Saga of Prince Jefri and KPMG (A): Mystery of the Missing Billions SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Leadership & Managing People
Strategy / MBA Resources
Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of Saga of Prince Jefri and KPMG (A): Mystery of the Missing Billions
Accounting and law firms around the globe are following with great interest the progress through British courts of a lawsuit. Those familiar with the suit, filed by Prince Jefri of Brunei against the professional service firm KPMG Peat Marwick, remark that its judgment will be "a landmark ruling with profound implications." At stake is nothing less than how professional service firms conduct their business. The case highlights: (1) the emerging tension between how accounting firms and law firms view their responsibility to clients and (2) the use and limitations of "Chinese walls" in managing potential conflicts within firms.
Swot Analysis of "Saga of Prince Jefri and KPMG (A): Mystery of the Missing Billions" written by Ashish Nanda includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Jefri Firms facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Saga of Prince Jefri and KPMG (A): Mystery of the Missing Billions case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Corporate governance, Ethics, Managing people, Regulation and Leadership & Managing People.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Saga of Prince Jefri and KPMG (A): Mystery of the Missing Billions casestudy better are - – increasing commodity prices, geopolitical disruptions, there is increasing trade war between United States & China, technology disruption, increasing government debt because of Covid-19 spendings, customer relationship management is fast transforming because of increasing concerns over data privacy, increasing inequality as vast percentage of new income is going to the top 1%,
cloud computing is disrupting traditional business models, competitive advantages are harder to sustain because of technology dispersion, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Saga of Prince Jefri and KPMG (A): Mystery of the Missing Billions
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Saga of Prince Jefri and KPMG (A): Mystery of the Missing Billions case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Jefri Firms, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Jefri Firms 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 Saga of Prince Jefri and KPMG (A): Mystery of the Missing Billions can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Saga of Prince Jefri and KPMG (A): Mystery of the Missing Billions case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Jefri Firms
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 Jefri Firms
Strengths Saga of Prince Jefri and KPMG (A): Mystery of the Missing Billions | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Jefri Firms in Saga of Prince Jefri and KPMG (A): Mystery of the Missing Billions Harvard Business Review case study are -
High switching costs
– The high switching costs that Jefri Firms 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.
Ability to recruit top talent
– Jefri Firms is one of the leading recruiters in the industry. Managers in the Saga of Prince Jefri and KPMG (A): Mystery of the Missing Billions are in a position to attract the best talent available. The firm has a robust talent identification program that helps in identifying the brightest.
Diverse revenue streams
– Jefri Firms is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided firm in Saga of Prince Jefri and KPMG (A): Mystery of the Missing Billions 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.
Training and development
– Jefri Firms has one of the best training and development program in the industry. The effectiveness of the training programs can be measured in Saga of Prince Jefri and KPMG (A): Mystery of the Missing Billions 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.
Superior customer experience
– The customer experience strategy of Jefri Firms in the segment is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.
Digital Transformation in Leadership & Managing People segment
- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For Jefri Firms digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Jefri Firms 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.
High brand equity
– Jefri Firms has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Jefri Firms to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of Jefri Firms in the sector have low bargaining power. Saga of Prince Jefri and KPMG (A): Mystery of the Missing Billions has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Jefri Firms to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
Ability to lead change in Leadership & Managing People field
– Jefri Firms 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 Jefri Firms in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.
Operational resilience
– The operational resilience strategy in the Saga of Prince Jefri and KPMG (A): Mystery of the Missing Billions 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.
Cross disciplinary teams
– Horizontal connected teams at the Jefri Firms 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.
Effective Research and Development (R&D)
– Jefri Firms 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 Saga of Prince Jefri and KPMG (A): Mystery of the Missing Billions - staying ahead in the industry in terms of – new product launches, superior customer experience, highly competitive pricing strategies, and great returns to the shareholders.
Weaknesses Saga of Prince Jefri and KPMG (A): Mystery of the Missing Billions | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Saga of Prince Jefri and KPMG (A): Mystery of the Missing Billions are -
Products dominated business model
– Even though Jefri Firms 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 - Saga of Prince Jefri and KPMG (A): Mystery of the Missing Billions should strive to include more intangible value offerings along with its core products and services.
Workers concerns about automation
– As automation is fast increasing in the segment, Jefri Firms 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.
