Jo Anne Heywood (A) SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Communication
Strategy / MBA Resources
Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of Jo Anne Heywood (A)
Starts at the time Jo Anne Heywood was promoted to CEO of ConvergedNetworks. Heywood had just been hired as the CTO of ConvergedNetworks as the company prepared to raise its third round of financing. The board, however, had quickly realized that it also needed a CEO to raise this round, and Heywood was thus selected. Heywood and her team successfully closed a third round of financing. At the time ConvergedNetworks' board was courting Heywood, it was also hiring a new vice-president of sales, Dave Johnson. Heywood worried that Johnson may resent reporting to someone with no sales experience. As a result, Heywood felt she needed to manage Johnson carefully. Not long after assuming his role as VP of sales and closing the third round of financing, Johnson shared with Heywood his concerns about selling the product. After each customer meeting, Johnson began dropping his initial forecasts by 10% to 20%. As Heywood and Johnson prepared materials for the upcoming board meeting, Johnson suddenly admitted that his sales team would probably come in at 80% below his original projections. Heywood wondered how she should respond to Johnson and how she would approach the upcoming conversation with the board.
Authors :: Garth Saloner, Angie Strange, Amanda West, Alexander Tauber
Swot Analysis of "Jo Anne Heywood (A)" written by Garth Saloner, Angie Strange, Amanda West, Alexander Tauber includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Heywood Johnson facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Jo Anne Heywood (A) case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Communication, Gender, Leadership, Sales and Communication.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Jo Anne Heywood (A) casestudy better are - – 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, there is backlash against globalization, increasing energy prices, increasing government debt because of Covid-19 spendings, central banks are concerned over increasing inflation,
challanges to central banks by blockchain based private currencies, wage bills are increasing, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Jo Anne Heywood (A)
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Jo Anne Heywood (A) case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Heywood Johnson, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Heywood Johnson 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 Jo Anne Heywood (A) can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Jo Anne Heywood (A) case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Heywood Johnson
3. Assessing feasibility of the new initiative in Communication field.
4. Making a Communication topic specific business decision
5. Set goals for the organization
6. Organizational restructuring of Heywood Johnson
Strengths Jo Anne Heywood (A) | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Heywood Johnson in Jo Anne Heywood (A) Harvard Business Review case study are -
Successful track record of launching new products
– Heywood Johnson has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Heywood Johnson 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.
Effective Research and Development (R&D)
– Heywood Johnson 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 Jo Anne Heywood (A) - staying ahead in the industry in terms of – new product launches, superior customer experience, highly competitive pricing strategies, and great returns to the shareholders.
Highly skilled collaborators
– Heywood Johnson 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 Jo Anne Heywood (A) HBR case study have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
Organizational Resilience of Heywood Johnson
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing that Heywood Johnson does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
High switching costs
– The high switching costs that Heywood Johnson 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.
Superior customer experience
– The customer experience strategy of Heywood Johnson in the segment is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.
Diverse revenue streams
– Heywood Johnson is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided firm in Jo Anne Heywood (A) 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.
High brand equity
– Heywood Johnson has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Heywood Johnson to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Ability to recruit top talent
– Heywood Johnson is one of the leading recruiters in the industry. Managers in the Jo Anne Heywood (A) are in a position to attract the best talent available. The firm has a robust talent identification program that helps in identifying the brightest.
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of Heywood Johnson in the sector have low bargaining power. Jo Anne Heywood (A) has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Heywood Johnson to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
Cross disciplinary teams
– Horizontal connected teams at the Heywood Johnson 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.
Digital Transformation in Communication segment
- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For Heywood Johnson digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Heywood Johnson 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.
Weaknesses Jo Anne Heywood (A) | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Jo Anne Heywood (A) are -
High operating costs
– Compare to the competitors, firm in the HBR case study Jo Anne Heywood (A) 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 Heywood Johnson 's lucrative customers.
Increasing silos among functional specialists
– The organizational structure of Heywood Johnson is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Communication segment. Heywood Johnson needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Heywood Johnson to focus more on services rather than just following the product oriented approach.
