Gowlings LLP: Canadian Legal Services Firm Going International SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Leadership & Managing People
Strategy / MBA Resources
Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of Gowlings LLP: Canadian Legal Services Firm Going International
In February 2014, the chairman and chief executive officer of the third-largest law firm in Canada, Gowlings LLP, was examining his options for taking the firm global. On the verge of retirement, he hoped to establish an enduring platform for international expansion based on three aspects: a new global location, a new global partner, and a new organizational structure. Each point was interlinked, and each presented its own managerial dilemmas. Gowlings had already established offices in three locations outside Canada: Moscow, London, and Beijing. The company had been ranked as the top legal advisor based on deal volume for Canadian mergers and acquisitions in both 2012 and 2013. Gowlings was primed to build on these attributes and move to the next level in positioning itself as an international law firm.
Authors :: Brian C. Pinkham, Ramasastry Chandrasekhar
Swot Analysis of "Gowlings LLP: Canadian Legal Services Firm Going International" written by Brian C. Pinkham, Ramasastry Chandrasekhar includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Gowlings Llp facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Gowlings LLP: Canadian Legal Services Firm Going International case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, and Leadership & Managing People.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Gowlings LLP: Canadian Legal Services Firm Going International casestudy better are - – increasing transportation and logistics costs, increasing household debt because of falling income levels, there is increasing trade war between United States & China, increasing commodity prices, there is backlash against globalization, cloud computing is disrupting traditional business models, wage bills are increasing,
digital marketing is dominated by two big players Facebook and Google, talent flight as more people leaving formal jobs, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Gowlings LLP: Canadian Legal Services Firm Going International
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Gowlings LLP: Canadian Legal Services Firm Going International case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Gowlings Llp, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Gowlings Llp 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 Gowlings LLP: Canadian Legal Services Firm Going International can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Gowlings LLP: Canadian Legal Services Firm Going International case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Gowlings Llp
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 Gowlings Llp
Strengths Gowlings LLP: Canadian Legal Services Firm Going International | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Gowlings Llp in Gowlings LLP: Canadian Legal Services Firm Going International Harvard Business Review case study are -
Innovation driven organization
– Gowlings Llp is one of the most innovative firm in sector. Manager in Gowlings LLP: Canadian Legal Services Firm Going International Harvard Business Review case study can use Clayton Christensen Disruptive Innovation strategies to further increase the scale of innovtions in the organization.
High brand equity
– Gowlings Llp has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Gowlings Llp to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Ability to recruit top talent
– Gowlings Llp is one of the leading recruiters in the industry. Managers in the Gowlings LLP: Canadian Legal Services Firm Going International are in a position to attract the best talent available. The firm has a robust talent identification program that helps in identifying the brightest.
Effective Research and Development (R&D)
– Gowlings Llp 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 Gowlings LLP: Canadian Legal Services Firm Going International - staying ahead in the industry in terms of – new product launches, superior customer experience, highly competitive pricing strategies, and great returns to the shareholders.
High switching costs
– The high switching costs that Gowlings Llp 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.
Digital Transformation in Leadership & Managing People segment
- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For Gowlings Llp digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Gowlings Llp 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.
Successful track record of launching new products
– Gowlings Llp has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Gowlings Llp 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.
Strong track record of project management
– Gowlings Llp is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.
Cross disciplinary teams
– Horizontal connected teams at the Gowlings Llp 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.
Learning organization
- Gowlings Llp 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 Gowlings Llp is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders in Gowlings LLP: Canadian Legal Services Firm Going International Harvard Business Review case study emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Leadership & Managing People industry
– Gowlings LLP: Canadian Legal Services Firm Going International firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Gowlings Llp to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Leadership & Managing People industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Gowlings Llp to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Organizational Resilience of Gowlings Llp
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing that Gowlings Llp does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
Weaknesses Gowlings LLP: Canadian Legal Services Firm Going International | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Gowlings LLP: Canadian Legal Services Firm Going International are -
Aligning sales with marketing
– It come across in the case study Gowlings LLP: Canadian Legal Services Firm Going International 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 Gowlings LLP: Canadian Legal Services Firm Going International can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Gowlings Llp is planning to shift buying processes online.
Slow to strategic competitive environment developments
– As Gowlings LLP: Canadian Legal Services Firm Going International HBR case study mentions - Gowlings Llp 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.
