Transferring Knowledge Between Projects at NASA JPL (B) SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Leadership & Managing People
Strategy / MBA Resources
Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of Transferring Knowledge Between Projects at NASA JPL (B)
The Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL)-formally part of the California Institute of Technology-is one of a number of federally funded research institutions within NASA, the U.S. National Aeronautics and Space Administration. JPL has played a large role in many space and planetary explorations, and in particular in missions to the planet Mars. As a project-based organization, JPL has many opportunities to learn between successive missions, but there are also many challenges to the development and exchange of experience-based knowledge. The case "Transferring Knowledge Between Projects at NASA JPL (A)" (HBS No. 917-405) provides background on the knowledge management challenges facing Jennifer Trosper, and in particular on her decision whether or not to seek funding for a hands-on training program building miniature, educational versions of a Mars surface vehicle. This case describes her decision and provides further information on subsequent efforts made after the initial decision.
Swot Analysis of "Transferring Knowledge Between Projects at NASA JPL (B)" written by Dorothy Leonard, Christopher Myers includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Jpl Nasa facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Transferring Knowledge Between Projects at NASA JPL (B) case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Labor and Leadership & Managing People.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Transferring Knowledge Between Projects at NASA JPL (B) casestudy better are - – cloud computing is disrupting traditional business models, increasing inequality as vast percentage of new income is going to the top 1%, there is backlash against globalization, talent flight as more people leaving formal jobs, geopolitical disruptions, technology disruption, increasing household debt because of falling income levels,
digital marketing is dominated by two big players Facebook and Google, increasing energy prices, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Transferring Knowledge Between Projects at NASA JPL (B)
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Transferring Knowledge Between Projects at NASA JPL (B) case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Jpl Nasa, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Jpl Nasa 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 Transferring Knowledge Between Projects at NASA JPL (B) can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Transferring Knowledge Between Projects at NASA JPL (B) case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Jpl Nasa
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 Jpl Nasa
Strengths Transferring Knowledge Between Projects at NASA JPL (B) | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Jpl Nasa in Transferring Knowledge Between Projects at NASA JPL (B) Harvard Business Review case study are -
Cross disciplinary teams
– Horizontal connected teams at the Jpl Nasa 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.
Successful track record of launching new products
– Jpl Nasa has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Jpl Nasa 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.
Superior customer experience
– The customer experience strategy of Jpl Nasa 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 Jpl Nasa 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.
Organizational Resilience of Jpl Nasa
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing that Jpl Nasa does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
Learning organization
- Jpl Nasa 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 Jpl Nasa is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders in Transferring Knowledge Between Projects at NASA JPL (B) Harvard Business Review case study emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
Effective Research and Development (R&D)
– Jpl Nasa 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 Transferring Knowledge Between Projects at NASA JPL (B) - staying ahead in the industry in terms of – new product launches, superior customer experience, highly competitive pricing strategies, and great returns to the shareholders.
Strong track record of project management
– Jpl Nasa is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.
Innovation driven organization
– Jpl Nasa is one of the most innovative firm in sector. Manager in Transferring Knowledge Between Projects at NASA JPL (B) Harvard Business Review case study can use Clayton Christensen Disruptive Innovation strategies to further increase the scale of innovtions in the organization.
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of Jpl Nasa in the sector have low bargaining power. Transferring Knowledge Between Projects at NASA JPL (B) has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Jpl Nasa to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
High brand equity
– Jpl Nasa has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Jpl Nasa to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Highly skilled collaborators
– Jpl Nasa 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 Transferring Knowledge Between Projects at NASA JPL (B) HBR case study have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
Weaknesses Transferring Knowledge Between Projects at NASA JPL (B) | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Transferring Knowledge Between Projects at NASA JPL (B) are -
High cash cycle compare to competitors
Jpl Nasa 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.
Interest costs
– Compare to the competition, Jpl Nasa 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.
