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 - – increasing commodity prices, there is backlash against globalization, increasing government debt because of Covid-19 spendings, supply chains are disrupted by pandemic , talent flight as more people leaving formal jobs, technology disruption, increasing transportation and logistics costs,
wage bills are increasing, there is increasing trade war between United States & China, 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 -
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.
Ability to lead change in Leadership & Managing People field
– Automotive Program 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 Automotive Program in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.
Effective Research and Development (R&D)
– Automotive Program 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 Tata Motors' Talent Management Fast Track Selection Scheme (C): The Road Ahead - staying ahead in the industry in terms of – new product launches, superior customer experience, highly competitive pricing strategies, and great returns to the shareholders.
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.
Highly skilled collaborators
– Automotive Program 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 Tata Motors' Talent Management Fast Track Selection Scheme (C): The Road Ahead HBR case study have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
Successful track record of launching new products
– Automotive Program has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Automotive Program 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.
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.
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.
Ability to recruit top talent
– Automotive Program is one of the leading recruiters in the industry. Managers in the Tata Motors' Talent Management Fast Track Selection Scheme (C): The Road Ahead are in a position to attract the best talent available. The firm has a robust talent identification program that helps in identifying the brightest.
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.
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 -
Slow to strategic competitive environment developments
– As Tata Motors' Talent Management Fast Track Selection Scheme (C): The Road Ahead HBR case study mentions - Automotive Program 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.
Slow decision making process
– As mentioned earlier in the report, Automotive Program has a very deliberative decision making approach. This approach has resulted in prudent decisions, but it has also resulted in missing opportunities in the industry over the last five years. Automotive Program even though has strong showing on digital transformation primary two stages, it has struggled to capitalize the power of digital transformation in marketing efforts and new venture efforts.
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.
Lack of clear differentiation of Automotive Program products
– To increase the profitability and margins on the products, Automotive Program needs to provide more differentiated products than what it is currently offering in the marketplace.
Interest costs
– Compare to the competition, Automotive Program 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.
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.
Products dominated business model
– Even though Automotive Program 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 - Tata Motors' Talent Management Fast Track Selection Scheme (C): The Road Ahead should strive to include more intangible value offerings along with its core products and services.
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.
Slow to harness new channels of communication
– Even though competitors are using new communication channels such as Instagram, Tiktok, and Snap, Automotive Program is slow explore the new channels of communication. These new channels of communication mentioned in marketing section of case study Tata Motors' Talent Management Fast Track Selection Scheme (C): The Road Ahead can help to provide better information regarding products and services. It can also build an online community to further reach out to potential customers.
Aligning sales with marketing
– It come across in the case study Tata Motors' Talent Management Fast Track Selection Scheme (C): The Road Ahead 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 Tata Motors' Talent Management Fast Track Selection Scheme (C): The Road Ahead can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Automotive Program is planning to shift buying processes online.
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.
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 -
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.
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.
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.
Reforming the budgeting process
- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects Automotive Program can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Automotive Program has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Automotive Program to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the Tata Motors' Talent Management Fast Track Selection Scheme (C): The Road Ahead case study. Automotive Program can build new products and services such as - data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
Manufacturing automation
– Automotive Program 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.
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.
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.
Building a culture of innovation
– managers at Automotive Program 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.
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 Automotive Program 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.
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.
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.
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.
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 -
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Automotive Program is facing in Leadership & Managing People sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.
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.
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.
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.
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 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 .
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, as highlighted in case study Tata Motors' Talent Management Fast Track Selection Scheme (C): The Road Ahead, Automotive Program 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 .
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.
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.
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.
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 Automotive Program business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
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.
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 Automotive Program.
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.