High dependence on star products
– The top 2 products and services of the firm as mentioned in the Jo Anne Heywood (A) 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 Heywood Johnson has relatively successful track record of launching new products.
Capital Spending Reduction
– Even during the low interest decade, Heywood Johnson 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.
Aligning sales with marketing
– It come across in the case study Jo Anne Heywood (A) 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 Jo Anne Heywood (A) can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Heywood Johnson is planning to shift buying processes online.
High cash cycle compare to competitors
Heywood Johnson 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.
Workers concerns about automation
– As automation is fast increasing in the segment, Heywood Johnson 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.
Interest costs
– Compare to the competition, Heywood Johnson has borrowed money from the capital market at higher rates. It needs to restructure the interest payment and costs so that it can compete better and improve profitability.
Lack of clear differentiation of Heywood Johnson products
– To increase the profitability and margins on the products, Heywood Johnson needs to provide more differentiated products than what it is currently offering in the marketplace.
Employees’ incomplete understanding of strategy
– From the instances in the HBR case study Jo Anne Heywood (A), it seems that the employees of Heywood Johnson 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.
Low market penetration in new markets
– Outside its home market of Heywood Johnson, firm in the HBR case study Jo Anne Heywood (A) needs to spend more promotional, marketing, and advertising efforts to penetrate international markets.
Opportunities Jo Anne Heywood (A) | 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 Jo Anne Heywood (A) are -
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. Heywood Johnson can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.
Use of Bitcoin and other crypto currencies for transactions
– The popularity of Bitcoin and other crypto currencies as asset class and medium of transaction has opened new opportunities for Heywood Johnson in the consumer business. Now Heywood Johnson can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– Heywood Johnson 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 Jo Anne Heywood (A) - to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Heywood Johnson to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
Developing new processes and practices
– Heywood Johnson can develop new processes and procedures in Communication 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 Communication industry because of Covid-19 restrictions. Some of this behavior will stay once things get back to normal. Heywood Johnson 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. Heywood Johnson 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.
Reforming the budgeting process
- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects Heywood Johnson can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.
Buying journey improvements
– Heywood Johnson can improve the customer journey of consumers in the industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. Jo Anne Heywood (A) 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.
Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains
– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Heywood Johnson 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, Jo Anne Heywood (A), to buy more products closer to the markets, and it can leverage its size and influence to get better deal from the local markets.
Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities
– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Heywood Johnson 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 Heywood Johnson to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
Increase in government spending
– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Heywood Johnson can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Heywood Johnson operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Communication sector.
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 Heywood Johnson 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.
Manufacturing automation
– Heywood Johnson can use the latest technology developments to improve its manufacturing and designing process in Communication 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.
Low interest rates
– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Heywood Johnson 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.
Threats Jo Anne Heywood (A) External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Jo Anne Heywood (A) are -
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 Heywood Johnson in the Communication sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Heywood Johnson is facing in Communication sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, as highlighted in case study Jo Anne Heywood (A), Heywood Johnson may face longer learning curve for training and development of existing employees. This can open space for more nimble competitors in the field of Communication .
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Heywood Johnson 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 Heywood Johnson
– 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 Heywood Johnson.
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.
Environmental challenges
– Heywood Johnson 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. Heywood Johnson can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Communication industry.
Consumer confidence and its impact on Heywood Johnson 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.
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 Heywood Johnson.
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Heywood Johnson has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Communication industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Heywood Johnson needs to keep up with the evolution of technology in the Communication 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 Communication field will also reduce the barriers to entry in the industry, thus putting downward pressure on the prices because of increasing competition. Heywood Johnson can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
Instability in the European markets
– European Union markets are facing three big challenges post Covid – expanded balance sheets, Brexit related business disruption, and aggressive Russia looking to distract the existing security mechanism. Heywood Johnson 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.
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 Heywood Johnson business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Jo Anne Heywood (A) 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 Jo Anne Heywood (A) 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 Jo Anne Heywood (A) 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 Jo Anne Heywood (A) 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 Jo Anne Heywood (A) 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 Heywood Johnson needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.