Compensation and incentives
– The revenue per employee as mentioned in the HBR case study Transferring Knowledge Between Projects at NASA JPL (B), is just above the industry average. Jpl Nasa 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 Transferring Knowledge Between Projects at NASA JPL (B), it seems that the employees of Jpl Nasa 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 Jpl Nasa, firm in the HBR case study Transferring Knowledge Between Projects at NASA JPL (B) needs to spend more promotional, marketing, and advertising efforts to penetrate international markets.
High operating costs
– Compare to the competitors, firm in the HBR case study Transferring Knowledge Between Projects at NASA JPL (B) 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 Jpl Nasa 's lucrative customers.
Ability to respond to the competition
– As the decision making is very deliberative, highlighted in the case study Transferring Knowledge Between Projects at NASA JPL (B), in the dynamic environment Jpl Nasa has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. Jpl Nasa 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, Jpl Nasa 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.
Skills based hiring
– The stress on hiring functional specialists at Jpl Nasa 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.
Slow to strategic competitive environment developments
– As Transferring Knowledge Between Projects at NASA JPL (B) HBR case study mentions - Jpl Nasa takes time to assess the upcoming competitions. This has led to missing out on atleast 2-3 big opportunities in the industry in last five years.
High dependence on star products
– The top 2 products and services of the firm as mentioned in the Transferring Knowledge Between Projects at NASA JPL (B) 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 Jpl Nasa has relatively successful track record of launching new products.
Opportunities Transferring Knowledge Between Projects at NASA JPL (B) | 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 Transferring Knowledge Between Projects at NASA JPL (B) are -
Building a culture of innovation
– managers at Jpl Nasa 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. Jpl Nasa 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. Jpl Nasa 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.
Loyalty marketing
– Jpl Nasa 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.
Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains
– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Jpl Nasa 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, Transferring Knowledge Between Projects at NASA JPL (B), to buy more products closer to the markets, and it can leverage its size and influence to get better deal from the local markets.
Redefining models of collaboration and team work
– As explained in the weaknesses section, Jpl Nasa is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. Transferring Knowledge Between Projects at NASA JPL (B) 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.
Buying journey improvements
– Jpl Nasa can improve the customer journey of consumers in the industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. Transferring Knowledge Between Projects at NASA JPL (B) 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.
Reforming the budgeting process
- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects Jpl Nasa can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.
Manufacturing automation
– Jpl Nasa can use the latest technology developments to improve its manufacturing and designing process in Leadership & Managing People segment. It can use CAD and 3D printing to build a quick prototype and pilot testing products. It can leverage automation using machine learning and artificial intelligence to do faster production at lowers costs, and it can leverage the growth in satellite and tracking technologies to improve inventory management, transportation, and shipping.
Leveraging digital technologies
– Jpl Nasa 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.
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– Jpl Nasa 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 Transferring Knowledge Between Projects at NASA JPL (B) - to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Jpl Nasa 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
– Jpl Nasa 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.
Lowering marketing communication costs
– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Jpl Nasa 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.
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Jpl Nasa has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Jpl Nasa to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the Transferring Knowledge Between Projects at NASA JPL (B) case study. Jpl Nasa can build new products and services such as - data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
Threats Transferring Knowledge Between Projects at NASA JPL (B) External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Transferring Knowledge Between Projects at NASA JPL (B) are -
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. Jpl Nasa can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, as highlighted in case study Transferring Knowledge Between Projects at NASA JPL (B), Jpl Nasa 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 .
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 Jpl Nasa.
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
– Jpl Nasa 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. Jpl Nasa can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Leadership & Managing People industry.
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Jpl Nasa 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.
Regulatory challenges
– Jpl Nasa 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.
High dependence on third party suppliers
– Jpl Nasa 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 Jpl Nasa in the Leadership & Managing People sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Jpl Nasa 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.
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.
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. Jpl Nasa 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.
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Jpl Nasa 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 Transferring Knowledge Between Projects at NASA JPL (B) .
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Transferring Knowledge Between Projects at NASA JPL (B) 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 Transferring Knowledge Between Projects at NASA JPL (B) 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 Transferring Knowledge Between Projects at NASA JPL (B) 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 Transferring Knowledge Between Projects at NASA JPL (B) 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 Transferring Knowledge Between Projects at NASA JPL (B) 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 Jpl Nasa needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.
