Ganesh Natarajan, CEO of Zensar: In-Class Comments, 4/7/11, Video SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Leadership & Managing People
Strategy / MBA Resources
Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of Ganesh Natarajan, CEO of Zensar: In-Class Comments, 4/7/11, Video
Zensar is a rapidly growing, mid-sized Indian IT services company with a collaborative management philosophy and innovative HR policies. One of its practices, Vision Communities, is an inclusive forum for innovation and strategy formulation. As the company grows, managers must decide how to scale the Vision Community process so that it retains its spirit of employee involvement and engagement while encompassing a larger, more geographically dispersed group of participants.
Swot Analysis of "Ganesh Natarajan, CEO of Zensar: In-Class Comments, 4/7/11, Video" written by David A. Garvin includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Zensar Natarajan facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Ganesh Natarajan, CEO of Zensar: In-Class Comments, 4/7/11, Video case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Customers, Government, Human resource management, Innovation, IT, Leadership, Operations management, Organizational culture and Leadership & Managing People.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Ganesh Natarajan, CEO of Zensar: In-Class Comments, 4/7/11, Video casestudy better are - – increasing energy prices, central banks are concerned over increasing inflation, challanges to central banks by blockchain based private currencies, there is increasing trade war between United States & China, wage bills are increasing, banking and financial system is disrupted by Bitcoin and other crypto currencies, increasing government debt because of Covid-19 spendings,
increasing household debt because of falling income levels, increasing inequality as vast percentage of new income is going to the top 1%, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Ganesh Natarajan, CEO of Zensar: In-Class Comments, 4/7/11, Video
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Ganesh Natarajan, CEO of Zensar: In-Class Comments, 4/7/11, Video case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Zensar Natarajan, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Zensar Natarajan 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 Ganesh Natarajan, CEO of Zensar: In-Class Comments, 4/7/11, Video can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Ganesh Natarajan, CEO of Zensar: In-Class Comments, 4/7/11, Video case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Zensar Natarajan
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 Zensar Natarajan
Strengths Ganesh Natarajan, CEO of Zensar: In-Class Comments, 4/7/11, Video | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Zensar Natarajan in Ganesh Natarajan, CEO of Zensar: In-Class Comments, 4/7/11, Video Harvard Business Review case study are -
Effective Research and Development (R&D)
– Zensar Natarajan 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 Ganesh Natarajan, CEO of Zensar: In-Class Comments, 4/7/11, Video - staying ahead in the industry in terms of – new product launches, superior customer experience, highly competitive pricing strategies, and great returns to the shareholders.
Operational resilience
– The operational resilience strategy in the Ganesh Natarajan, CEO of Zensar: In-Class Comments, 4/7/11, Video 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.
Ability to lead change in Leadership & Managing People field
– Zensar Natarajan is one of the leading players in its industry. Over the years it has not only transformed the business landscape in its segment but also across the whole industry. The ability to lead change has enabled Zensar Natarajan in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.
Strong track record of project management
– Zensar Natarajan is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.
Learning organization
- Zensar Natarajan 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 Zensar Natarajan is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders in Ganesh Natarajan, CEO of Zensar: In-Class Comments, 4/7/11, Video Harvard Business Review case study emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
Analytics focus
– Zensar Natarajan 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 David A. Garvin 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.
Cross disciplinary teams
– Horizontal connected teams at the Zensar Natarajan 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.
High switching costs
– The high switching costs that Zensar Natarajan 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.
Organizational Resilience of Zensar Natarajan
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing that Zensar Natarajan does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
Innovation driven organization
– Zensar Natarajan is one of the most innovative firm in sector. Manager in Ganesh Natarajan, CEO of Zensar: In-Class Comments, 4/7/11, Video Harvard Business Review case study can use Clayton Christensen Disruptive Innovation strategies to further increase the scale of innovtions in the organization.
Highly skilled collaborators
– Zensar Natarajan 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 Ganesh Natarajan, CEO of Zensar: In-Class Comments, 4/7/11, Video HBR case study have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
Superior customer experience
– The customer experience strategy of Zensar Natarajan in the segment is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.
Weaknesses Ganesh Natarajan, CEO of Zensar: In-Class Comments, 4/7/11, Video | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Ganesh Natarajan, CEO of Zensar: In-Class Comments, 4/7/11, Video are -
Ability to respond to the competition
– As the decision making is very deliberative, highlighted in the case study Ganesh Natarajan, CEO of Zensar: In-Class Comments, 4/7/11, Video, in the dynamic environment Zensar Natarajan has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. Zensar Natarajan has reasonably good record with similar level competitors but it has struggled with new entrants taking away niches of its business.
High bargaining power of channel partners
– Because of the regulatory requirements, David A. Garvin suggests that, Zensar Natarajan 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.
