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Essence of Professionalism: Managing Conflict of Interest SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis

Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution

Case Study Description of Essence of Professionalism: Managing Conflict of Interest


This case argues that central to being a professional is the pledge to manage conflicts of interest such that client interest is placed foremost.

Authors :: Ashish Nanda

Topics :: Leadership & Managing People

Tags :: Ethics, Regulation, SWOT Analysis, SWOT Matrix, TOWS, Weighted SWOT Analysis

Swot Analysis of "Essence of Professionalism: Managing Conflict of Interest" written by Ashish Nanda includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Pledge Professionalism facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Essence of Professionalism: Managing Conflict of Interest case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Ethics, Regulation and Leadership & Managing People.


Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Essence of Professionalism: Managing Conflict of Interest casestudy better are - – cloud computing is disrupting traditional business models, competitive advantages are harder to sustain because of technology dispersion, increasing transportation and logistics costs, increasing household debt because of falling income levels, increasing energy prices, there is backlash against globalization, increasing inequality as vast percentage of new income is going to the top 1%, supply chains are disrupted by pandemic , talent flight as more people leaving formal jobs, etc



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Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Essence of Professionalism: Managing Conflict of Interest


SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Essence of Professionalism: Managing Conflict of Interest case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Pledge Professionalism, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Pledge Professionalism 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 Essence of Professionalism: Managing Conflict of Interest can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Essence of Professionalism: Managing Conflict of Interest case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Pledge Professionalism
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 Pledge Professionalism




Strengths Essence of Professionalism: Managing Conflict of Interest | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis

The strengths of Pledge Professionalism in Essence of Professionalism: Managing Conflict of Interest Harvard Business Review case study are -

Digital Transformation in Leadership & Managing People segment

- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For Pledge Professionalism digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Pledge Professionalism has successfully integrated the four key components of digital transformation – digital integration in processes, digital integration in marketing and customer relationship management, digital integration into the value chain, and using technology to explore new products and market opportunities.

Innovation driven organization

– Pledge Professionalism is one of the most innovative firm in sector. Manager in Essence of Professionalism: Managing Conflict of Interest Harvard Business Review case study can use Clayton Christensen Disruptive Innovation strategies to further increase the scale of innovtions in the organization.

Training and development

– Pledge Professionalism has one of the best training and development program in the industry. The effectiveness of the training programs can be measured in Essence of Professionalism: Managing Conflict of Interest 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

– Pledge Professionalism 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 Pledge Professionalism in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.

Cross disciplinary teams

– Horizontal connected teams at the Pledge Professionalism 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.

Ability to recruit top talent

– Pledge Professionalism is one of the leading recruiters in the industry. Managers in the Essence of Professionalism: Managing Conflict of Interest are in a position to attract the best talent available. The firm has a robust talent identification program that helps in identifying the brightest.

Learning organization

- Pledge Professionalism 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 Pledge Professionalism is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders in Essence of Professionalism: Managing Conflict of Interest Harvard Business Review case study emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.

Diverse revenue streams

– Pledge Professionalism is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided firm in Essence of Professionalism: Managing Conflict of Interest 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.

Highly skilled collaborators

– Pledge Professionalism 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 Essence of Professionalism: Managing Conflict of Interest HBR case study have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.

Organizational Resilience of Pledge Professionalism

– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing that Pledge Professionalism does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.

Operational resilience

– The operational resilience strategy in the Essence of Professionalism: Managing Conflict of Interest 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.

Low bargaining power of suppliers

– Suppliers of Pledge Professionalism in the sector have low bargaining power. Essence of Professionalism: Managing Conflict of Interest has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Pledge Professionalism to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.






Weaknesses Essence of Professionalism: Managing Conflict of Interest | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis

The weaknesses of Essence of Professionalism: Managing Conflict of Interest are -

Skills based hiring

– The stress on hiring functional specialists at Pledge Professionalism 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.

