Case Study Description of CompuSoluciones: Corporate Governance
CompuSoluciones, based in Guadalajara, Mexico, was a value-added distributor of information technology hardware, software, and services that grew from its origins as a reseller for Hewlett-Packard to become the second-largest distributor in Mexico. The company was best described as a collection of team-based businesses. It had 18 independent business units-each of which managed its own supply chain and produced its own profit-and-loss statements-and over 415 employees spread out over three offices. It was also governed by multiple consultative and representative boards. The company relied on the advice, insights, and experiences of these key advisory groups to improve the quality of its decision making and inform strategic decisions. At the same time, it had a policy to achieve consensus on major strategic decisions. In January 2017, the chairman of CompuSoluciones was reviewing his company's corporate governance policies and practices. Given the independent nature of the individual business units, he wondered whether a consensus-based model of management was still the best way to lead the firm forward and whether the current corporate governance structure was optimal for managing this particular business.
Authors :: Luis Manuel Bonner de la Mora, W. Glenn Rowe, Ken Mark
Swot Analysis of "CompuSoluciones: Corporate Governance" written by Luis Manuel Bonner de la Mora, W. Glenn Rowe, Ken Mark includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Compusoluciones Governance facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in CompuSoluciones: Corporate Governance case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Decision making and Leadership & Managing People.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the CompuSoluciones: Corporate Governance casestudy better are - – increasing transportation and logistics costs, increasing energy prices, digital marketing is dominated by two big players Facebook and Google, increasing inequality as vast percentage of new income is going to the top 1%, banking and financial system is disrupted by Bitcoin and other crypto currencies, competitive advantages are harder to sustain because of technology dispersion, increasing commodity prices,
geopolitical disruptions, cloud computing is disrupting traditional business models, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of CompuSoluciones: Corporate Governance
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in CompuSoluciones: Corporate Governance case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Compusoluciones Governance, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Compusoluciones Governance 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 CompuSoluciones: Corporate Governance can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in CompuSoluciones: Corporate Governance case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Compusoluciones Governance
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 Compusoluciones Governance
Strengths CompuSoluciones: Corporate Governance | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Compusoluciones Governance in CompuSoluciones: Corporate Governance Harvard Business Review case study are -
Digital Transformation in Leadership & Managing People segment
- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For Compusoluciones Governance digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Compusoluciones Governance 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.
Ability to recruit top talent
– Compusoluciones Governance is one of the leading recruiters in the industry. Managers in the CompuSoluciones: Corporate Governance are in a position to attract the best talent available. The firm has a robust talent identification program that helps in identifying the brightest.
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Leadership & Managing People industry
– CompuSoluciones: Corporate Governance firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Compusoluciones Governance to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Leadership & Managing People industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Compusoluciones Governance to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Innovation driven organization
– Compusoluciones Governance is one of the most innovative firm in sector. Manager in CompuSoluciones: Corporate Governance Harvard Business Review case study can use Clayton Christensen Disruptive Innovation strategies to further increase the scale of innovtions in the organization.
Superior customer experience
– The customer experience strategy of Compusoluciones Governance 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 Compusoluciones Governance 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.
Operational resilience
– The operational resilience strategy in the CompuSoluciones: Corporate Governance 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.
Training and development
– Compusoluciones Governance has one of the best training and development program in the industry. The effectiveness of the training programs can be measured in CompuSoluciones: Corporate Governance Harvard Business Review case study by analyzing – employees retention, in-house promotion, loyalty, new venture initiation, lack of conflict, and high level of both employees and customer engagement.
Highly skilled collaborators
– Compusoluciones Governance 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 CompuSoluciones: Corporate Governance 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
– Compusoluciones Governance has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Compusoluciones Governance 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.
Learning organization
- Compusoluciones Governance 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 Compusoluciones Governance is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders in CompuSoluciones: Corporate Governance Harvard Business Review case study emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
Strong track record of project management
– Compusoluciones Governance is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.
Weaknesses CompuSoluciones: Corporate Governance | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of CompuSoluciones: Corporate Governance are -
Workers concerns about automation
– As automation is fast increasing in the segment, Compusoluciones Governance 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.
