Case Study Description of Infosys' Relationship Scorecard: Measuring Transformational Partnerships
This case analyzes Infosys' innovative approach to measuring performance in client relations. Infosys' strategy is evolving to build transformational partnerships from its original position as an outsourcer of end-to-end IT projects. A transformational partner helps clients to devise and implement strategies that will allow them to achieve a competitive advantage. The traditional paradigm of service-level agreements (SLAs), while sufficient for Infosys' needs early on, is not able to achieve the level of understanding that transformational partnerships require. Infosys applies the principles of the Balanced Scorecard (BSC) to produce a feedback mechanism that allows the partnership to grow to the benefit of both parties.
Authors :: Katherine Miller, Robert S. Kaplan, F. Asis Martinez-Jerez
Swot Analysis of "Infosys' Relationship Scorecard: Measuring Transformational Partnerships" written by Katherine Miller, Robert S. Kaplan, F. Asis Martinez-Jerez includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Infosys Transformational facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Infosys' Relationship Scorecard: Measuring Transformational Partnerships case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Customers, Operations management and Leadership & Managing People.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Infosys' Relationship Scorecard: Measuring Transformational Partnerships casestudy better are - – cloud computing is disrupting traditional business models, supply chains are disrupted by pandemic , competitive advantages are harder to sustain because of technology dispersion, challanges to central banks by blockchain based private currencies, increasing energy prices, there is increasing trade war between United States & China, geopolitical disruptions,
increasing household debt because of falling income levels, technology disruption, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Infosys' Relationship Scorecard: Measuring Transformational Partnerships
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Infosys' Relationship Scorecard: Measuring Transformational Partnerships case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Infosys Transformational, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Infosys Transformational 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 Infosys' Relationship Scorecard: Measuring Transformational Partnerships can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Infosys' Relationship Scorecard: Measuring Transformational Partnerships case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Infosys Transformational
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 Infosys Transformational
Strengths Infosys' Relationship Scorecard: Measuring Transformational Partnerships | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Infosys Transformational in Infosys' Relationship Scorecard: Measuring Transformational Partnerships Harvard Business Review case study are -
Successful track record of launching new products
– Infosys Transformational has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Infosys Transformational 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.
Cross disciplinary teams
– Horizontal connected teams at the Infosys Transformational 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.
Analytics focus
– Infosys Transformational 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 Katherine Miller, Robert S. Kaplan, F. Asis Martinez-Jerez 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.
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of Infosys Transformational in the sector have low bargaining power. Infosys' Relationship Scorecard: Measuring Transformational Partnerships has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Infosys Transformational to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
Learning organization
- Infosys Transformational 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 Infosys Transformational is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders in Infosys' Relationship Scorecard: Measuring Transformational Partnerships Harvard Business Review case study emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
Strong track record of project management
– Infosys Transformational is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.
Superior customer experience
– The customer experience strategy of Infosys Transformational in the segment is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.
Diverse revenue streams
– Infosys Transformational is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided firm in Infosys' Relationship Scorecard: Measuring Transformational Partnerships 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.
Innovation driven organization
– Infosys Transformational is one of the most innovative firm in sector. Manager in Infosys' Relationship Scorecard: Measuring Transformational Partnerships 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
– Infosys Transformational 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 Infosys' Relationship Scorecard: Measuring Transformational Partnerships HBR case study have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
Training and development
– Infosys Transformational has one of the best training and development program in the industry. The effectiveness of the training programs can be measured in Infosys' Relationship Scorecard: Measuring Transformational Partnerships 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.
Organizational Resilience of Infosys Transformational
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing that Infosys Transformational does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
Weaknesses Infosys' Relationship Scorecard: Measuring Transformational Partnerships | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Infosys' Relationship Scorecard: Measuring Transformational Partnerships are -
Workers concerns about automation
– As automation is fast increasing in the segment, Infosys Transformational 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 cash cycle compare to competitors
Infosys Transformational 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.
Increasing silos among functional specialists
– The organizational structure of Infosys Transformational is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Leadership & Managing People segment. Infosys Transformational needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Infosys Transformational to focus more on services rather than just following the product oriented approach.
