Measuring the Results of the HR Function: The Case of the SociA?tA? de transport de MontrA?al's Staffing and Workforce Planning Division SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Leadership & Managing People
Strategy / MBA Resources
Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of Measuring the Results of the HR Function: The Case of the SociA?tA? de transport de MontrA?al's Staffing and Workforce Planning Division
If the HR function is to become a strategic partner within an organization, it must be able to measure the results of its activities and programs. But how? The case places students in the position of an external consultant who is mandated to identify and develop indicators that will be used to establish a balanced scorecard for the head of the Staffing and Workforce Planning Division of the SociA?tA? de transport de MontrA?al (STM). This is a decision-making case, since it asks students to decide on the relevant indicators to be selected for the balanced scorecard. At the same time, it can also be regarded as an analytical case, in that the solutions/indicators must be based on an exhaustive analysis of the situation and information conveyed in the case and its appendices.
Swot Analysis of "Measuring the Results of the HR Function: The Case of the SociA?tA? de transport de MontrA?al's Staffing and Workforce Planning Division" written by Cedric Lepine, Michel Cossette includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Montra De facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Measuring the Results of the HR Function: The Case of the SociA?tA? de transport de MontrA?al's Staffing and Workforce Planning Division case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, and Leadership & Managing People.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Measuring the Results of the HR Function: The Case of the SociA?tA? de transport de MontrA?al's Staffing and Workforce Planning Division casestudy better are - – increasing government debt because of Covid-19 spendings, increasing energy prices, increasing commodity prices, wage bills are increasing, increasing household debt because of falling income levels, technology disruption, cloud computing is disrupting traditional business models,
competitive advantages are harder to sustain because of technology dispersion, challanges to central banks by blockchain based private currencies, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Measuring the Results of the HR Function: The Case of the SociA?tA? de transport de MontrA?al's Staffing and Workforce Planning Division
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Measuring the Results of the HR Function: The Case of the SociA?tA? de transport de MontrA?al's Staffing and Workforce Planning Division case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Montra De, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Montra De 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 Measuring the Results of the HR Function: The Case of the SociA?tA? de transport de MontrA?al's Staffing and Workforce Planning Division can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Measuring the Results of the HR Function: The Case of the SociA?tA? de transport de MontrA?al's Staffing and Workforce Planning Division case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Montra De
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 Montra De
Strengths Measuring the Results of the HR Function: The Case of the SociA?tA? de transport de MontrA?al's Staffing and Workforce Planning Division | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Montra De in Measuring the Results of the HR Function: The Case of the SociA?tA? de transport de MontrA?al's Staffing and Workforce Planning Division Harvard Business Review case study are -
Effective Research and Development (R&D)
– Montra De 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 Measuring the Results of the HR Function: The Case of the SociA?tA? de transport de MontrA?al's Staffing and Workforce Planning Division - 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 recruit top talent
– Montra De is one of the leading recruiters in the industry. Managers in the Measuring the Results of the HR Function: The Case of the SociA?tA? de transport de MontrA?al's Staffing and Workforce Planning Division are in a position to attract the best talent available. The firm has a robust talent identification program that helps in identifying the brightest.
Superior customer experience
– The customer experience strategy of Montra De in the segment is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Leadership & Managing People industry
– Measuring the Results of the HR Function: The Case of the SociA?tA? de transport de MontrA?al's Staffing and Workforce Planning Division firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Montra De to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Leadership & Managing People industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Montra De to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of Montra De in the sector have low bargaining power. Measuring the Results of the HR Function: The Case of the SociA?tA? de transport de MontrA?al's Staffing and Workforce Planning Division has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Montra De to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
Innovation driven organization
– Montra De is one of the most innovative firm in sector. Manager in Measuring the Results of the HR Function: The Case of the SociA?tA? de transport de MontrA?al's Staffing and Workforce Planning Division Harvard Business Review case study can use Clayton Christensen Disruptive Innovation strategies to further increase the scale of innovtions in the organization.
Ability to lead change in Leadership & Managing People field
– Montra De 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 Montra De in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.
Training and development
– Montra De has one of the best training and development program in the industry. The effectiveness of the training programs can be measured in Measuring the Results of the HR Function: The Case of the SociA?tA? de transport de MontrA?al's Staffing and Workforce Planning Division 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.
Strong track record of project management
– Montra De is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.
Diverse revenue streams
– Montra De is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided firm in Measuring the Results of the HR Function: The Case of the SociA?tA? de transport de MontrA?al's Staffing and Workforce Planning Division 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.
Digital Transformation in Leadership & Managing People segment
- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For Montra De digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Montra De 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.
Operational resilience
– The operational resilience strategy in the Measuring the Results of the HR Function: The Case of the SociA?tA? de transport de MontrA?al's Staffing and Workforce Planning Division 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.
Weaknesses Measuring the Results of the HR Function: The Case of the SociA?tA? de transport de MontrA?al's Staffing and Workforce Planning Division | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Measuring the Results of the HR Function: The Case of the SociA?tA? de transport de MontrA?al's Staffing and Workforce Planning Division are -
Need for greater diversity
– Montra De 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.
Products dominated business model
– Even though Montra De 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 - Measuring the Results of the HR Function: The Case of the SociA?tA? de transport de MontrA?al's Staffing and Workforce Planning Division should strive to include more intangible value offerings along with its core products and services.