Low market penetration in new markets
– Outside its home market of Gowlings Llp, firm in the HBR case study Gowlings LLP: Canadian Legal Services Firm Going International needs to spend more promotional, marketing, and advertising efforts to penetrate international markets.
High operating costs
– Compare to the competitors, firm in the HBR case study Gowlings LLP: Canadian Legal Services Firm Going International 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 Gowlings Llp 's lucrative customers.
Skills based hiring
– The stress on hiring functional specialists at Gowlings Llp 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.
High bargaining power of channel partners
– Because of the regulatory requirements, Brian C. Pinkham, Ramasastry Chandrasekhar suggests that, Gowlings Llp 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.
Interest costs
– Compare to the competition, Gowlings Llp 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.
Need for greater diversity
– Gowlings Llp 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.
Ability to respond to the competition
– As the decision making is very deliberative, highlighted in the case study Gowlings LLP: Canadian Legal Services Firm Going International, in the dynamic environment Gowlings Llp has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. Gowlings Llp has reasonably good record with similar level competitors but it has struggled with new entrants taking away niches of its business.
Employees’ incomplete understanding of strategy
– From the instances in the HBR case study Gowlings LLP: Canadian Legal Services Firm Going International, it seems that the employees of Gowlings Llp 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.
No frontier risks strategy
– After analyzing the HBR case study Gowlings LLP: Canadian Legal Services Firm Going International, 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.
Opportunities Gowlings LLP: Canadian Legal Services Firm Going International | 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 Gowlings LLP: Canadian Legal Services Firm Going International are -
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 Gowlings Llp in the consumer business. Now Gowlings Llp can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.
Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains
– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Gowlings Llp 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, Gowlings LLP: Canadian Legal Services Firm Going International, to buy more products closer to the markets, and it can leverage its size and influence to get better deal from the local markets.
Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities
– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Gowlings Llp 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 Gowlings Llp to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
Redefining models of collaboration and team work
– As explained in the weaknesses section, Gowlings Llp is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. Gowlings LLP: Canadian Legal Services Firm Going International 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.
Manufacturing automation
– Gowlings Llp 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.
Learning at scale
– Online learning technologies has now opened space for Gowlings Llp 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 Gowlings Llp to increase its market reach. Gowlings Llp 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.
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Gowlings Llp has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Gowlings Llp to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the Gowlings LLP: Canadian Legal Services Firm Going International case study. Gowlings Llp can build new products and services such as - data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, 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. Gowlings Llp can tie-up with other value chain partners to explore new opportunities regarding meeting customer demands and building a rewarding and engaging relationship.
Low interest rates
– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Gowlings Llp 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.
Reforming the budgeting process
- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects Gowlings Llp can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.
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. Gowlings Llp 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. Gowlings Llp 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.
Lowering marketing communication costs
– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Gowlings Llp 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 Gowlings LLP: Canadian Legal Services Firm Going International External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Gowlings LLP: Canadian Legal Services Firm Going International are -
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Gowlings Llp 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.
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 Gowlings Llp.
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, as highlighted in case study Gowlings LLP: Canadian Legal Services Firm Going International, Gowlings Llp 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 .
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry in the industry are lowering. It can presents Gowlings Llp with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the sector.
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 Gowlings Llp business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
Technology disruption because of hacks, piracy etc
– The colonial pipeline illustrated, how vulnerable modern organization are to international hackers, miscreants, and disruptors. The cyber security interruption, data leaks, etc can seriously jeopardize the future growth of the organization.
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Gowlings Llp 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.
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. Gowlings Llp can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Gowlings Llp 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 Gowlings LLP: Canadian Legal Services Firm Going International .
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.
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. Gowlings Llp 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.
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Gowlings Llp has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Leadership & Managing People industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Gowlings Llp 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.
Increasing wage structure of Gowlings Llp
– 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 Gowlings Llp.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Gowlings LLP: Canadian Legal Services Firm Going International 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 Gowlings LLP: Canadian Legal Services Firm Going International 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 Gowlings LLP: Canadian Legal Services Firm Going International 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 Gowlings LLP: Canadian Legal Services Firm Going International 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 Gowlings LLP: Canadian Legal Services Firm Going International 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 Gowlings Llp needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.