Case Study Description of Tata Motors' Talent Management Fast Track Selection Scheme (C): The Road Ahead
A chief human resource executive of an automotive company in India, faced with exits of promising employees, was reviewing the efficacy and relevance of the company's 20-year-old high-potential talent identification program in place since 1991. The chief executive was particularly concerned about how well the program met the company's changing leadership needs within the context of a rapidly evolving automotive industry in India in recent years owing to open economy and influx of foreign players in the automotive segment. The challenge facing the executive was how to align the program with the company's organizational strategy to establish a pipeline of successors ready for critical senior roles in a changing business landscape by fostering loyalty and leadership capability of employees.
Swot Analysis of "Tata Motors' Talent Management Fast Track Selection Scheme (C): The Road Ahead" written by Tripti Singh, Ritu Waila, Gayatri Phadke includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Automotive Program facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Tata Motors' Talent Management Fast Track Selection Scheme (C): The Road Ahead case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Motivating people and Leadership & Managing People.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Tata Motors' Talent Management Fast Track Selection Scheme (C): The Road Ahead casestudy better are - – challanges to central banks by blockchain based private currencies, increasing inequality as vast percentage of new income is going to the top 1%, geopolitical disruptions, digital marketing is dominated by two big players Facebook and Google, banking and financial system is disrupted by Bitcoin and other crypto currencies, technology disruption, increasing household debt because of falling income levels,
cloud computing is disrupting traditional business models, increasing transportation and logistics costs, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Tata Motors' Talent Management Fast Track Selection Scheme (C): The Road Ahead
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Tata Motors' Talent Management Fast Track Selection Scheme (C): The Road Ahead case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Automotive Program, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Automotive Program 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 Tata Motors' Talent Management Fast Track Selection Scheme (C): The Road Ahead can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Tata Motors' Talent Management Fast Track Selection Scheme (C): The Road Ahead case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Automotive Program
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 Automotive Program
Strengths Tata Motors' Talent Management Fast Track Selection Scheme (C): The Road Ahead | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Automotive Program in Tata Motors' Talent Management Fast Track Selection Scheme (C): The Road Ahead Harvard Business Review case study are -
Organizational Resilience of Automotive Program
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing that Automotive Program does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
Operational resilience
– The operational resilience strategy in the Tata Motors' Talent Management Fast Track Selection Scheme (C): The Road Ahead 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.
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of Automotive Program in the sector have low bargaining power. Tata Motors' Talent Management Fast Track Selection Scheme (C): The Road Ahead has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Automotive Program to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
Cross disciplinary teams
– Horizontal connected teams at the Automotive Program 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.
Strong track record of project management
– Automotive Program 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
– Automotive Program is one of the most innovative firm in sector. Manager in Tata Motors' Talent Management Fast Track Selection Scheme (C): The Road Ahead Harvard Business Review case study can use Clayton Christensen Disruptive Innovation strategies to further increase the scale of innovtions in the organization.
Digital Transformation in Leadership & Managing People segment
- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For Automotive Program digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Automotive Program 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.
High brand equity
– Automotive Program has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Automotive Program to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Analytics focus
– Automotive Program 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 Tripti Singh, Ritu Waila, Gayatri Phadke 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.
Learning organization
- Automotive Program 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 Automotive Program is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders in Tata Motors' Talent Management Fast Track Selection Scheme (C): The Road Ahead Harvard Business Review case study emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
Diverse revenue streams
– Automotive Program is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided firm in Tata Motors' Talent Management Fast Track Selection Scheme (C): The Road Ahead 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.
Superior customer experience
– The customer experience strategy of Automotive Program in the segment is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.
Weaknesses Tata Motors' Talent Management Fast Track Selection Scheme (C): The Road Ahead | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Tata Motors' Talent Management Fast Track Selection Scheme (C): The Road Ahead are -
Workers concerns about automation
– As automation is fast increasing in the segment, Automotive Program 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.
Increasing silos among functional specialists
– The organizational structure of Automotive Program is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Leadership & Managing People segment. Automotive Program needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Automotive Program to focus more on services rather than just following the product oriented approach.
Need for greater diversity
– Automotive Program 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.
High dependence on star products
– The top 2 products and services of the firm as mentioned in the Tata Motors' Talent Management Fast Track Selection Scheme (C): The Road Ahead 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 Automotive Program has relatively successful track record of launching new products.
