Mary Caroline Tillman at Egon Zehnder: Spotting Talent in the 21st Century SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Leadership & Managing People
Strategy / MBA Resources
Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of Mary Caroline Tillman at Egon Zehnder: Spotting Talent in the 21st Century
This case investigates both micro and macro issues around strategic human capital development. First, it explores how Egon Zehnder, a leading global search and advisory firm, assesses talent in the firms for which it works. The case discusses the deployment of a unique potential model that substantially shifts how the company views individuals. Within this framework, Mary Caroline Tillman, the case protagonist, is faced with an evaluation decision between two candidates who have different competencies, past experience and potential. Second, the case also explores the macro issues of running a professional services firm. The case presents an opportunity to examine how and if the organization can change its focus to include more assessment opportunities.
Swot Analysis of "Mary Caroline Tillman at Egon Zehnder: Spotting Talent in the 21st Century" written by Francesca Gino, Bradley R. Staats includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Tillman Caroline facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Mary Caroline Tillman at Egon Zehnder: Spotting Talent in the 21st Century case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Labor, Leadership development, Motivating people, Performance measurement, Talent management and Leadership & Managing People.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Mary Caroline Tillman at Egon Zehnder: Spotting Talent in the 21st Century casestudy better are - – there is backlash against globalization, geopolitical disruptions, challanges to central banks by blockchain based private currencies, customer relationship management is fast transforming because of increasing concerns over data privacy, increasing transportation and logistics costs, digital marketing is dominated by two big players Facebook and Google, wage bills are increasing,
increasing commodity prices, increasing inequality as vast percentage of new income is going to the top 1%, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Mary Caroline Tillman at Egon Zehnder: Spotting Talent in the 21st Century
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Mary Caroline Tillman at Egon Zehnder: Spotting Talent in the 21st Century case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Tillman Caroline, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Tillman Caroline 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 Mary Caroline Tillman at Egon Zehnder: Spotting Talent in the 21st Century can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Mary Caroline Tillman at Egon Zehnder: Spotting Talent in the 21st Century case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Tillman Caroline
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 Tillman Caroline
Strengths Mary Caroline Tillman at Egon Zehnder: Spotting Talent in the 21st Century | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Tillman Caroline in Mary Caroline Tillman at Egon Zehnder: Spotting Talent in the 21st Century Harvard Business Review case study are -
Strong track record of project management
– Tillman Caroline is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.
Digital Transformation in Leadership & Managing People segment
- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For Tillman Caroline digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Tillman Caroline 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.
Operational resilience
– The operational resilience strategy in the Mary Caroline Tillman at Egon Zehnder: Spotting Talent in the 21st Century 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.
Innovation driven organization
– Tillman Caroline is one of the most innovative firm in sector. Manager in Mary Caroline Tillman at Egon Zehnder: Spotting Talent in the 21st Century Harvard Business Review case study can use Clayton Christensen Disruptive Innovation strategies to further increase the scale of innovtions in the organization.
Diverse revenue streams
– Tillman Caroline is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided firm in Mary Caroline Tillman at Egon Zehnder: Spotting Talent in the 21st Century 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.
Successful track record of launching new products
– Tillman Caroline has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Tillman Caroline 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.
Organizational Resilience of Tillman Caroline
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing that Tillman Caroline does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
Learning organization
- Tillman Caroline 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 Tillman Caroline is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders in Mary Caroline Tillman at Egon Zehnder: Spotting Talent in the 21st Century Harvard Business Review case study emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
Cross disciplinary teams
– Horizontal connected teams at the Tillman Caroline 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.
Training and development
– Tillman Caroline has one of the best training and development program in the industry. The effectiveness of the training programs can be measured in Mary Caroline Tillman at Egon Zehnder: Spotting Talent in the 21st Century 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.
High switching costs
– The high switching costs that Tillman Caroline 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.
Highly skilled collaborators
– Tillman Caroline 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 Mary Caroline Tillman at Egon Zehnder: Spotting Talent in the 21st Century HBR case study have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
Weaknesses Mary Caroline Tillman at Egon Zehnder: Spotting Talent in the 21st Century | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Mary Caroline Tillman at Egon Zehnder: Spotting Talent in the 21st Century are -
Low market penetration in new markets
– Outside its home market of Tillman Caroline, firm in the HBR case study Mary Caroline Tillman at Egon Zehnder: Spotting Talent in the 21st Century needs to spend more promotional, marketing, and advertising efforts to penetrate international markets.
Employees’ incomplete understanding of strategy
– From the instances in the HBR case study Mary Caroline Tillman at Egon Zehnder: Spotting Talent in the 21st Century, it seems that the employees of Tillman Caroline 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.
