in a Globalization Effort case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Dispute Iceberg, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Dispute Iceberg 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 Labour Dispute at Dr. Reddy's: Tip of the Iceberg in a Globalization Effort can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Labour Dispute at Dr. Reddy's: Tip of the Iceberg in a Globalization Effort case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Dispute Iceberg
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 Dispute Iceberg
Strengths Labour Dispute at Dr. Reddy's: Tip of the Iceberg in a Globalization Effort | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Dispute Iceberg in Labour Dispute at Dr. Reddy's: Tip of the Iceberg in a Globalization Effort Harvard Business Review case study are -
Cross disciplinary teams
– Horizontal connected teams at the Dispute Iceberg 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.
Operational resilience
– The operational resilience strategy in the Labour Dispute at Dr. Reddy's: Tip of the Iceberg in a Globalization Effort 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.
Learning organization
- Dispute Iceberg 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 Dispute Iceberg is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders in Labour Dispute at Dr. Reddy's: Tip of the Iceberg in a Globalization Effort Harvard Business Review case study emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of Dispute Iceberg in the sector have low bargaining power. Labour Dispute at Dr. Reddy's: Tip of the Iceberg in a Globalization Effort has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Dispute Iceberg to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
High brand equity
– Dispute Iceberg has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Dispute Iceberg to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Effective Research and Development (R&D)
– Dispute Iceberg 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 Labour Dispute at Dr. Reddy's: Tip of the Iceberg in a Globalization Effort - staying ahead in the industry in terms of – new product launches, superior customer experience, highly competitive pricing strategies, and great returns to the shareholders.
Organizational Resilience of Dispute Iceberg
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing that Dispute Iceberg does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
Diverse revenue streams
– Dispute Iceberg is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided firm in Labour Dispute at Dr. Reddy's: Tip of the Iceberg in a Globalization Effort 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.
Analytics focus
– Dispute Iceberg 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 S. Ramnarayan, MV Anuradha 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.
Innovation driven organization
– Dispute Iceberg is one of the most innovative firm in sector. Manager in Labour Dispute at Dr. Reddy's: Tip of the Iceberg in a Globalization Effort Harvard Business Review case study can use Clayton Christensen Disruptive Innovation strategies to further increase the scale of innovtions in the organization.
Superior customer experience
– The customer experience strategy of Dispute Iceberg in the segment is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.
Training and development
– Dispute Iceberg has one of the best training and development program in the industry. The effectiveness of the training programs can be measured in Labour Dispute at Dr. Reddy's: Tip of the Iceberg in a Globalization Effort 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.
Weaknesses Labour Dispute at Dr. Reddy's: Tip of the Iceberg in a Globalization Effort | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Labour Dispute at Dr. Reddy's: Tip of the Iceberg in a Globalization Effort are -
Slow to harness new channels of communication
– Even though competitors are using new communication channels such as Instagram, Tiktok, and Snap, Dispute Iceberg is slow explore the new channels of communication. These new channels of communication mentioned in marketing section of case study Labour Dispute at Dr. Reddy's: Tip of the Iceberg in a Globalization Effort can help to provide better information regarding products and services. It can also build an online community to further reach out to potential customers.
High bargaining power of channel partners
– Because of the regulatory requirements, S. Ramnarayan, MV Anuradha suggests that, Dispute Iceberg 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.
High dependence on star products
– The top 2 products and services of the firm as mentioned in the Labour Dispute at Dr. Reddy's: Tip of the Iceberg in a Globalization Effort 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 Dispute Iceberg has relatively successful track record of launching new products.
Compensation and incentives
– The revenue per employee as mentioned in the HBR case study Labour Dispute at Dr. Reddy's: Tip of the Iceberg in a Globalization Effort, is just above the industry average. Dispute Iceberg 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.
Aligning sales with marketing
– It come across in the case study Labour Dispute at Dr. Reddy's: Tip of the Iceberg in a Globalization Effort 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 Labour Dispute at Dr. Reddy's: Tip of the Iceberg in a Globalization Effort can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Dispute Iceberg is planning to shift buying processes online.
Lack of clear differentiation of Dispute Iceberg products
– To increase the profitability and margins on the products, Dispute Iceberg needs to provide more differentiated products than what it is currently offering in the marketplace.
