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 - – increasing transportation and logistics costs, banking and financial system is disrupted by Bitcoin and other crypto currencies, wage bills are increasing, there is increasing trade war between United States & China, geopolitical disruptions, digital marketing is dominated by two big players Facebook and Google, central banks are concerned over increasing inflation,
increasing government debt because of Covid-19 spendings, competitive advantages are harder to sustain because of technology dispersion, 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 -
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.
Learning organization
- Heywood Johnson 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 Heywood Johnson is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders in Jo Anne Heywood (A) Harvard Business Review case study emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
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.
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.
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.
Operational resilience
– The operational resilience strategy in the Jo Anne Heywood (A) 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.
Strong track record of project management
– Heywood Johnson is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.
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.
Analytics focus
– Heywood Johnson 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 Garth Saloner, Angie Strange, Amanda West, Alexander Tauber 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.
Innovation driven organization
– Heywood Johnson is one of the most innovative firm in sector. Manager in Jo Anne Heywood (A) Harvard Business Review case study can use Clayton Christensen Disruptive Innovation strategies to further increase the scale of innovtions in the organization.
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.
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 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.
Need for greater diversity
– Heywood Johnson 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.
Compensation and incentives
– The revenue per employee as mentioned in the HBR case study Jo Anne Heywood (A), is just above the industry average. Heywood Johnson needs to redesign the compensation structure and incentives to increase the revenue per employees. Some of the steps that it can take are – hiring more specialists on project basis, etc.
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.
Ability to respond to the competition
– As the decision making is very deliberative, highlighted in the case study Jo Anne Heywood (A), in the dynamic environment Heywood Johnson has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. Heywood Johnson has reasonably good record with similar level competitors but it has struggled with new entrants taking away niches of its business.
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.
High bargaining power of channel partners
– Because of the regulatory requirements, Garth Saloner, Angie Strange, Amanda West, Alexander Tauber suggests that, Heywood Johnson 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.
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.
Skills based hiring
– The stress on hiring functional specialists at Heywood Johnson 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.
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.
Slow decision making process
– As mentioned earlier in the report, Heywood Johnson 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. Heywood Johnson 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.
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.
Building a culture of innovation
– managers at Heywood Johnson 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 Communication segment.
Finding new ways to collaborate
– Covid-19 has not only transformed business models of companies in Communication industry, but it has also influenced the consumer preferences. Heywood Johnson 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, 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.
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.
Better consumer reach
– The expansion of the 5G network will help Heywood Johnson to increase its market reach. Heywood Johnson 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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Lowering marketing communication costs
– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Heywood Johnson in the field of marketing communication. It will bring down the cost of doing business, provide technology platform to build new products in the Communication segment, and it will provide faster access to the consumers.
Redefining models of collaboration and team work
– As explained in the weaknesses section, Heywood Johnson is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. Jo Anne Heywood (A) 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.
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.
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 -
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Heywood Johnson 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 Jo Anne Heywood (A) .
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.
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Heywood Johnson in the Communication industry. The Communication 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.
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.
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.
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.
High dependence on third party suppliers
– Heywood Johnson 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.
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.
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.
Regulatory challenges
– Heywood Johnson 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 Communication industry regulations.
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry in the industry are lowering. It can presents Heywood Johnson with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the sector.
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.
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.
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.