Products dominated business model
– Even though Tillman Caroline 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 - Mary Caroline Tillman at Egon Zehnder: Spotting Talent in the 21st Century should strive to include more intangible value offerings along with its core products and services.
Lack of clear differentiation of Tillman Caroline products
– To increase the profitability and margins on the products, Tillman Caroline needs to provide more differentiated products than what it is currently offering in the marketplace.
Need for greater diversity
– Tillman Caroline 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.
Skills based hiring
– The stress on hiring functional specialists at Tillman Caroline 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.
Workers concerns about automation
– As automation is fast increasing in the segment, Tillman Caroline 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 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 Tillman Caroline supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes mentioned in the HBR case study - Mary Caroline Tillman at Egon Zehnder: Spotting Talent in the 21st Century, it is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left Tillman Caroline vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.
No frontier risks strategy
– After analyzing the HBR case study Mary Caroline Tillman at Egon Zehnder: Spotting Talent in the 21st Century, 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.
High dependence on star products
– The top 2 products and services of the firm as mentioned in the Mary Caroline Tillman at Egon Zehnder: Spotting Talent in the 21st Century 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 Tillman Caroline has relatively successful track record of launching new products.
High cash cycle compare to competitors
Tillman Caroline 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.
Opportunities Mary Caroline Tillman at Egon Zehnder: Spotting Talent in the 21st Century | 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 Mary Caroline Tillman at Egon Zehnder: Spotting Talent in the 21st Century are -
Lowering marketing communication costs
– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Tillman Caroline 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.
Developing new processes and practices
– Tillman Caroline can develop new processes and procedures in Leadership & Managing People industry using technology such as automation using artificial intelligence, real time transportation and products tracking, 3D modeling for concept development and new products pilot testing etc.
Buying journey improvements
– Tillman Caroline can improve the customer journey of consumers in the industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. Mary Caroline Tillman at Egon Zehnder: Spotting Talent in the 21st Century 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
– Tillman Caroline 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 Mary Caroline Tillman at Egon Zehnder: Spotting Talent in the 21st Century - to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Tillman Caroline to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
Changes in consumer behavior post Covid-19
– Consumer behavior has changed in the Leadership & Managing People industry because of Covid-19 restrictions. Some of this behavior will stay once things get back to normal. Tillman Caroline can take advantage of these changes in consumer behavior to build a far more efficient business model. For example consumer regular ordering of products can reduce both last mile delivery costs and market penetration costs. Tillman Caroline can further use this consumer data to build better customer loyalty, provide better products and service collection, and improve the value proposition in inflationary times.
Learning at scale
– Online learning technologies has now opened space for Tillman Caroline 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.
Redefining models of collaboration and team work
– As explained in the weaknesses section, Tillman Caroline is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. Mary Caroline Tillman at Egon Zehnder: Spotting Talent in the 21st Century 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.
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. Tillman Caroline can tie-up with other value chain partners to explore new opportunities regarding meeting customer demands and building a rewarding and engaging relationship.
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 Tillman Caroline 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, Tillman Caroline 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, Mary Caroline Tillman at Egon Zehnder: Spotting Talent in the 21st Century, to buy more products closer to the markets, and it can leverage its size and influence to get better deal from the local markets.
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 Tillman Caroline in the consumer business. Now Tillman Caroline can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.
Low interest rates
– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Tillman Caroline 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.
Leveraging digital technologies
– Tillman Caroline 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.
Threats Mary Caroline Tillman at Egon Zehnder: Spotting Talent in the 21st Century External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Mary Caroline Tillman at Egon Zehnder: Spotting Talent in the 21st Century are -
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Tillman Caroline is facing in Leadership & Managing People sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.
Consumer confidence and its impact on Tillman Caroline 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.
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. Tillman Caroline can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Tillman Caroline 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. Tillman Caroline needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Leadership & Managing People industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Tillman Caroline in the Leadership & Managing People industry. The Leadership & Managing People industry is already at various protected from local competition in China, with the rise of trade war the protection levels may go up. This presents a clear threat of current business model in Chinese market.
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. Tillman Caroline 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.
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 Tillman Caroline in the Leadership & Managing People sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
Regulatory challenges
– Tillman Caroline 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 Tillman Caroline with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the sector.
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 Tillman Caroline.
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.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Mary Caroline Tillman at Egon Zehnder: Spotting Talent in the 21st Century 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 Mary Caroline Tillman at Egon Zehnder: Spotting Talent in the 21st Century 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 Mary Caroline Tillman at Egon Zehnder: Spotting Talent in the 21st Century 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 Mary Caroline Tillman at Egon Zehnder: Spotting Talent in the 21st Century 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 Mary Caroline Tillman at Egon Zehnder: Spotting Talent in the 21st Century 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 Tillman Caroline needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.
