SkillsForTomorrow: A Management Team in Crisis SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Leadership & Managing People
Strategy / MBA Resources
Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of SkillsForTomorrow: A Management Team in Crisis
A management consultant has been hired to fix the morale issues at a branch of SkillsForTomorrow (SFT) in Pennsylvania, United States. SFT is a government-sponsored organization tasked with helping at-risk young adults gain vocational training toward preparing them for a successful career in one of several areas, including automotive and machine repair, construction, health care and information technology. The program provides support to students beyond technical training, including the development of interpersonal skills, problem-solving skills and skills in effectively conducting a job search and interview - all towards the goal of graduating individuals that are prepared to live independently and become productive citizens (and taxpayers). Several factors are influencing the morale of the SFT management team, some of which point directly to the sponsor of the consulting project, the executive director at SFT Harrisburg. The consultant must identify the root causes of the management discord and derive a solution that can help solve the various issues. The consultant will need to consider the political and interpersonal aspects of the consulting relationship between herself and the executive director. Steven D. Charlier is affiliated with Quinnipiac University
Swot Analysis of "SkillsForTomorrow: A Management Team in Crisis" written by Steven D. Charlier, Martin M. Brennan includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Sft Skillsfortomorrow facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in SkillsForTomorrow: A Management Team in Crisis case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Conflict, Leadership, Leading teams and Leadership & Managing People.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the SkillsForTomorrow: A Management Team in Crisis casestudy better are - – there is increasing trade war between United States & China, banking and financial system is disrupted by Bitcoin and other crypto currencies, challanges to central banks by blockchain based private currencies, competitive advantages are harder to sustain because of technology dispersion, increasing inequality as vast percentage of new income is going to the top 1%, increasing household debt because of falling income levels, digital marketing is dominated by two big players Facebook and Google,
increasing energy prices, increasing commodity prices, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of SkillsForTomorrow: A Management Team in Crisis
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in SkillsForTomorrow: A Management Team in Crisis case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Sft Skillsfortomorrow, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Sft Skillsfortomorrow 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 SkillsForTomorrow: A Management Team in Crisis can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in SkillsForTomorrow: A Management Team in Crisis case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Sft Skillsfortomorrow
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 Sft Skillsfortomorrow
Strengths SkillsForTomorrow: A Management Team in Crisis | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Sft Skillsfortomorrow in SkillsForTomorrow: A Management Team in Crisis Harvard Business Review case study are -
Innovation driven organization
– Sft Skillsfortomorrow is one of the most innovative firm in sector. Manager in SkillsForTomorrow: A Management Team in Crisis Harvard Business Review case study can use Clayton Christensen Disruptive Innovation strategies to further increase the scale of innovtions in the organization.
Strong track record of project management
– Sft Skillsfortomorrow is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.
Organizational Resilience of Sft Skillsfortomorrow
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing that Sft Skillsfortomorrow does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
Successful track record of launching new products
– Sft Skillsfortomorrow has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Sft Skillsfortomorrow 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.
Ability to lead change in Leadership & Managing People field
– Sft Skillsfortomorrow 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 Sft Skillsfortomorrow in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.
Ability to recruit top talent
– Sft Skillsfortomorrow is one of the leading recruiters in the industry. Managers in the SkillsForTomorrow: A Management Team in Crisis are in a position to attract the best talent available. The firm has a robust talent identification program that helps in identifying the brightest.
Analytics focus
– Sft Skillsfortomorrow 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 Steven D. Charlier, Martin M. Brennan 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.
Digital Transformation in Leadership & Managing People segment
- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For Sft Skillsfortomorrow digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Sft Skillsfortomorrow 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
– Sft Skillsfortomorrow 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 SkillsForTomorrow: A Management Team in Crisis HBR case study have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
Learning organization
- Sft Skillsfortomorrow 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 Sft Skillsfortomorrow is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders in SkillsForTomorrow: A Management Team in Crisis Harvard Business Review case study emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
Effective Research and Development (R&D)
– Sft Skillsfortomorrow 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 SkillsForTomorrow: A Management Team in Crisis - staying ahead in the industry in terms of – new product launches, superior customer experience, highly competitive pricing strategies, and great returns to the shareholders.
Cross disciplinary teams
– Horizontal connected teams at the Sft Skillsfortomorrow 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.
Weaknesses SkillsForTomorrow: A Management Team in Crisis | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of SkillsForTomorrow: A Management Team in Crisis are -
Low market penetration in new markets
– Outside its home market of Sft Skillsfortomorrow, firm in the HBR case study SkillsForTomorrow: A Management Team in Crisis needs to spend more promotional, marketing, and advertising efforts to penetrate international markets.
