Heiltsuk Economic Development Corporation: Balancing Politics, Business, and Culture SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Leadership & Managing People
Strategy / MBA Resources
Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of Heiltsuk Economic Development Corporation: Balancing Politics, Business, and Culture
In March 2013, the chief executive development officer of the Heiltsuk Economic Development Corporation (HEDC) was preparing a report on the findings and recommendations of the organization's seven-year history. The HEDC, the economic development arm of the Heiltsuk Nation, was not meeting its goals. The HEDC structure was based on the theory that economic development success in Aboriginal communities required a separation of business from political influence. Unfortunately, the HEDC had yielded little economic success to date. Further, it was not clear whether it had effectively brought about the desired separation of economics from politics. Similar concerns were expressed by the chief councilor of the Heiltsuk Tribal Council, the political governance structure responsible for administering, governing, and setting policy for the Heiltsuk Nation. There was hope that the report would bring clarity to what had gone wrong in the development process under the HEDC. Was the governance structure appropriate for the task the HEDC was supposed to fulfill, or were the roles and responsibilities not clearly defined? What was causing the myriad of communication issues? What should be done? Stefanie Beninger is affiliated with Simon Fraser University.
Swot Analysis of "Heiltsuk Economic Development Corporation: Balancing Politics, Business, and Culture" written by Julian Harrison, Stefanie Beninger includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Hedc Heiltsuk facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Heiltsuk Economic Development Corporation: Balancing Politics, Business, and Culture case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Economic development and Leadership & Managing People.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Heiltsuk Economic Development Corporation: Balancing Politics, Business, and Culture casestudy better are - – increasing government debt because of Covid-19 spendings, challanges to central banks by blockchain based private currencies, increasing inequality as vast percentage of new income is going to the top 1%, increasing commodity prices, technology disruption, there is increasing trade war between United States & China, wage bills are increasing,
digital marketing is dominated by two big players Facebook and Google, geopolitical disruptions, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Heiltsuk Economic Development Corporation: Balancing Politics, Business, and Culture
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Heiltsuk Economic Development Corporation: Balancing Politics, Business, and Culture case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Hedc Heiltsuk, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Hedc Heiltsuk 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 Heiltsuk Economic Development Corporation: Balancing Politics, Business, and Culture can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Heiltsuk Economic Development Corporation: Balancing Politics, Business, and Culture case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Hedc Heiltsuk
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 Hedc Heiltsuk
Strengths Heiltsuk Economic Development Corporation: Balancing Politics, Business, and Culture | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Hedc Heiltsuk in Heiltsuk Economic Development Corporation: Balancing Politics, Business, and Culture Harvard Business Review case study are -
Ability to recruit top talent
– Hedc Heiltsuk is one of the leading recruiters in the industry. Managers in the Heiltsuk Economic Development Corporation: Balancing Politics, Business, and Culture are in a position to attract the best talent available. The firm has a robust talent identification program that helps in identifying the brightest.
Effective Research and Development (R&D)
– Hedc Heiltsuk 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 Heiltsuk Economic Development Corporation: Balancing Politics, Business, and Culture - 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
– Hedc Heiltsuk 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
– Heiltsuk Economic Development Corporation: Balancing Politics, Business, and Culture firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Hedc Heiltsuk to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Leadership & Managing People industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Hedc Heiltsuk to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
High brand equity
– Hedc Heiltsuk has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Hedc Heiltsuk to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Organizational Resilience of Hedc Heiltsuk
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing that Hedc Heiltsuk does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
High switching costs
– The high switching costs that Hedc Heiltsuk 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.
Analytics focus
– Hedc Heiltsuk 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 Julian Harrison, Stefanie Beninger 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
– Hedc Heiltsuk is one of the most innovative firm in sector. Manager in Heiltsuk Economic Development Corporation: Balancing Politics, Business, and Culture Harvard Business Review case study can use Clayton Christensen Disruptive Innovation strategies to further increase the scale of innovtions in the organization.
Successful track record of launching new products
– Hedc Heiltsuk has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Hedc Heiltsuk 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.
Ability to lead change in Leadership & Managing People field
– Hedc Heiltsuk 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 Hedc Heiltsuk in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.
Superior customer experience
– The customer experience strategy of Hedc Heiltsuk in the segment is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.
Weaknesses Heiltsuk Economic Development Corporation: Balancing Politics, Business, and Culture | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Heiltsuk Economic Development Corporation: Balancing Politics, Business, and Culture are -
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 Hedc Heiltsuk supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes mentioned in the HBR case study - Heiltsuk Economic Development Corporation: Balancing Politics, Business, and Culture, it is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left Hedc Heiltsuk vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.
High operating costs
– Compare to the competitors, firm in the HBR case study Heiltsuk Economic Development Corporation: Balancing Politics, Business, and Culture 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 Hedc Heiltsuk 's lucrative customers.
