PHILIP CHASE: AN ORGANIZATIONAL POWER SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Leadership & Managing People
Strategy / MBA Resources
Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of PHILIP CHASE: AN ORGANIZATIONAL POWER
The case is a true story with disguised names, and was developed with the help of the protagonist, "Philip Chase," who runs a "successful" executive placement agency, Retail Personnel Flow (RPF). However, the case reveals that it is perhaps not as "successful" as he seemed to think. Philip has just learned from an employee that his company's biggest client, Winterplain, is about to offer the important Kash-n-Karry contract to RPF's main competitor, NY-Lon. At first, Philip thinks it is just a rumor, but later that day discovers that a prospective candidate has already been through several rounds of interviews with NY-Lon. The HR director at Winterplain confirms that there are service quality issues. She agrees to meet Philip the next day and sends a memo listing Winterplain's concerns with RPF for him to go through before the meeting; some of the points are valid but Philip is furious about the others! It was a happy ending: RPF won back the Winterplain account, including Kash-n-Karry. NY-Lon's foray into retail placements was short-lived since it could not cope with the complexity of the retail labor market. Learning objectives: The case provides participants with an understanding of the political dynamics of the relationship between professional firms and their clients. Participants get to appreciate the role of networks in improving one's social power and influence ability. The case can also be used in role-playing how difficult political situations can be resolved.
Swot Analysis of "PHILIP CHASE: AN ORGANIZATIONAL POWER" written by Anand Narasimhan, Brett Burgess includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Philip Rpf facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in PHILIP CHASE: AN ORGANIZATIONAL POWER case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Talent management and Leadership & Managing People.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the PHILIP CHASE: AN ORGANIZATIONAL POWER casestudy better are - – increasing inequality as vast percentage of new income is going to the top 1%, supply chains are disrupted by pandemic , geopolitical disruptions, central banks are concerned over increasing inflation, digital marketing is dominated by two big players Facebook and Google, wage bills are increasing, talent flight as more people leaving formal jobs,
banking and financial system is disrupted by Bitcoin and other crypto currencies, there is increasing trade war between United States & China, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of PHILIP CHASE: AN ORGANIZATIONAL POWER
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in PHILIP CHASE: AN ORGANIZATIONAL POWER case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Philip Rpf, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Philip Rpf 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 PHILIP CHASE: AN ORGANIZATIONAL POWER can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in PHILIP CHASE: AN ORGANIZATIONAL POWER case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Philip Rpf
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 Philip Rpf
Strengths PHILIP CHASE: AN ORGANIZATIONAL POWER | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Philip Rpf in PHILIP CHASE: AN ORGANIZATIONAL POWER Harvard Business Review case study are -
Organizational Resilience of Philip Rpf
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing that Philip Rpf does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
Effective Research and Development (R&D)
– Philip Rpf 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 PHILIP CHASE: AN ORGANIZATIONAL POWER - staying ahead in the industry in terms of – new product launches, superior customer experience, highly competitive pricing strategies, and great returns to the shareholders.
Digital Transformation in Leadership & Managing People segment
- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For Philip Rpf digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Philip Rpf has successfully integrated the four key components of digital transformation – digital integration in processes, digital integration in marketing and customer relationship management, digital integration into the value chain, and using technology to explore new products and market opportunities.
Highly skilled collaborators
– Philip Rpf 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 PHILIP CHASE: AN ORGANIZATIONAL POWER 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 Philip Rpf in the segment is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.
Analytics focus
– Philip Rpf 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 Anand Narasimhan, Brett Burgess 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.
Learning organization
- Philip Rpf 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 Philip Rpf is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders in PHILIP CHASE: AN ORGANIZATIONAL POWER Harvard Business Review case study emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
Operational resilience
– The operational resilience strategy in the PHILIP CHASE: AN ORGANIZATIONAL POWER 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.
Strong track record of project management
– Philip Rpf is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Leadership & Managing People industry
– PHILIP CHASE: AN ORGANIZATIONAL POWER firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Philip Rpf to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Leadership & Managing People industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Philip Rpf to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Successful track record of launching new products
– Philip Rpf has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Philip Rpf 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.