High operating costs
– Compare to the competitors, firm in the HBR case study SkillsForTomorrow: A Management Team in Crisis 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 Sft Skillsfortomorrow 's lucrative customers.
High dependence on star products
– The top 2 products and services of the firm as mentioned in the SkillsForTomorrow: A Management Team in Crisis 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 Sft Skillsfortomorrow has relatively successful track record of launching new products.
Slow decision making process
– As mentioned earlier in the report, Sft Skillsfortomorrow 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. Sft Skillsfortomorrow 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.
Skills based hiring
– The stress on hiring functional specialists at Sft Skillsfortomorrow 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.
Aligning sales with marketing
– It come across in the case study SkillsForTomorrow: A Management Team in Crisis 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 SkillsForTomorrow: A Management Team in Crisis can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Sft Skillsfortomorrow is planning to shift buying processes online.
Employees’ incomplete understanding of strategy
– From the instances in the HBR case study SkillsForTomorrow: A Management Team in Crisis, it seems that the employees of Sft Skillsfortomorrow 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.
Lack of clear differentiation of Sft Skillsfortomorrow products
– To increase the profitability and margins on the products, Sft Skillsfortomorrow needs to provide more differentiated products than what it is currently offering in the marketplace.
Slow to harness new channels of communication
– Even though competitors are using new communication channels such as Instagram, Tiktok, and Snap, Sft Skillsfortomorrow is slow explore the new channels of communication. These new channels of communication mentioned in marketing section of case study SkillsForTomorrow: A Management Team in Crisis 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, Steven D. Charlier, Martin M. Brennan suggests that, Sft Skillsfortomorrow 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 cash cycle compare to competitors
Sft Skillsfortomorrow 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 SkillsForTomorrow: A Management Team in Crisis | 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 SkillsForTomorrow: A Management Team in Crisis are -
Manufacturing automation
– Sft Skillsfortomorrow 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.
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. Sft Skillsfortomorrow can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.
Developing new processes and practices
– Sft Skillsfortomorrow 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. Sft Skillsfortomorrow 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. Sft Skillsfortomorrow 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.
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. Sft Skillsfortomorrow can tie-up with other value chain partners to explore new opportunities regarding meeting customer demands and building a rewarding and engaging relationship.
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– Sft Skillsfortomorrow 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 SkillsForTomorrow: A Management Team in Crisis - to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Sft Skillsfortomorrow 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, Sft Skillsfortomorrow 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.
Leveraging digital technologies
– Sft Skillsfortomorrow 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.
Loyalty marketing
– Sft Skillsfortomorrow has focused on building a highly responsive customer relationship management platform. This platform is built on in-house data and driven by analytics and artificial intelligence. The customer analytics can help the organization to fine tune its loyalty marketing efforts, increase the wallet share of the organization, reduce wastage on mainstream advertising spending, build better pricing strategies using personalization, etc.
Buying journey improvements
– Sft Skillsfortomorrow can improve the customer journey of consumers in the industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. SkillsForTomorrow: A Management Team in Crisis 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.
Building a culture of innovation
– managers at Sft Skillsfortomorrow 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.
Learning at scale
– Online learning technologies has now opened space for Sft Skillsfortomorrow 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.
Better consumer reach
– The expansion of the 5G network will help Sft Skillsfortomorrow to increase its market reach. Sft Skillsfortomorrow 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.
Threats SkillsForTomorrow: A Management Team in Crisis External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study SkillsForTomorrow: A Management Team in Crisis are -
Environmental challenges
– Sft Skillsfortomorrow 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. Sft Skillsfortomorrow can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Leadership & Managing People industry.
Regulatory challenges
– Sft Skillsfortomorrow 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.
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Sft Skillsfortomorrow is facing in Leadership & Managing People sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.
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. Sft Skillsfortomorrow 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 Sft Skillsfortomorrow 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 Sft Skillsfortomorrow in the Leadership & Managing People sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry in the industry are lowering. It can presents Sft Skillsfortomorrow 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. Sft Skillsfortomorrow can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Sft Skillsfortomorrow has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Leadership & Managing People industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Sft Skillsfortomorrow 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.
High dependence on third party suppliers
– Sft Skillsfortomorrow 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.
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Sft Skillsfortomorrow 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.
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 Sft Skillsfortomorrow.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of SkillsForTomorrow: A Management Team in Crisis 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 SkillsForTomorrow: A Management Team in Crisis 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 SkillsForTomorrow: A Management Team in Crisis 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 SkillsForTomorrow: A Management Team in Crisis 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 SkillsForTomorrow: A Management Team in Crisis 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 Sft Skillsfortomorrow needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.
