Cambridge Consulting Group: Bob Anderson, Spanish Version, Spanish Version SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Leadership & Managing People
Strategy / MBA Resources
Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of Cambridge Consulting Group: Bob Anderson, Spanish Version, Spanish Version
Describes the situation facing the head of a rapidly growing industry-focused group within a consulting company. Highlights the dilemmas of being a "producing manager" (i.e., a professional who has both individual production as well as management responsibilities). Issues raised include: delegation, developing subordinates, developing an agenda, and building an organization. Teaching Purpose: Demonstrates dilemmas of the producing manager's role.
Swot Analysis of "Cambridge Consulting Group: Bob Anderson, Spanish Version, Spanish Version" written by Jay W. Lorsch, John J. Gabarro includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Dilemmas Producing facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Cambridge Consulting Group: Bob Anderson, Spanish Version, Spanish Version case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Growth strategy, Leadership and Leadership & Managing People.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Cambridge Consulting Group: Bob Anderson, Spanish Version, Spanish Version casestudy better are - – increasing commodity prices, supply chains are disrupted by pandemic , wage bills are increasing, cloud computing is disrupting traditional business models, increasing energy prices, challanges to central banks by blockchain based private currencies, central banks are concerned over increasing inflation,
digital marketing is dominated by two big players Facebook and Google, banking and financial system is disrupted by Bitcoin and other crypto currencies, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Cambridge Consulting Group: Bob Anderson, Spanish Version, Spanish Version
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Cambridge Consulting Group: Bob Anderson, Spanish Version, Spanish Version case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Dilemmas Producing, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Dilemmas Producing 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 Cambridge Consulting Group: Bob Anderson, Spanish Version, Spanish Version can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Cambridge Consulting Group: Bob Anderson, Spanish Version, Spanish Version case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Dilemmas Producing
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 Dilemmas Producing
Strengths Cambridge Consulting Group: Bob Anderson, Spanish Version, Spanish Version | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Dilemmas Producing in Cambridge Consulting Group: Bob Anderson, Spanish Version, Spanish Version Harvard Business Review case study are -
Highly skilled collaborators
– Dilemmas Producing 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 Cambridge Consulting Group: Bob Anderson, Spanish Version, Spanish Version HBR case study have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
Innovation driven organization
– Dilemmas Producing is one of the most innovative firm in sector. Manager in Cambridge Consulting Group: Bob Anderson, Spanish Version, Spanish Version Harvard Business Review case study can use Clayton Christensen Disruptive Innovation strategies to further increase the scale of innovtions in the organization.
Training and development
– Dilemmas Producing has one of the best training and development program in the industry. The effectiveness of the training programs can be measured in Cambridge Consulting Group: Bob Anderson, Spanish Version, 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.
Learning organization
- Dilemmas Producing 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 Dilemmas Producing is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders in Cambridge Consulting Group: Bob Anderson, Spanish Version, Spanish Version Harvard Business Review case study emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
Operational resilience
– The operational resilience strategy in the Cambridge Consulting Group: Bob Anderson, Spanish Version, 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.
Digital Transformation in Leadership & Managing People segment
- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For Dilemmas Producing digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Dilemmas Producing 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.
Effective Research and Development (R&D)
– Dilemmas Producing 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 Cambridge Consulting Group: Bob Anderson, Spanish Version, Spanish Version - staying ahead in the industry in terms of – new product launches, superior customer experience, highly competitive pricing strategies, and great returns to the shareholders.
Ability to lead change in Leadership & Managing People field
– Dilemmas Producing 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 Dilemmas Producing in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.
Successful track record of launching new products
– Dilemmas Producing has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Dilemmas Producing 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.
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of Dilemmas Producing in the sector have low bargaining power. Cambridge Consulting Group: Bob Anderson, Spanish Version, Spanish Version has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Dilemmas Producing to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
Cross disciplinary teams
– Horizontal connected teams at the Dilemmas Producing 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.
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Leadership & Managing People industry
– Cambridge Consulting Group: Bob Anderson, Spanish Version, Spanish Version firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Dilemmas Producing to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Leadership & Managing People industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Dilemmas Producing to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Weaknesses Cambridge Consulting Group: Bob Anderson, Spanish Version, Spanish Version | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Cambridge Consulting Group: Bob Anderson, Spanish Version, Spanish Version are -
High bargaining power of channel partners
– Because of the regulatory requirements, Jay W. Lorsch, John J. Gabarro suggests that, Dilemmas Producing 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.
Slow decision making process
– As mentioned earlier in the report, Dilemmas Producing 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. Dilemmas Producing 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.
