Individual and the Corporation: Kathy Levinson and ETRADE (A) SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Leadership & Managing People
Strategy / MBA Resources
Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of Individual and the Corporation: Kathy Levinson and ETRADE (A)
Kathy Levinson, the president and COO of ETRADE and a lesbian mother of two children, must decide whether and how to participate in the "No on Knight" campaign. The campaign opposes California ballot proposition 22, which requires California to recognize only marriages between a man and a woman. This case provides background for Levinson's decision, in which she must balance her obligations as an executive with her personal values and commitments.
Authors :: Joseph L. Badaracco Jr., Susan S. Harmeling
Swot Analysis of "Individual and the Corporation: Kathy Levinson and ETRADE (A)" written by Joseph L. Badaracco Jr., Susan S. Harmeling includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Levinson Etrade facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Individual and the Corporation: Kathy Levinson and ETRADE (A) case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Ethics, Gender, Internet, Leadership, Marketing, Sexual orientation and Leadership & Managing People.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Individual and the Corporation: Kathy Levinson and ETRADE (A) casestudy better are - – digital marketing is dominated by two big players Facebook and Google, supply chains are disrupted by pandemic , there is increasing trade war between United States & China, increasing government debt because of Covid-19 spendings, cloud computing is disrupting traditional business models, increasing commodity prices, increasing inequality as vast percentage of new income is going to the top 1%,
competitive advantages are harder to sustain because of technology dispersion, wage bills are increasing, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Individual and the Corporation: Kathy Levinson and ETRADE (A)
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Individual and the Corporation: Kathy Levinson and ETRADE (A) case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Levinson Etrade, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Levinson Etrade 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 Individual and the Corporation: Kathy Levinson and ETRADE (A) can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Individual and the Corporation: Kathy Levinson and ETRADE (A) case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Levinson Etrade
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 Levinson Etrade
Strengths Individual and the Corporation: Kathy Levinson and ETRADE (A) | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Levinson Etrade in Individual and the Corporation: Kathy Levinson and ETRADE (A) Harvard Business Review case study are -
Organizational Resilience of Levinson Etrade
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing that Levinson Etrade does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
High switching costs
– The high switching costs that Levinson Etrade 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.
Training and development
– Levinson Etrade has one of the best training and development program in the industry. The effectiveness of the training programs can be measured in Individual and the Corporation: Kathy Levinson and ETRADE (A) 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.
Learning organization
- Levinson Etrade 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 Levinson Etrade is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders in Individual and the Corporation: Kathy Levinson and ETRADE (A) Harvard Business Review case study emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
Operational resilience
– The operational resilience strategy in the Individual and the Corporation: Kathy Levinson and ETRADE (A) 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.
Cross disciplinary teams
– Horizontal connected teams at the Levinson Etrade 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.
Effective Research and Development (R&D)
– Levinson Etrade 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 Individual and the Corporation: Kathy Levinson and ETRADE (A) - staying ahead in the industry in terms of – new product launches, superior customer experience, highly competitive pricing strategies, and great returns to the shareholders.
Superior customer experience
– The customer experience strategy of Levinson Etrade in the segment is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.
High brand equity
– Levinson Etrade has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Levinson Etrade to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Strong track record of project management
– Levinson Etrade is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.
Highly skilled collaborators
– Levinson Etrade 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 Individual and the Corporation: Kathy Levinson and ETRADE (A) HBR case study have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
Analytics focus
– Levinson Etrade is putting a lot of focus on utilizing the power of analytics in business decision making. This has put it among the leading players in the industry. The technology infrastructure suggested by Joseph L. Badaracco Jr., Susan S. Harmeling can also help it to harness the power of analytics for – marketing optimization, demand forecasting, customer relationship management, inventory management, information sharing across the value chain etc.
Weaknesses Individual and the Corporation: Kathy Levinson and ETRADE (A) | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Individual and the Corporation: Kathy Levinson and ETRADE (A) are -
High dependence on star products
– The top 2 products and services of the firm as mentioned in the Individual and the Corporation: Kathy Levinson and ETRADE (A) 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 Levinson Etrade has relatively successful track record of launching new products.
Compensation and incentives
– The revenue per employee as mentioned in the HBR case study Individual and the Corporation: Kathy Levinson and ETRADE (A), is just above the industry average. Levinson Etrade 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.
Products dominated business model
– Even though Levinson Etrade 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 - Individual and the Corporation: Kathy Levinson and ETRADE (A) should strive to include more intangible value offerings along with its core products and services.