Training and development
– Philip Rpf has one of the best training and development program in the industry. The effectiveness of the training programs can be measured in PHILIP CHASE: AN ORGANIZATIONAL POWER 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 PHILIP CHASE: AN ORGANIZATIONAL POWER | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of PHILIP CHASE: AN ORGANIZATIONAL POWER are -
Aligning sales with marketing
– It come across in the case study PHILIP CHASE: AN ORGANIZATIONAL POWER 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 PHILIP CHASE: AN ORGANIZATIONAL POWER can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Philip Rpf is planning to shift buying processes online.
Need for greater diversity
– Philip Rpf 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.
Employees’ incomplete understanding of strategy
– From the instances in the HBR case study PHILIP CHASE: AN ORGANIZATIONAL POWER, it seems that the employees of Philip Rpf 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 operating costs
– Compare to the competitors, firm in the HBR case study PHILIP CHASE: AN ORGANIZATIONAL POWER 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 Philip Rpf 's lucrative customers.
Skills based hiring
– The stress on hiring functional specialists at Philip Rpf 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.
Capital Spending Reduction
– Even during the low interest decade, Philip Rpf 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.
Slow to strategic competitive environment developments
– As PHILIP CHASE: AN ORGANIZATIONAL POWER HBR case study mentions - Philip Rpf 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.
Compensation and incentives
– The revenue per employee as mentioned in the HBR case study PHILIP CHASE: AN ORGANIZATIONAL POWER, is just above the industry average. Philip Rpf 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.
Lack of clear differentiation of Philip Rpf products
– To increase the profitability and margins on the products, Philip Rpf needs to provide more differentiated products than what it is currently offering in the marketplace.
Slow decision making process
– As mentioned earlier in the report, Philip Rpf 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. Philip Rpf 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.
High dependence on star products
– The top 2 products and services of the firm as mentioned in the PHILIP CHASE: AN ORGANIZATIONAL POWER 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 Philip Rpf has relatively successful track record of launching new products.
Opportunities PHILIP CHASE: AN ORGANIZATIONAL POWER | 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 PHILIP CHASE: AN ORGANIZATIONAL POWER are -
Better consumer reach
– The expansion of the 5G network will help Philip Rpf to increase its market reach. Philip Rpf 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.
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. Philip Rpf can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.
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 Philip Rpf in the consumer business. Now Philip Rpf can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.
Buying journey improvements
– Philip Rpf can improve the customer journey of consumers in the industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. PHILIP CHASE: AN ORGANIZATIONAL POWER 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.
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. Philip Rpf can tie-up with other value chain partners to explore new opportunities regarding meeting customer demands and building a rewarding and engaging relationship.
Lowering marketing communication costs
– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Philip Rpf 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.
Reforming the budgeting process
- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects Philip Rpf can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.
Leveraging digital technologies
– Philip Rpf 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.
Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains
– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Philip Rpf 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, PHILIP CHASE: AN ORGANIZATIONAL POWER, 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, Philip Rpf can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Philip Rpf operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Leadership & Managing People sector.
Low interest rates
– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Philip Rpf 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.
Learning at scale
– Online learning technologies has now opened space for Philip Rpf 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.
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 Philip Rpf 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.
Threats PHILIP CHASE: AN ORGANIZATIONAL POWER External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study PHILIP CHASE: AN ORGANIZATIONAL POWER are -
Consumer confidence and its impact on Philip Rpf 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.
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. Philip Rpf can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
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. Philip Rpf 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 Philip Rpf is facing in Leadership & Managing People sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.
Increasing wage structure of Philip Rpf
– 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 Philip Rpf.
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 Philip Rpf in the Leadership & Managing People sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
Environmental challenges
– Philip Rpf 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. Philip Rpf can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Leadership & Managing People industry.
Regulatory challenges
– Philip Rpf 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.
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Philip Rpf 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.
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Philip Rpf 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 PHILIP CHASE: AN ORGANIZATIONAL POWER .
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Philip Rpf 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.
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 PHILIP CHASE: AN ORGANIZATIONAL POWER 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 PHILIP CHASE: AN ORGANIZATIONAL POWER 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 PHILIP CHASE: AN ORGANIZATIONAL POWER 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 PHILIP CHASE: AN ORGANIZATIONAL POWER 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 PHILIP CHASE: AN ORGANIZATIONAL POWER 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 Philip Rpf needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.