Workers concerns about automation
– As automation is fast increasing in the segment, Dilemmas Producing 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 harness new channels of communication
– Even though competitors are using new communication channels such as Instagram, Tiktok, and Snap, Dilemmas Producing is slow explore the new channels of communication. These new channels of communication mentioned in marketing section of case study Cambridge Consulting Group: Bob Anderson, Spanish Version, Spanish Version can help to provide better information regarding products and services. It can also build an online community to further reach out to potential customers.
Increasing silos among functional specialists
– The organizational structure of Dilemmas Producing is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Leadership & Managing People segment. Dilemmas Producing needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Dilemmas Producing to focus more on services rather than just following the product oriented approach.
Aligning sales with marketing
– It come across in the case study Cambridge Consulting Group: Bob Anderson, Spanish Version, 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 Cambridge Consulting Group: Bob Anderson, Spanish Version, Spanish Version can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Dilemmas Producing is planning to shift buying processes online.
Slow to strategic competitive environment developments
– As Cambridge Consulting Group: Bob Anderson, Spanish Version, Spanish Version HBR case study mentions - Dilemmas Producing 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 dependence on star products
– The top 2 products and services of the firm as mentioned in the Cambridge Consulting Group: Bob Anderson, Spanish Version, Spanish Version 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 Dilemmas Producing has relatively successful track record of launching new products.
Products dominated business model
– Even though Dilemmas Producing 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 - Cambridge Consulting Group: Bob Anderson, Spanish Version, Spanish Version should strive to include more intangible value offerings along with its core products and services.
High operating costs
– Compare to the competitors, firm in the HBR case study Cambridge Consulting Group: Bob Anderson, Spanish Version, Spanish Version 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 Dilemmas Producing 's lucrative customers.
Capital Spending Reduction
– Even during the low interest decade, Dilemmas Producing 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 Cambridge Consulting Group: Bob Anderson, Spanish Version, 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 Cambridge Consulting Group: Bob Anderson, Spanish Version, Spanish Version 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 Dilemmas Producing 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.
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. Dilemmas Producing can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.
Redefining models of collaboration and team work
– As explained in the weaknesses section, Dilemmas Producing is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. Cambridge Consulting Group: Bob Anderson, Spanish Version, 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.
Lowering marketing communication costs
– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Dilemmas Producing 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.
Manufacturing automation
– Dilemmas Producing 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.
Leveraging digital technologies
– Dilemmas Producing 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.
Learning at scale
– Online learning technologies has now opened space for Dilemmas Producing 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.
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 Dilemmas Producing in the consumer business. Now Dilemmas Producing can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.
Loyalty marketing
– Dilemmas Producing 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.
Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities
– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Dilemmas Producing 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 Dilemmas Producing to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
Buying journey improvements
– Dilemmas Producing can improve the customer journey of consumers in the industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. Cambridge Consulting Group: Bob Anderson, Spanish Version, 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.
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Dilemmas Producing has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Dilemmas Producing to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the Cambridge Consulting Group: Bob Anderson, Spanish Version, Spanish Version case study. Dilemmas Producing can build new products and services such as - data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
Developing new processes and practices
– Dilemmas Producing 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.
Threats Cambridge Consulting Group: Bob Anderson, Spanish Version, 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 Cambridge Consulting Group: Bob Anderson, Spanish Version, Spanish Version are -
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. Dilemmas Producing needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Leadership & Managing People industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
Regulatory challenges
– Dilemmas Producing 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
– Dilemmas Producing 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 wage structure of Dilemmas Producing
– 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 Dilemmas Producing.
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. Dilemmas Producing can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
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 Dilemmas Producing 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 Dilemmas Producing with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the sector.
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 Dilemmas Producing.
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Dilemmas Producing is facing in Leadership & Managing People sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Dilemmas Producing has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Leadership & Managing People industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Dilemmas Producing 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.
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, as highlighted in case study Cambridge Consulting Group: Bob Anderson, Spanish Version, Spanish Version, Dilemmas Producing 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 .
Environmental challenges
– Dilemmas Producing 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. Dilemmas Producing can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Leadership & Managing People industry.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Cambridge Consulting Group: Bob Anderson, Spanish Version, 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 Cambridge Consulting Group: Bob Anderson, Spanish Version, 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 Cambridge Consulting Group: Bob Anderson, Spanish Version, 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 Cambridge Consulting Group: Bob Anderson, Spanish Version, 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 Cambridge Consulting Group: Bob Anderson, Spanish Version, 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 Dilemmas Producing needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.