No frontier risks strategy
– After analyzing the HBR case study Heiltsuk Economic Development Corporation: Balancing Politics, Business, and Culture, 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 Heiltsuk Economic Development Corporation: Balancing Politics, Business, and Culture, in the dynamic environment Hedc Heiltsuk has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. Hedc Heiltsuk 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 Heiltsuk Economic Development Corporation: Balancing Politics, Business, and Culture 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 Heiltsuk Economic Development Corporation: Balancing Politics, Business, and Culture can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Hedc Heiltsuk is planning to shift buying processes online.
Slow to strategic competitive environment developments
– As Heiltsuk Economic Development Corporation: Balancing Politics, Business, and Culture HBR case study mentions - Hedc Heiltsuk 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 cash cycle compare to competitors
Hedc Heiltsuk has a high cash cycle compare to other players in the industry. It needs to shorten the cash cycle by 12% to be more competitive in the marketplace, reduce inventory costs, and be more profitable.
Workers concerns about automation
– As automation is fast increasing in the segment, Hedc Heiltsuk 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.
High dependence on star products
– The top 2 products and services of the firm as mentioned in the Heiltsuk Economic Development Corporation: Balancing Politics, Business, and Culture 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 Hedc Heiltsuk has relatively successful track record of launching new products.
Need for greater diversity
– Hedc Heiltsuk 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 Hedc Heiltsuk 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 - Heiltsuk Economic Development Corporation: Balancing Politics, Business, and Culture should strive to include more intangible value offerings along with its core products and services.
Opportunities Heiltsuk Economic Development Corporation: Balancing Politics, Business, and Culture | 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 Heiltsuk Economic Development Corporation: Balancing Politics, Business, and Culture are -
Better consumer reach
– The expansion of the 5G network will help Hedc Heiltsuk to increase its market reach. Hedc Heiltsuk 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.
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 Hedc Heiltsuk 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.
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 Hedc Heiltsuk in the consumer business. Now Hedc Heiltsuk 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 Hedc Heiltsuk can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.
Increase in government spending
– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Hedc Heiltsuk can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Hedc Heiltsuk operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Leadership & Managing People sector.
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Hedc Heiltsuk has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Hedc Heiltsuk to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the Heiltsuk Economic Development Corporation: Balancing Politics, Business, and Culture case study. Hedc Heiltsuk can build new products and services such as - data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
Leveraging digital technologies
– Hedc Heiltsuk 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.
Redefining models of collaboration and team work
– As explained in the weaknesses section, Hedc Heiltsuk is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. Heiltsuk Economic Development Corporation: Balancing Politics, Business, and Culture 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, Hedc Heiltsuk 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, Heiltsuk Economic Development Corporation: Balancing Politics, Business, and Culture, to buy more products closer to the markets, and it can leverage its size and influence to get better deal from the local markets.
Loyalty marketing
– Hedc Heiltsuk 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.
Building a culture of innovation
– managers at Hedc Heiltsuk 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.
Learning at scale
– Online learning technologies has now opened space for Hedc Heiltsuk to conduct training and development for its employees across the world. This will result in not only reducing the cost of training but also help employees in different part of the world to integrate with the headquarter work culture, ethos, and standards.
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. Hedc Heiltsuk can tie-up with other value chain partners to explore new opportunities regarding meeting customer demands and building a rewarding and engaging relationship.
Threats Heiltsuk Economic Development Corporation: Balancing Politics, Business, and Culture External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Heiltsuk Economic Development Corporation: Balancing Politics, Business, and Culture are -
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. Hedc Heiltsuk will face different problems in different parts of Europe. For example it will face inflationary pressures in UK, France, and Germany, balance sheet expansion and demand challenges in Southern European countries, and geopolitical instability in the Eastern Europe.
Backlash against dominant players
– US Congress and other legislative arms of the government are getting tough on big business especially technology companies. The digital arm of Hedc Heiltsuk business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
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.
Increasing wage structure of Hedc Heiltsuk
– Post Covid-19 there is a sharp increase in the wages especially in the jobs that require interaction with people. The increasing wages can put downward pressure on the margins of Hedc Heiltsuk.
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Hedc Heiltsuk 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
– Hedc Heiltsuk 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.
Consumer confidence and its impact on Hedc Heiltsuk 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.
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. Hedc Heiltsuk needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Leadership & Managing People industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
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. Hedc Heiltsuk can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
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.
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry in the industry are lowering. It can presents Hedc Heiltsuk with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the sector.
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, as highlighted in case study Heiltsuk Economic Development Corporation: Balancing Politics, Business, and Culture, Hedc Heiltsuk 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 .
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Hedc Heiltsuk is facing in Leadership & Managing People sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Heiltsuk Economic Development Corporation: Balancing Politics, Business, and Culture 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 Heiltsuk Economic Development Corporation: Balancing Politics, Business, and Culture 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 Heiltsuk Economic Development Corporation: Balancing Politics, Business, and Culture 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 Heiltsuk Economic Development Corporation: Balancing Politics, Business, and Culture 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 Heiltsuk Economic Development Corporation: Balancing Politics, Business, and Culture 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 Hedc Heiltsuk needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.
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