Aligning sales with marketing
– It come across in the case study Individual and the Corporation: Kathy Levinson and ETRADE (A) 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 Individual and the Corporation: Kathy Levinson and ETRADE (A) can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Levinson Etrade is planning to shift buying processes online.
Skills based hiring
– The stress on hiring functional specialists at Levinson Etrade 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 to harness new channels of communication
– Even though competitors are using new communication channels such as Instagram, Tiktok, and Snap, Levinson Etrade is slow explore the new channels of communication. These new channels of communication mentioned in marketing section of case study Individual and the Corporation: Kathy Levinson and ETRADE (A) can help to provide better information regarding products and services. It can also build an online community to further reach out to potential customers.
High operating costs
– Compare to the competitors, firm in the HBR case study Individual and the Corporation: Kathy Levinson and ETRADE (A) 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 Levinson Etrade 's lucrative customers.
High bargaining power of channel partners
– Because of the regulatory requirements, Joseph L. Badaracco Jr., Susan S. Harmeling suggests that, Levinson Etrade 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, Levinson Etrade 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.
Increasing silos among functional specialists
– The organizational structure of Levinson Etrade is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Leadership & Managing People segment. Levinson Etrade needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Levinson Etrade to focus more on services rather than just following the product oriented approach.
High cash cycle compare to competitors
Levinson Etrade 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 Individual and the Corporation: Kathy Levinson and ETRADE (A) | 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 Individual and the Corporation: Kathy Levinson and ETRADE (A) are -
Loyalty marketing
– Levinson Etrade has focused on building a highly responsive customer relationship management platform. This platform is built on in-house data and driven by analytics and artificial intelligence. The customer analytics can help the organization to fine tune its loyalty marketing efforts, increase the wallet share of the organization, reduce wastage on mainstream advertising spending, build better pricing strategies using personalization, etc.
Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains
– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Levinson Etrade 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, Individual and the Corporation: Kathy Levinson and ETRADE (A), to buy more products closer to the markets, and it can leverage its size and influence to get better deal from the local markets.
Low interest rates
– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Levinson Etrade 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.
Buying journey improvements
– Levinson Etrade can improve the customer journey of consumers in the industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. Individual and the Corporation: Kathy Levinson and ETRADE (A) 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.
Building a culture of innovation
– managers at Levinson Etrade 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.
Increase in government spending
– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Levinson Etrade can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Levinson Etrade operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Leadership & Managing People sector.
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. Levinson Etrade 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. Levinson Etrade 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.
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. Levinson Etrade can tie-up with other value chain partners to explore new opportunities regarding meeting customer demands and building a rewarding and engaging relationship.
Leveraging digital technologies
– Levinson Etrade 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.
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. Levinson Etrade can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Levinson Etrade has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Levinson Etrade to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the Individual and the Corporation: Kathy Levinson and ETRADE (A) case study. Levinson Etrade can build new products and services such as - data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
Learning at scale
– Online learning technologies has now opened space for Levinson Etrade 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.
Manufacturing automation
– Levinson Etrade 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.
Threats Individual and the Corporation: Kathy Levinson and ETRADE (A) External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Individual and the Corporation: Kathy Levinson and ETRADE (A) are -
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. Levinson Etrade 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.
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 Levinson Etrade.
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Levinson Etrade 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.
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, as highlighted in case study Individual and the Corporation: Kathy Levinson and ETRADE (A), Levinson Etrade 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 .
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Levinson Etrade has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Leadership & Managing People industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Levinson Etrade 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.
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Levinson Etrade is facing in Leadership & Managing People sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.
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 Levinson Etrade business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
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. Levinson Etrade needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Leadership & Managing People industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Levinson Etrade 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.
Regulatory challenges
– Levinson Etrade 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.
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Levinson Etrade 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 Individual and the Corporation: Kathy Levinson and ETRADE (A) .
Consumer confidence and its impact on Levinson Etrade 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.
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 Levinson Etrade in the Leadership & Managing People sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Individual and the Corporation: Kathy Levinson and ETRADE (A) 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 Individual and the Corporation: Kathy Levinson and ETRADE (A) 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 Individual and the Corporation: Kathy Levinson and ETRADE (A) 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 Individual and the Corporation: Kathy Levinson and ETRADE (A) 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 Individual and the Corporation: Kathy Levinson and ETRADE (A) 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 Levinson Etrade needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.