Low market penetration in new markets

– Outside its home market of Pledge Professionalism, firm in the HBR case study Essence of Professionalism: Managing Conflict of Interest needs to spend more promotional, marketing, and advertising efforts to penetrate international markets.

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 Pledge Professionalism supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes mentioned in the HBR case study - Essence of Professionalism: Managing Conflict of Interest, it is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left Pledge Professionalism vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.

High cash cycle compare to competitors

Pledge Professionalism 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.

Need for greater diversity

– Pledge Professionalism 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.

Workers concerns about automation

– As automation is fast increasing in the segment, Pledge Professionalism 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.

Interest costs

– Compare to the competition, Pledge Professionalism 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 Essence of Professionalism: Managing Conflict of Interest, it seems that the employees of Pledge Professionalism 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.

High bargaining power of channel partners

– Because of the regulatory requirements, Ashish Nanda suggests that, Pledge Professionalism 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.

High operating costs

– Compare to the competitors, firm in the HBR case study Essence of Professionalism: Managing Conflict of Interest 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 Pledge Professionalism 's lucrative customers.

High dependence on star products

– The top 2 products and services of the firm as mentioned in the Essence of Professionalism: Managing Conflict of Interest 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 Pledge Professionalism has relatively successful track record of launching new products.




Opportunities Essence of Professionalism: Managing Conflict of Interest | 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 Essence of Professionalism: Managing Conflict of Interest 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 Pledge Professionalism in the consumer business. Now Pledge Professionalism can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.

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. Pledge Professionalism can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.

Low interest rates

– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Pledge Professionalism 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.

Loyalty marketing

– Pledge Professionalism 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.

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. Pledge Professionalism can tie-up with other value chain partners to explore new opportunities regarding meeting customer demands and building a rewarding and engaging relationship.

Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains

– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Pledge Professionalism 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, Essence of Professionalism: Managing Conflict of Interest, to buy more products closer to the markets, and it can leverage its size and influence to get better deal from the local markets.

Creating value in data economy

– The success of analytics program of Pledge Professionalism has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Pledge Professionalism to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the Essence of Professionalism: Managing Conflict of Interest case study. Pledge Professionalism can build new products and services such as - data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.

Buying journey improvements

– Pledge Professionalism can improve the customer journey of consumers in the industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. Essence of Professionalism: Managing Conflict of Interest 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.

Developing new processes and practices

– Pledge Professionalism 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.

Increase in government spending

– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Pledge Professionalism can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Pledge Professionalism operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Leadership & Managing People sector.

Building a culture of innovation

– managers at Pledge Professionalism 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.

Leveraging digital technologies

– Pledge Professionalism 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.

Manufacturing automation

– Pledge Professionalism 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 Essence of Professionalism: Managing Conflict of Interest External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis


The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Essence of Professionalism: Managing Conflict of Interest are -

Consumer confidence and its impact on Pledge Professionalism 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 acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution

– Pledge Professionalism has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Leadership & Managing People industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Pledge Professionalism 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.

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 Pledge Professionalism.

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 Pledge Professionalism in the Leadership & Managing People sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.

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. Pledge Professionalism needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Leadership & Managing People industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.

High dependence on third party suppliers

– Pledge Professionalism 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.

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.

Trade war between China and United States

– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Pledge Professionalism 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.

Increasing wage structure of Pledge Professionalism

– 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 Pledge Professionalism.

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.

Learning curve for new practices

– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, as highlighted in case study Essence of Professionalism: Managing Conflict of Interest, Pledge Professionalism 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 .

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. Pledge Professionalism can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.

Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins

– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Pledge Professionalism 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 Essence of Professionalism: Managing Conflict of Interest .




Weighted SWOT Analysis of Essence of Professionalism: Managing Conflict of Interest 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 Essence of Professionalism: Managing Conflict of Interest 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 Essence of Professionalism: Managing Conflict of Interest 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 Essence of Professionalism: Managing Conflict of Interest 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 Essence of Professionalism: Managing Conflict of Interest 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 Pledge Professionalism needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.



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