Low market penetration in new markets
– Outside its home market of Dispute Iceberg, firm in the HBR case study Labour Dispute at Dr. Reddy's: Tip of the Iceberg in a Globalization Effort needs to spend more promotional, marketing, and advertising efforts to penetrate international markets.
Skills based hiring
– The stress on hiring functional specialists at Dispute Iceberg 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.
Workers concerns about automation
– As automation is fast increasing in the segment, Dispute Iceberg 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.
Increasing silos among functional specialists
– The organizational structure of Dispute Iceberg is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Leadership & Managing People segment. Dispute Iceberg needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Dispute Iceberg to focus more on services rather than just following the product oriented approach.
Slow to strategic competitive environment developments
– As Labour Dispute at Dr. Reddy's: Tip of the Iceberg in a Globalization Effort HBR case study mentions - Dispute Iceberg 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.
Opportunities Labour Dispute at Dr. Reddy's: Tip of the Iceberg in a Globalization Effort | 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 Labour Dispute at Dr. Reddy's: Tip of the Iceberg in a Globalization Effort are -
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 Dispute Iceberg 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.
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– Dispute Iceberg 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 Labour Dispute at Dr. Reddy's: Tip of the Iceberg in a Globalization Effort - to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Dispute Iceberg to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
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. Dispute Iceberg can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.
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. Dispute Iceberg can tie-up with other value chain partners to explore new opportunities regarding meeting customer demands and building a rewarding and engaging relationship.
Increase in government spending
– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Dispute Iceberg can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Dispute Iceberg operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Leadership & Managing People sector.
Building a culture of innovation
– managers at Dispute Iceberg can make experimentation a productive activity and build a culture of innovation using approaches such as – mining transaction data, A/B testing of websites and selling platforms, engaging potential customers over various needs, and building on small ideas in the Leadership & Managing People segment.
Leveraging digital technologies
– Dispute Iceberg 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, Dispute Iceberg 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.
Buying journey improvements
– Dispute Iceberg can improve the customer journey of consumers in the industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. Labour Dispute at Dr. Reddy's: Tip of the Iceberg in a Globalization Effort 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.
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Dispute Iceberg has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Dispute Iceberg to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the Labour Dispute at Dr. Reddy's: Tip of the Iceberg in a Globalization Effort case study. Dispute Iceberg can build new products and services such as - data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
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 Dispute Iceberg in the consumer business. Now Dispute Iceberg can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.
Developing new processes and practices
– Dispute Iceberg 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.
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. Dispute Iceberg 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. Dispute Iceberg 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.
Threats Labour Dispute at Dr. Reddy's: Tip of the Iceberg in a Globalization Effort External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Labour Dispute at Dr. Reddy's: Tip of the Iceberg in a Globalization Effort are -
Increasing wage structure of Dispute Iceberg
– 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 Dispute Iceberg.
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Dispute Iceberg 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.
Consumer confidence and its impact on Dispute Iceberg 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.
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 Dispute Iceberg in the Leadership & Managing People sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
Aging population
– As the populations of most advanced economies are aging, it will lead to high social security costs, higher savings among population, and lower demand for goods and services in the economy. The household savings in US, France, UK, Germany, and Japan are growing faster than predicted because of uncertainty caused by pandemic.
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. Dispute Iceberg 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.
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Dispute Iceberg is facing in Leadership & Managing People sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.
Regulatory challenges
– Dispute Iceberg 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.
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 Dispute Iceberg.
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry in the industry are lowering. It can presents Dispute Iceberg with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the sector.
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. Dispute Iceberg needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Leadership & Managing People industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
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.
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Dispute Iceberg has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Leadership & Managing People industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Dispute Iceberg 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.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Labour Dispute at Dr. Reddy's: Tip of the Iceberg in a Globalization Effort 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 Labour Dispute at Dr. Reddy's: Tip of the Iceberg in a Globalization Effort 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 Labour Dispute at Dr. Reddy's: Tip of the Iceberg in a Globalization Effort 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 Labour Dispute at Dr. Reddy's: Tip of the Iceberg in a Globalization Effort 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 Labour Dispute at Dr. Reddy's: Tip of the Iceberg in a Globalization Effort 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 Dispute Iceberg needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.