Products dominated business model
– Even though Infosys Transformational 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 - Infosys' Relationship Scorecard: Measuring Transformational Partnerships should strive to include more intangible value offerings along with its core products and services.
Capital Spending Reduction
– Even during the low interest decade, Infosys Transformational has not been able to do capital spending to the tune of the competition. This has resulted into fewer innovations and company facing stiff competition from both existing competitors and new entrants who are disrupting the industry using digital technology.
Slow to harness new channels of communication
– Even though competitors are using new communication channels such as Instagram, Tiktok, and Snap, Infosys Transformational is slow explore the new channels of communication. These new channels of communication mentioned in marketing section of case study Infosys' Relationship Scorecard: Measuring Transformational Partnerships can help to provide better information regarding products and services. It can also build an online community to further reach out to potential customers.
Compensation and incentives
– The revenue per employee as mentioned in the HBR case study Infosys' Relationship Scorecard: Measuring Transformational Partnerships, is just above the industry average. Infosys Transformational 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.
Aligning sales with marketing
– It come across in the case study Infosys' Relationship Scorecard: Measuring Transformational Partnerships 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 Infosys' Relationship Scorecard: Measuring Transformational Partnerships can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Infosys Transformational is planning to shift buying processes online.
Lack of clear differentiation of Infosys Transformational products
– To increase the profitability and margins on the products, Infosys Transformational needs to provide more differentiated products than what it is currently offering in the marketplace.
No frontier risks strategy
– After analyzing the HBR case study Infosys' Relationship Scorecard: Measuring Transformational Partnerships, 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.
Interest costs
– Compare to the competition, Infosys Transformational 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.
Opportunities Infosys' Relationship Scorecard: Measuring Transformational Partnerships | 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 Infosys' Relationship Scorecard: Measuring Transformational Partnerships are -
Loyalty marketing
– Infosys Transformational 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.
Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities
– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Infosys Transformational 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 Infosys Transformational to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Infosys Transformational has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Infosys Transformational to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the Infosys' Relationship Scorecard: Measuring Transformational Partnerships case study. Infosys Transformational can build new products and services such as - data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
Buying journey improvements
– Infosys Transformational can improve the customer journey of consumers in the industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. Infosys' Relationship Scorecard: Measuring Transformational Partnerships 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.
Lowering marketing communication costs
– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Infosys Transformational 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.
Leveraging digital technologies
– Infosys Transformational 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.
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– Infosys Transformational 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 Infosys' Relationship Scorecard: Measuring Transformational Partnerships - to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Infosys Transformational to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
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 Infosys Transformational in the consumer business. Now Infosys Transformational can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.
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 Infosys Transformational 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.
Reforming the budgeting process
- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects Infosys Transformational can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.
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. Infosys Transformational 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 Infosys Transformational 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.
Low interest rates
– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Infosys Transformational 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.
Threats Infosys' Relationship Scorecard: Measuring Transformational Partnerships External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Infosys' Relationship Scorecard: Measuring Transformational Partnerships are -
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. Infosys Transformational can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
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. Infosys Transformational 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.
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 Infosys Transformational business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Infosys Transformational 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 Infosys' Relationship Scorecard: Measuring Transformational Partnerships .
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Infosys Transformational is facing in Leadership & Managing People sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.
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 Infosys Transformational.
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Infosys Transformational has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Leadership & Managing People industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Infosys Transformational needs to keep up with the evolution of technology in the Leadership & Managing People sector. According to Mckinsey study top managers believe that the adoption of technology in operations, communications is 20-25 times faster than what they planned in the beginning of 2019.
High dependence on third party suppliers
– Infosys Transformational 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 Infosys Transformational
– 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 Infosys Transformational.
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Infosys Transformational 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.
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. Infosys Transformational needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Leadership & Managing People industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
Consumer confidence and its impact on Infosys Transformational 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.
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.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Infosys' Relationship Scorecard: Measuring Transformational Partnerships 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 Infosys' Relationship Scorecard: Measuring Transformational Partnerships 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 Infosys' Relationship Scorecard: Measuring Transformational Partnerships 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 Infosys' Relationship Scorecard: Measuring Transformational Partnerships 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 Infosys' Relationship Scorecard: Measuring Transformational Partnerships 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 Infosys Transformational needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.