Compensation and incentives
– The revenue per employee as mentioned in the HBR case study Measuring the Results of the HR Function: The Case of the SociA?tA? de transport de MontrA?al's Staffing and Workforce Planning Division, is just above the industry average. Montra De 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.
High dependence on star products
– The top 2 products and services of the firm as mentioned in the Measuring the Results of the HR Function: The Case of the SociA?tA? de transport de MontrA?al's Staffing and Workforce Planning Division 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 Montra De has relatively successful track record of launching new products.
High bargaining power of channel partners
– Because of the regulatory requirements, Cedric Lepine, Michel Cossette suggests that, Montra De is facing high bargaining power of the channel partners. So far it has not able to streamline the operations to reduce the bargaining power of the value chain partners in the industry.
High 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 Montra De supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes mentioned in the HBR case study - Measuring the Results of the HR Function: The Case of the SociA?tA? de transport de MontrA?al's Staffing and Workforce Planning Division, it is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left Montra De vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.
Employees’ incomplete understanding of strategy
– From the instances in the HBR case study Measuring the Results of the HR Function: The Case of the SociA?tA? de transport de MontrA?al's Staffing and Workforce Planning Division, it seems that the employees of Montra De 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.
Interest costs
– Compare to the competition, Montra De 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.
Skills based hiring
– The stress on hiring functional specialists at Montra De 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.
Workers concerns about automation
– As automation is fast increasing in the segment, Montra De 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.
Low market penetration in new markets
– Outside its home market of Montra De, firm in the HBR case study Measuring the Results of the HR Function: The Case of the SociA?tA? de transport de MontrA?al's Staffing and Workforce Planning Division needs to spend more promotional, marketing, and advertising efforts to penetrate international markets.
Opportunities Measuring the Results of the HR Function: The Case of the SociA?tA? de transport de MontrA?al's Staffing and Workforce Planning Division | 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 Measuring the Results of the HR Function: The Case of the SociA?tA? de transport de MontrA?al's Staffing and Workforce Planning Division are -
Increase in government spending
– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Montra De can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Montra De operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Leadership & Managing People sector.
Buying journey improvements
– Montra De can improve the customer journey of consumers in the industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. Measuring the Results of the HR Function: The Case of the SociA?tA? de transport de MontrA?al's Staffing and Workforce Planning Division 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 Montra De has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Montra De to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the Measuring the Results of the HR Function: The Case of the SociA?tA? de transport de MontrA?al's Staffing and Workforce Planning Division case study. Montra De can build new products and services such as - data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– Montra De 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 Measuring the Results of the HR Function: The Case of the SociA?tA? de transport de MontrA?al's Staffing and Workforce Planning Division - to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Montra De to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
Low interest rates
– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Montra De 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.
Lowering marketing communication costs
– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Montra De 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.
Loyalty marketing
– Montra De 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.
Reforming the budgeting process
- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects Montra De can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.
Building a culture of innovation
– managers at Montra De 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.
Changes in consumer behavior post Covid-19
– Consumer behavior has changed in the Leadership & Managing People industry because of Covid-19 restrictions. Some of this behavior will stay once things get back to normal. Montra De 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. Montra De 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.
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 Montra De in the consumer business. Now Montra De can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.
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. Montra De can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.
Leveraging digital technologies
– Montra De 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.
Threats Measuring the Results of the HR Function: The Case of the SociA?tA? de transport de MontrA?al's Staffing and Workforce Planning Division External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Measuring the Results of the HR Function: The Case of the SociA?tA? de transport de MontrA?al's Staffing and Workforce Planning Division are -
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Montra De 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.
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 Montra De.
Environmental challenges
– Montra De 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. Montra De can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Leadership & Managing People industry.
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. Montra De needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Leadership & Managing People industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
Regulatory challenges
– Montra De 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.
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 Montra De business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
High dependence on third party suppliers
– Montra De 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.
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Montra De 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.
Consumer confidence and its impact on Montra De demand
– There is a high probability of declining consumer confidence, given – high inflammation rate, rise of gig economy, lower job stability, increasing cost of living, higher interest rates, and aging demography. All the factors contribute to people saving higher rate of their income, resulting in lower consumer demand in the industry and other sectors.
New competition
– After the dotcom bust of 2001, financial crisis of 2008-09, the business formation in US economy had declined. But in 2020 alone, there are more than 1.5 million new business applications in United States. This can lead to greater competition for Montra De in the Leadership & Managing People sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Montra De 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 Measuring the Results of the HR Function: The Case of the SociA?tA? de transport de MontrA?al's Staffing and Workforce Planning Division .
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, as highlighted in case study Measuring the Results of the HR Function: The Case of the SociA?tA? de transport de MontrA?al's Staffing and Workforce Planning Division, Montra De 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 .
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Montra De has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Leadership & Managing People industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Montra De 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.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Measuring the Results of the HR Function: The Case of the SociA?tA? de transport de MontrA?al's Staffing and Workforce Planning Division 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 Measuring the Results of the HR Function: The Case of the SociA?tA? de transport de MontrA?al's Staffing and Workforce Planning Division 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 Measuring the Results of the HR Function: The Case of the SociA?tA? de transport de MontrA?al's Staffing and Workforce Planning Division 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 Measuring the Results of the HR Function: The Case of the SociA?tA? de transport de MontrA?al's Staffing and Workforce Planning Division 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 Measuring the Results of the HR Function: The Case of the SociA?tA? de transport de MontrA?al's Staffing and Workforce Planning Division 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 Montra De needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.
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