Ability to respond to the competition
– As the decision making is very deliberative, highlighted in the case study CompuSoluciones: Corporate Governance, in the dynamic environment Compusoluciones Governance has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. Compusoluciones Governance has reasonably good record with similar level competitors but it has struggled with new entrants taking away niches of its business.
High operating costs
– Compare to the competitors, firm in the HBR case study CompuSoluciones: Corporate Governance 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 Compusoluciones Governance 's lucrative customers.
Skills based hiring
– The stress on hiring functional specialists at Compusoluciones Governance 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 decision making process
– As mentioned earlier in the report, Compusoluciones Governance 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. Compusoluciones Governance 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.
Compensation and incentives
– The revenue per employee as mentioned in the HBR case study CompuSoluciones: Corporate Governance, is just above the industry average. Compusoluciones Governance 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.
Interest costs
– Compare to the competition, Compusoluciones Governance 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 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 Compusoluciones Governance supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes mentioned in the HBR case study - CompuSoluciones: Corporate Governance, it is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left Compusoluciones Governance vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.
Need for greater diversity
– Compusoluciones Governance 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.
Slow to harness new channels of communication
– Even though competitors are using new communication channels such as Instagram, Tiktok, and Snap, Compusoluciones Governance is slow explore the new channels of communication. These new channels of communication mentioned in marketing section of case study CompuSoluciones: Corporate Governance can help to provide better information regarding products and services. It can also build an online community to further reach out to potential customers.
Lack of clear differentiation of Compusoluciones Governance products
– To increase the profitability and margins on the products, Compusoluciones Governance needs to provide more differentiated products than what it is currently offering in the marketplace.
Opportunities CompuSoluciones: Corporate Governance | 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 CompuSoluciones: Corporate Governance are -
Lowering marketing communication costs
– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Compusoluciones Governance 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.
Manufacturing automation
– Compusoluciones Governance 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.
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 Compusoluciones Governance 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.
Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains
– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Compusoluciones Governance 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, CompuSoluciones: Corporate Governance, to buy more products closer to the markets, and it can leverage its size and influence to get better deal from the local markets.
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Compusoluciones Governance has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Compusoluciones Governance to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the CompuSoluciones: Corporate Governance case study. Compusoluciones Governance can build new products and services such as - data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
Leveraging digital technologies
– Compusoluciones Governance 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.
Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities
– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Compusoluciones Governance 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 Compusoluciones Governance to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
Loyalty marketing
– Compusoluciones Governance 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.
Low interest rates
– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Compusoluciones Governance 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.
Building a culture of innovation
– managers at Compusoluciones Governance 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.
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. Compusoluciones Governance 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, Compusoluciones Governance can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Compusoluciones Governance operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Leadership & Managing People sector.
Better consumer reach
– The expansion of the 5G network will help Compusoluciones Governance to increase its market reach. Compusoluciones Governance 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.
Threats CompuSoluciones: Corporate Governance External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study CompuSoluciones: Corporate Governance are -
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Compusoluciones Governance 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 CompuSoluciones: Corporate Governance .
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Compusoluciones Governance is facing in Leadership & Managing People sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Compusoluciones Governance 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.
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry in the industry are lowering. It can presents Compusoluciones Governance with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the sector.
High dependence on third party suppliers
– Compusoluciones Governance 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.
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 Compusoluciones Governance
– 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 Compusoluciones Governance.
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Compusoluciones Governance has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Leadership & Managing People industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Compusoluciones Governance 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.
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. Compusoluciones Governance needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Leadership & Managing People industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, as highlighted in case study CompuSoluciones: Corporate Governance, Compusoluciones Governance 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 .
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 Compusoluciones Governance in the Leadership & Managing People sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
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. Compusoluciones Governance can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
Regulatory challenges
– Compusoluciones Governance 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.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of CompuSoluciones: Corporate Governance 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 CompuSoluciones: Corporate Governance 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 CompuSoluciones: Corporate Governance 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 CompuSoluciones: Corporate Governance 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 CompuSoluciones: Corporate Governance 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 Compusoluciones Governance needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.