Martin Marietta: Managing Corporate Ethics (A), Spanish Version SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Leadership & Managing People
Strategy / MBA Resources
Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of Martin Marietta: Managing Corporate Ethics (A), Spanish Version
Senior managers at Martin Marietta are considering two questions: how to assess the company's seven-year-old ethics program; and how to deal with employees' fear of retribution--real or imagined--for alerting the corporate ethics office to potential problems. The case describes the company's ethics program, the process of integrating it into the organization, and the reactions and views of key managers. Intended to provide in-depth knowledge of one company's approach to managing corporate ethics and to permit students to evaluate the impact of the program. Exposes students to a range of issues involved in managing programs like the one in place at Martin Marietta.
Swot Analysis of "Martin Marietta: Managing Corporate Ethics (A), Spanish Version" written by Lynn Sharp Paine includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Marietta Ethics facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Martin Marietta: Managing Corporate Ethics (A), Spanish Version case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Ethics, Firing, Regulation and Leadership & Managing People.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Martin Marietta: Managing Corporate Ethics (A), Spanish Version casestudy better are - – supply chains are disrupted by pandemic , increasing household debt because of falling income levels, digital marketing is dominated by two big players Facebook and Google, challanges to central banks by blockchain based private currencies, there is increasing trade war between United States & China, wage bills are increasing, 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%, technology disruption, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Martin Marietta: Managing Corporate Ethics (A), Spanish Version
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Martin Marietta: Managing Corporate Ethics (A), Spanish Version case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Marietta Ethics, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Marietta Ethics 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 Martin Marietta: Managing Corporate Ethics (A), Spanish Version can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Martin Marietta: Managing Corporate Ethics (A), Spanish Version case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Marietta Ethics
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 Marietta Ethics
Strengths Martin Marietta: Managing Corporate Ethics (A), Spanish Version | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Marietta Ethics in Martin Marietta: Managing Corporate Ethics (A), Spanish Version Harvard Business Review case study are -
Analytics focus
– Marietta Ethics 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 Lynn Sharp Paine 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.
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of Marietta Ethics in the sector have low bargaining power. Martin Marietta: Managing Corporate Ethics (A), Spanish Version has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Marietta Ethics to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
Training and development
– Marietta Ethics has one of the best training and development program in the industry. The effectiveness of the training programs can be measured in Martin Marietta: Managing Corporate Ethics (A), Spanish Version Harvard Business Review case study by analyzing – employees retention, in-house promotion, loyalty, new venture initiation, lack of conflict, and high level of both employees and customer engagement.
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Leadership & Managing People industry
– Martin Marietta: Managing Corporate Ethics (A), Spanish Version firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Marietta Ethics to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Leadership & Managing People industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Marietta Ethics to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Learning organization
- Marietta Ethics 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 Marietta Ethics is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders in Martin Marietta: Managing Corporate Ethics (A), Spanish Version Harvard Business Review case study emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
Organizational Resilience of Marietta Ethics
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing that Marietta Ethics does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
Ability to lead change in Leadership & Managing People field
– Marietta Ethics 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 Marietta Ethics in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.
Innovation driven organization
– Marietta Ethics is one of the most innovative firm in sector. Manager in Martin Marietta: Managing Corporate Ethics (A), Spanish Version Harvard Business Review case study can use Clayton Christensen Disruptive Innovation strategies to further increase the scale of innovtions in the organization.
Digital Transformation in Leadership & Managing People segment
- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For Marietta Ethics digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Marietta Ethics 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.
Strong track record of project management
– Marietta Ethics is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.
Operational resilience
– The operational resilience strategy in the Martin Marietta: Managing Corporate Ethics (A), Spanish Version 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.
Diverse revenue streams
– Marietta Ethics is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided firm in Martin Marietta: Managing Corporate Ethics (A), Spanish Version 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.
Weaknesses Martin Marietta: Managing Corporate Ethics (A), Spanish Version | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Martin Marietta: Managing Corporate Ethics (A), Spanish Version are -
Need for greater diversity
– Marietta Ethics 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.
Lack of clear differentiation of Marietta Ethics products
– To increase the profitability and margins on the products, Marietta Ethics 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 Marietta Ethics, firm in the HBR case study Martin Marietta: Managing Corporate Ethics (A), Spanish Version needs to spend more promotional, marketing, and advertising efforts to penetrate international markets.
Employees’ incomplete understanding of strategy
– From the instances in the HBR case study Martin Marietta: Managing Corporate Ethics (A), Spanish Version, it seems that the employees of Marietta Ethics 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.