Compensation and incentives
– The revenue per employee as mentioned in the HBR case study Tata Motors' Talent Management Fast Track Selection Scheme (C): The Road Ahead, is just above the industry average. Automotive Program 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 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 Automotive Program supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes mentioned in the HBR case study - Tata Motors' Talent Management Fast Track Selection Scheme (C): The Road Ahead, it is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left Automotive Program vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.
High bargaining power of channel partners
– Because of the regulatory requirements, Tripti Singh, Ritu Waila, Gayatri Phadke suggests that, Automotive Program 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.
No frontier risks strategy
– After analyzing the HBR case study Tata Motors' Talent Management Fast Track Selection Scheme (C): The Road Ahead, 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.
Capital Spending Reduction
– Even during the low interest decade, Automotive Program has not been able to do capital spending to the tune of the competition. This has resulted into fewer innovations and company facing stiff competition from both existing competitors and new entrants who are disrupting the industry using digital technology.
High operating costs
– Compare to the competitors, firm in the HBR case study Tata Motors' Talent Management Fast Track Selection Scheme (C): The Road Ahead 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 Automotive Program 's lucrative customers.
Employees’ incomplete understanding of strategy
– From the instances in the HBR case study Tata Motors' Talent Management Fast Track Selection Scheme (C): The Road Ahead, it seems that the employees of Automotive Program 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.
Opportunities Tata Motors' Talent Management Fast Track Selection Scheme (C): The Road Ahead | 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 Tata Motors' Talent Management Fast Track Selection Scheme (C): The Road Ahead are -
Redefining models of collaboration and team work
– As explained in the weaknesses section, Automotive Program is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. Tata Motors' Talent Management Fast Track Selection Scheme (C): The Road Ahead 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.
Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities
– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Automotive Program to expand its talent hiring zone. According to McKinsey Global Institute, 20% of the high end workforce in fields such as finance, information technology, can continously work from remote local post Covid-19. This presents a really great opportunity for Automotive Program to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
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. Automotive Program can tie-up with other value chain partners to explore new opportunities regarding meeting customer demands and building a rewarding and engaging relationship.
Increase in government spending
– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Automotive Program can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Automotive Program operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Leadership & Managing People sector.
Buying journey improvements
– Automotive Program can improve the customer journey of consumers in the industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. Tata Motors' Talent Management Fast Track Selection Scheme (C): The Road Ahead 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.
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– Automotive Program 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 Tata Motors' Talent Management Fast Track Selection Scheme (C): The Road Ahead - to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Automotive Program to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
Loyalty marketing
– Automotive Program 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, Automotive Program 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, Tata Motors' Talent Management Fast Track Selection Scheme (C): The Road Ahead, to buy more products closer to the markets, and it can leverage its size and influence to get better deal from the local markets.
Learning at scale
– Online learning technologies has now opened space for Automotive Program 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.
Better consumer reach
– The expansion of the 5G network will help Automotive Program to increase its market reach. Automotive Program 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.
Low interest rates
– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Automotive Program 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.
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. Automotive Program can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.
Lowering marketing communication costs
– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Automotive Program 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.
Threats Tata Motors' Talent Management Fast Track Selection Scheme (C): The Road Ahead External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Tata Motors' Talent Management Fast Track Selection Scheme (C): The Road Ahead are -
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Automotive Program has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Leadership & Managing People industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Automotive Program 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.
Environmental challenges
– Automotive Program 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. Automotive Program can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Leadership & Managing People industry.
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.
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.
Increasing wage structure of Automotive Program
– 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 Automotive Program.
Consumer confidence and its impact on Automotive Program 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.
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Automotive Program 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 Tata Motors' Talent Management Fast Track Selection Scheme (C): The Road Ahead .
Regulatory challenges
– Automotive Program 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.
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry in the industry are lowering. It can presents Automotive Program with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the sector.
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. Automotive Program can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
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. Automotive Program needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Leadership & Managing People industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Automotive Program 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.
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. Automotive Program 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.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Tata Motors' Talent Management Fast Track Selection Scheme (C): The Road Ahead 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 Tata Motors' Talent Management Fast Track Selection Scheme (C): The Road Ahead 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 Tata Motors' Talent Management Fast Track Selection Scheme (C): The Road Ahead 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 Tata Motors' Talent Management Fast Track Selection Scheme (C): The Road Ahead 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 Tata Motors' Talent Management Fast Track Selection Scheme (C): The Road Ahead 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 Automotive Program needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.