Increasing silos among functional specialists
– The organizational structure of Zensar Natarajan is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Leadership & Managing People segment. Zensar Natarajan needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Zensar Natarajan to focus more on services rather than just following the product oriented approach.
Interest costs
– Compare to the competition, Zensar Natarajan 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.
Workers concerns about automation
– As automation is fast increasing in the segment, Zensar Natarajan 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.
Slow decision making process
– As mentioned earlier in the report, Zensar Natarajan 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. Zensar Natarajan 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.
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 Zensar Natarajan supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes mentioned in the HBR case study - Ganesh Natarajan, CEO of Zensar: In-Class Comments, 4/7/11, Video, it is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left Zensar Natarajan vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.
High cash cycle compare to competitors
Zensar Natarajan 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.
Skills based hiring
– The stress on hiring functional specialists at Zensar Natarajan 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 strategic competitive environment developments
– As Ganesh Natarajan, CEO of Zensar: In-Class Comments, 4/7/11, Video HBR case study mentions - Zensar Natarajan 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.
Aligning sales with marketing
– It come across in the case study Ganesh Natarajan, CEO of Zensar: In-Class Comments, 4/7/11, Video 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 Ganesh Natarajan, CEO of Zensar: In-Class Comments, 4/7/11, Video can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Zensar Natarajan is planning to shift buying processes online.
Opportunities Ganesh Natarajan, CEO of Zensar: In-Class Comments, 4/7/11, Video | 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 Ganesh Natarajan, CEO of Zensar: In-Class Comments, 4/7/11, Video 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 Zensar Natarajan in the consumer business. Now Zensar Natarajan 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, Zensar Natarajan 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.
Better consumer reach
– The expansion of the 5G network will help Zensar Natarajan to increase its market reach. Zensar Natarajan 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.
Developing new processes and practices
– Zensar Natarajan 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.
Redefining models of collaboration and team work
– As explained in the weaknesses section, Zensar Natarajan is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. Ganesh Natarajan, CEO of Zensar: In-Class Comments, 4/7/11, Video 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.
Loyalty marketing
– Zensar Natarajan 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.
Increase in government spending
– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Zensar Natarajan can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Zensar Natarajan operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Leadership & Managing People sector.
Reforming the budgeting process
- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects Zensar Natarajan can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– Zensar Natarajan 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 Ganesh Natarajan, CEO of Zensar: In-Class Comments, 4/7/11, Video - to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Zensar Natarajan to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
Buying journey improvements
– Zensar Natarajan can improve the customer journey of consumers in the industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. Ganesh Natarajan, CEO of Zensar: In-Class Comments, 4/7/11, Video 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.
Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities
– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Zensar Natarajan 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 Zensar Natarajan to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
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. Zensar Natarajan can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.
Learning at scale
– Online learning technologies has now opened space for Zensar Natarajan 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.
Threats Ganesh Natarajan, CEO of Zensar: In-Class Comments, 4/7/11, Video External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Ganesh Natarajan, CEO of Zensar: In-Class Comments, 4/7/11, Video are -
High dependence on third party suppliers
– Zensar Natarajan 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.
Increasing wage structure of Zensar Natarajan
– 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 Zensar Natarajan.
Regulatory challenges
– Zensar Natarajan 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, Zensar Natarajan 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 Ganesh Natarajan, CEO of Zensar: In-Class Comments, 4/7/11, Video .
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. Zensar Natarajan can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
Environmental challenges
– Zensar Natarajan needs to have a robust strategy against the disruptions arising from climate change and energy requirements. EU has identified it as key priority area and spending 30% of its 880 billion Euros European post Covid-19 recovery funds on green technology. Zensar Natarajan can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Leadership & Managing People industry.
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.
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 Zensar Natarajan in the Leadership & Managing People sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry in the industry are lowering. It can presents Zensar Natarajan with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the sector.
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, as highlighted in case study Ganesh Natarajan, CEO of Zensar: In-Class Comments, 4/7/11, Video, Zensar Natarajan 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 .
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Zensar Natarajan 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.
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Zensar Natarajan is facing in Leadership & Managing People sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Zensar Natarajan has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Leadership & Managing People industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Zensar Natarajan 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.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Ganesh Natarajan, CEO of Zensar: In-Class Comments, 4/7/11, Video 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 Ganesh Natarajan, CEO of Zensar: In-Class Comments, 4/7/11, Video 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 Ganesh Natarajan, CEO of Zensar: In-Class Comments, 4/7/11, Video 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 Ganesh Natarajan, CEO of Zensar: In-Class Comments, 4/7/11, Video 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 Ganesh Natarajan, CEO of Zensar: In-Class Comments, 4/7/11, Video 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 Zensar Natarajan needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.
