Jill Greenthal at Donaldson, Lufkin & Jenrette: The TCI/AT&T Deal (B) SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Leadership & Managing People
Strategy / MBA Resources
Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of Jill Greenthal at Donaldson, Lufkin & Jenrette: The TCI/AT&T Deal (B)
Documents the hectic and grueling work done by Jill Greenthal's team at Donaldson, Lufkin & Jenrette in an attempt to execute a landmark deal on behalf of a key client.
Authors :: Ashish Nanda, Thomas J. DeLong, Sarah Thorp
Swot Analysis of "Jill Greenthal at Donaldson, Lufkin & Jenrette: The TCI/AT&T Deal (B)" written by Ashish Nanda, Thomas J. DeLong, Sarah Thorp includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Donaldson Jenrette facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Jill Greenthal at Donaldson, Lufkin & Jenrette: The TCI/AT&T Deal (B) case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Gender, Leadership, Supply chain and Leadership & Managing People.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Jill Greenthal at Donaldson, Lufkin & Jenrette: The TCI/AT&T Deal (B) casestudy better are - – challanges to central banks by blockchain based private currencies, there is increasing trade war between United States & China, banking and financial system is disrupted by Bitcoin and other crypto currencies, increasing government debt because of Covid-19 spendings, increasing commodity prices, customer relationship management is fast transforming because of increasing concerns over data privacy, supply chains are disrupted by pandemic ,
competitive advantages are harder to sustain because of technology dispersion, cloud computing is disrupting traditional business models, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Jill Greenthal at Donaldson, Lufkin & Jenrette: The TCI/AT&T Deal (B)
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Jill Greenthal at Donaldson, Lufkin & Jenrette: The TCI/AT&T Deal (B) case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Donaldson Jenrette, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Donaldson Jenrette 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 Jill Greenthal at Donaldson, Lufkin & Jenrette: The TCI/AT&T Deal (B) can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Jill Greenthal at Donaldson, Lufkin & Jenrette: The TCI/AT&T Deal (B) case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Donaldson Jenrette
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 Donaldson Jenrette
Strengths Jill Greenthal at Donaldson, Lufkin & Jenrette: The TCI/AT&T Deal (B) | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Donaldson Jenrette in Jill Greenthal at Donaldson, Lufkin & Jenrette: The TCI/AT&T Deal (B) Harvard Business Review case study are -
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Leadership & Managing People industry
– Jill Greenthal at Donaldson, Lufkin & Jenrette: The TCI/AT&T Deal (B) firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Donaldson Jenrette to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Leadership & Managing People industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Donaldson Jenrette to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Effective Research and Development (R&D)
– Donaldson Jenrette 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 Jill Greenthal at Donaldson, Lufkin & Jenrette: The TCI/AT&T Deal (B) - staying ahead in the industry in terms of – new product launches, superior customer experience, highly competitive pricing strategies, and great returns to the shareholders.
Strong track record of project management
– Donaldson Jenrette is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.
Training and development
– Donaldson Jenrette has one of the best training and development program in the industry. The effectiveness of the training programs can be measured in Jill Greenthal at Donaldson, Lufkin & Jenrette: The TCI/AT&T Deal (B) 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.
Ability to lead change in Leadership & Managing People field
– Donaldson Jenrette 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 Donaldson Jenrette in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.
Operational resilience
– The operational resilience strategy in the Jill Greenthal at Donaldson, Lufkin & Jenrette: The TCI/AT&T Deal (B) 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.
Diverse revenue streams
– Donaldson Jenrette is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided firm in Jill Greenthal at Donaldson, Lufkin & Jenrette: The TCI/AT&T Deal (B) 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.
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of Donaldson Jenrette in the sector have low bargaining power. Jill Greenthal at Donaldson, Lufkin & Jenrette: The TCI/AT&T Deal (B) has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Donaldson Jenrette to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
Organizational Resilience of Donaldson Jenrette
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing that Donaldson Jenrette does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
Ability to recruit top talent
– Donaldson Jenrette is one of the leading recruiters in the industry. Managers in the Jill Greenthal at Donaldson, Lufkin & Jenrette: The TCI/AT&T Deal (B) are in a position to attract the best talent available. The firm has a robust talent identification program that helps in identifying the brightest.
Highly skilled collaborators
– Donaldson Jenrette 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 Jill Greenthal at Donaldson, Lufkin & Jenrette: The TCI/AT&T Deal (B) HBR case study have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
High switching costs
– The high switching costs that Donaldson Jenrette 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.
Weaknesses Jill Greenthal at Donaldson, Lufkin & Jenrette: The TCI/AT&T Deal (B) | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Jill Greenthal at Donaldson, Lufkin & Jenrette: The TCI/AT&T Deal (B) are -
Compensation and incentives
– The revenue per employee as mentioned in the HBR case study Jill Greenthal at Donaldson, Lufkin & Jenrette: The TCI/AT&T Deal (B), is just above the industry average. Donaldson Jenrette 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.