Ability to respond to the competition
– As the decision making is very deliberative, highlighted in the case study Martin Marietta: Managing Corporate Ethics (A), Spanish Version, in the dynamic environment Marietta Ethics has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. Marietta Ethics has reasonably good record with similar level competitors but it has struggled with new entrants taking away niches of its business.
Increasing silos among functional specialists
– The organizational structure of Marietta Ethics is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Leadership & Managing People segment. Marietta Ethics needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Marietta Ethics to focus more on services rather than just following the product oriented approach.
Aligning sales with marketing
– It come across in the case study Martin Marietta: Managing Corporate Ethics (A), Spanish Version 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 Martin Marietta: Managing Corporate Ethics (A), Spanish Version can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Marietta Ethics is planning to shift buying processes online.
Products dominated business model
– Even though Marietta Ethics 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 - Martin Marietta: Managing Corporate Ethics (A), Spanish Version should strive to include more intangible value offerings along with its core products and services.
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 Marietta Ethics supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes mentioned in the HBR case study - Martin Marietta: Managing Corporate Ethics (A), Spanish Version, it is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left Marietta Ethics vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.
No frontier risks strategy
– After analyzing the HBR case study Martin Marietta: Managing Corporate Ethics (A), Spanish Version, it seems that company is thinking about the frontier risks that can impact Leadership & Managing People strategy. But it has very little resources allocation to manage the risks emerging from events such as natural disasters, climate change, melting of permafrost, tacking the rise of artificial intelligence, opportunities and threats emerging from commercialization of space etc.
Capital Spending Reduction
– Even during the low interest decade, Marietta Ethics 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.
Opportunities Martin Marietta: Managing Corporate Ethics (A), Spanish Version | 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 Martin Marietta: Managing Corporate Ethics (A), Spanish Version are -
Buying journey improvements
– Marietta Ethics can improve the customer journey of consumers in the industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. Martin Marietta: Managing Corporate Ethics (A), Spanish Version 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.
Reforming the budgeting process
- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects Marietta Ethics can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.
Redefining models of collaboration and team work
– As explained in the weaknesses section, Marietta Ethics is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. Martin Marietta: Managing Corporate Ethics (A), Spanish Version 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.
Manufacturing automation
– Marietta Ethics 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.
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. Marietta Ethics can tie-up with other value chain partners to explore new opportunities regarding meeting customer demands and building a rewarding and engaging relationship.
Low interest rates
– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Marietta Ethics 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 Marietta Ethics 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 Marietta Ethics to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
Learning at scale
– Online learning technologies has now opened space for Marietta Ethics 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.
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– Marietta Ethics 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 Martin Marietta: Managing Corporate Ethics (A), Spanish Version - to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Marietta Ethics to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains
– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Marietta Ethics 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, Martin Marietta: Managing Corporate Ethics (A), Spanish Version, to buy more products closer to the markets, and it can leverage its size and influence to get better deal from the local markets.
Building a culture of innovation
– managers at Marietta Ethics 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.
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. Marietta Ethics can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.
Better consumer reach
– The expansion of the 5G network will help Marietta Ethics to increase its market reach. Marietta Ethics 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 Martin Marietta: Managing Corporate Ethics (A), Spanish Version External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Martin Marietta: Managing Corporate Ethics (A), Spanish Version are -
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Marietta Ethics 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 Martin Marietta: Managing Corporate Ethics (A), Spanish Version .
Environmental challenges
– Marietta Ethics 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. Marietta Ethics can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Leadership & Managing People industry.
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 Marietta Ethics business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
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 Marietta Ethics.
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Marietta Ethics 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 acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Marietta Ethics has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Leadership & Managing People industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Marietta Ethics 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.
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. Marietta Ethics can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Marietta Ethics is facing in Leadership & Managing People sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry in the industry are lowering. It can presents Marietta Ethics with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the sector.
High dependence on third party suppliers
– Marietta Ethics 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.
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, as highlighted in case study Martin Marietta: Managing Corporate Ethics (A), Spanish Version, Marietta Ethics 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 .
Increasing wage structure of Marietta Ethics
– 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 Marietta Ethics.
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 Marietta Ethics in the Leadership & Managing People sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Martin Marietta: Managing Corporate Ethics (A), Spanish Version 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 Martin Marietta: Managing Corporate Ethics (A), Spanish Version 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 Martin Marietta: Managing Corporate Ethics (A), Spanish Version 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 Martin Marietta: Managing Corporate Ethics (A), Spanish Version 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 Martin Marietta: Managing Corporate Ethics (A), Spanish Version 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 Marietta Ethics needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.