Slow to strategic competitive environment developments
– As Saga of Prince Jefri and KPMG (A): Mystery of the Missing Billions HBR case study mentions - Jefri Firms 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.
High bargaining power of channel partners
– Because of the regulatory requirements, Ashish Nanda suggests that, Jefri Firms 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.
Compensation and incentives
– The revenue per employee as mentioned in the HBR case study Saga of Prince Jefri and KPMG (A): Mystery of the Missing Billions, is just above the industry average. Jefri Firms 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.
Slow to harness new channels of communication
– Even though competitors are using new communication channels such as Instagram, Tiktok, and Snap, Jefri Firms is slow explore the new channels of communication. These new channels of communication mentioned in marketing section of case study Saga of Prince Jefri and KPMG (A): Mystery of the Missing Billions can help to provide better information regarding products and services. It can also build an online community to further reach out to potential customers.
Ability to respond to the competition
– As the decision making is very deliberative, highlighted in the case study Saga of Prince Jefri and KPMG (A): Mystery of the Missing Billions, in the dynamic environment Jefri Firms has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. Jefri Firms has reasonably good record with similar level competitors but it has struggled with new entrants taking away niches of its business.
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 Jefri Firms supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes mentioned in the HBR case study - Saga of Prince Jefri and KPMG (A): Mystery of the Missing Billions, it is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left Jefri Firms vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.
Increasing silos among functional specialists
– The organizational structure of Jefri Firms is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Leadership & Managing People segment. Jefri Firms needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Jefri Firms to focus more on services rather than just following the product oriented approach.
Need for greater diversity
– Jefri Firms 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.
High cash cycle compare to competitors
Jefri Firms 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.
Opportunities Saga of Prince Jefri and KPMG (A): Mystery of the Missing Billions | 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 Saga of Prince Jefri and KPMG (A): Mystery of the Missing Billions 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 Jefri Firms 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.
Redefining models of collaboration and team work
– As explained in the weaknesses section, Jefri Firms is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. Saga of Prince Jefri and KPMG (A): Mystery of the Missing Billions case study suggests that firm can utilize new technology to build more coordinated teams and streamline operations and communications using tools such as CAD, Zoom, etc.
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 Jefri Firms in the consumer business. Now Jefri Firms can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.
Reforming the budgeting process
- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects Jefri Firms can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– Jefri Firms 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 Saga of Prince Jefri and KPMG (A): Mystery of the Missing Billions - to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Jefri Firms 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, Jefri Firms 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.
Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities
– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Jefri Firms 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 Jefri Firms to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
Leveraging digital technologies
– Jefri Firms 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.
Building a culture of innovation
– managers at Jefri Firms 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.
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. Jefri Firms 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. Jefri Firms 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.
Better consumer reach
– The expansion of the 5G network will help Jefri Firms to increase its market reach. Jefri Firms 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.
Manufacturing automation
– Jefri Firms 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.
Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains
– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Jefri Firms 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, Saga of Prince Jefri and KPMG (A): Mystery of the Missing Billions, to buy more products closer to the markets, and it can leverage its size and influence to get better deal from the local markets.
Threats Saga of Prince Jefri and KPMG (A): Mystery of the Missing Billions External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Saga of Prince Jefri and KPMG (A): Mystery of the Missing Billions are -
Increasing wage structure of Jefri Firms
– 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 Jefri Firms.
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. Jefri Firms needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Leadership & Managing People industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
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. Jefri Firms 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.
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, as highlighted in case study Saga of Prince Jefri and KPMG (A): Mystery of the Missing Billions, Jefri Firms 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 .
Consumer confidence and its impact on Jefri Firms 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.
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry in the industry are lowering. It can presents Jefri Firms with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the sector.
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. Jefri Firms can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Jefri Firms 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.
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 Jefri Firms business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
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.
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Jefri Firms 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.
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 Jefri Firms in the Leadership & Managing People sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Saga of Prince Jefri and KPMG (A): Mystery of the Missing Billions 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 Saga of Prince Jefri and KPMG (A): Mystery of the Missing Billions 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 Saga of Prince Jefri and KPMG (A): Mystery of the Missing Billions 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 Saga of Prince Jefri and KPMG (A): Mystery of the Missing Billions 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 Saga of Prince Jefri and KPMG (A): Mystery of the Missing Billions 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 Jefri Firms needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.