Need for greater diversity
– Donaldson Jenrette 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.
Increasing silos among functional specialists
– The organizational structure of Donaldson Jenrette is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Leadership & Managing People segment. Donaldson Jenrette needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Donaldson Jenrette to focus more on services rather than just following the product oriented approach.
Products dominated business model
– Even though Donaldson Jenrette 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 - Jill Greenthal at Donaldson, Lufkin & Jenrette: The TCI/AT&T Deal (B) should strive to include more intangible value offerings along with its core products and services.
Capital Spending Reduction
– Even during the low interest decade, Donaldson Jenrette 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 decision making process
– As mentioned earlier in the report, Donaldson Jenrette 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. Donaldson Jenrette 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.
Ability to respond to the competition
– As the decision making is very deliberative, highlighted in the case study Jill Greenthal at Donaldson, Lufkin & Jenrette: The TCI/AT&T Deal (B), in the dynamic environment Donaldson Jenrette has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. Donaldson Jenrette has reasonably good record with similar level competitors but it has struggled with new entrants taking away niches of its business.
Interest costs
– Compare to the competition, Donaldson Jenrette 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.
Employees’ incomplete understanding of strategy
– From the instances in the HBR case study Jill Greenthal at Donaldson, Lufkin & Jenrette: The TCI/AT&T Deal (B), it seems that the employees of Donaldson Jenrette 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.
Lack of clear differentiation of Donaldson Jenrette products
– To increase the profitability and margins on the products, Donaldson Jenrette needs to provide more differentiated products than what it is currently offering in the marketplace.
High bargaining power of channel partners
– Because of the regulatory requirements, Ashish Nanda, Thomas J. DeLong, Sarah Thorp suggests that, Donaldson Jenrette 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.
Opportunities Jill Greenthal at Donaldson, Lufkin & Jenrette: The TCI/AT&T Deal (B) | 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 Jill Greenthal at Donaldson, Lufkin & Jenrette: The TCI/AT&T Deal (B) are -
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 Donaldson Jenrette 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.
Low interest rates
– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Donaldson Jenrette 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.
Learning at scale
– Online learning technologies has now opened space for Donaldson Jenrette 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.
Lowering marketing communication costs
– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Donaldson Jenrette 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.
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. Donaldson Jenrette can tie-up with other value chain partners to explore new opportunities regarding meeting customer demands and building a rewarding and engaging relationship.
Buying journey improvements
– Donaldson Jenrette can improve the customer journey of consumers in the industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. Jill Greenthal at Donaldson, Lufkin & Jenrette: The TCI/AT&T Deal (B) 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 Donaldson Jenrette 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 Donaldson Jenrette 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. Donaldson Jenrette can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– Donaldson Jenrette 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 Jill Greenthal at Donaldson, Lufkin & Jenrette: The TCI/AT&T Deal (B) - to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Donaldson Jenrette to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
Leveraging digital technologies
– Donaldson Jenrette 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.
Reforming the budgeting process
- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects Donaldson Jenrette can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.
Better consumer reach
– The expansion of the 5G network will help Donaldson Jenrette to increase its market reach. Donaldson Jenrette 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 Donaldson Jenrette has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Donaldson Jenrette to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the Jill Greenthal at Donaldson, Lufkin & Jenrette: The TCI/AT&T Deal (B) case study. Donaldson Jenrette can build new products and services such as - data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
Threats Jill Greenthal at Donaldson, Lufkin & Jenrette: The TCI/AT&T Deal (B) External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Jill Greenthal at Donaldson, Lufkin & Jenrette: The TCI/AT&T Deal (B) are -
High dependence on third party suppliers
– Donaldson Jenrette 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.
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. Donaldson Jenrette 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.
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.
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Donaldson Jenrette 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.
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Donaldson Jenrette 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.
Increasing wage structure of Donaldson Jenrette
– 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 Donaldson Jenrette.
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. Donaldson Jenrette needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Leadership & Managing People industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
Environmental challenges
– Donaldson Jenrette 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. Donaldson Jenrette can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Leadership & Managing People industry.
Regulatory challenges
– Donaldson Jenrette 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, Donaldson Jenrette 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 Jill Greenthal at Donaldson, Lufkin & Jenrette: The TCI/AT&T Deal (B) .
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 Donaldson Jenrette in the Leadership & Managing People sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Donaldson Jenrette is facing in Leadership & Managing People sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, 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.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Jill Greenthal at Donaldson, Lufkin & Jenrette: The TCI/AT&T Deal (B) 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 Jill Greenthal at Donaldson, Lufkin & Jenrette: The TCI/AT&T Deal (B) 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 Jill Greenthal at Donaldson, Lufkin & Jenrette: The TCI/AT&T Deal (B) 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 Jill Greenthal at Donaldson, Lufkin & Jenrette: The TCI/AT&T Deal (B) 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 Jill Greenthal at Donaldson, Lufkin & Jenrette: The TCI/AT&T Deal (B) 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 Donaldson Jenrette needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.