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 - – talent flight as more people leaving formal jobs, there is increasing trade war between United States & China, competitive advantages are harder to sustain because of technology dispersion, increasing inequality as vast percentage of new income is going to the top 1%, digital marketing is dominated by two big players Facebook and Google, increasing government debt because of Covid-19 spendings, increasing transportation and logistics costs,
there is backlash against globalization, increasing energy prices, 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 -
Learning organization
- Montra De 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 Montra De is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders 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 emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
High brand equity
– Montra De has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Montra De to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
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.
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.
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.
Organizational Resilience of Montra De
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing that Montra De does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
Highly skilled collaborators
– Montra De 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 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 have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
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.
High switching costs
– The high switching costs that Montra De 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.
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 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.
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.
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 -
No frontier risks strategy
– After analyzing 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 company is thinking about the frontier risks that can impact Leadership & Managing People strategy. But it has very little resources allocation to manage the risks emerging from events such as natural disasters, climate change, melting of permafrost, tacking the rise of artificial intelligence, opportunities and threats emerging from commercialization of space etc.
Ability to respond to the competition
– As the decision making is very deliberative, highlighted in 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, in the dynamic environment Montra De has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. Montra De has reasonably good record with similar level competitors but it has struggled with new entrants taking away niches of its business.
Aligning sales with marketing
– It come across in 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 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 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 leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Montra De is planning to shift buying processes online.
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.
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 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.
High cash cycle compare to competitors
Montra De 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.
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.
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.
Lack of clear differentiation of Montra De products
– To increase the profitability and margins on the products, Montra De needs to provide more differentiated products than what it is currently offering in the marketplace.
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.
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 -
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.
Finding new ways to collaborate
– Covid-19 has not only transformed business models of companies in Leadership & Managing People industry, but it has also influenced the consumer preferences. Montra De can tie-up with other value chain partners to explore new opportunities regarding meeting customer demands and building a rewarding and engaging relationship.
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.
Redefining models of collaboration and team work
– As explained in the weaknesses section, Montra De is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. 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 suggests that firm can utilize new technology to build more coordinated teams and streamline operations and communications using tools such as CAD, Zoom, 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.
Developing new processes and practices
– Montra De 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.
Manufacturing automation
– Montra De 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.
Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains
– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Montra De 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, 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 buy more products closer to the markets, and it can leverage its size and influence to get better deal from the local markets.
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 Montra De 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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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 -
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.
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Montra De is facing in Leadership & Managing People sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.
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.
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.
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.
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. Montra De 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 Montra De in the Leadership & Managing People sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
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.
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.
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. Montra De 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.
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.
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry in the industry are lowering. It can presents Montra De with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the sector.
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.
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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