Maggie Lena Walker and the Independent Order of St. Luke SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Leadership & Managing People
Strategy / MBA Resources
Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of Maggie Lena Walker and the Independent Order of St. Luke
As America struggled to regain its balance in the aftermath of the American Civil War, Maggie Lena Walker did her best to actively effect change by finding solutions to the social and economic problems facing blacks and especially black women. Taking charge of the flailing Independent Order of St. Luke in 1899, Walker transformed the organization into a vibrant and thriving economic engine for blacks. With a vision of economic self-sufficiency, she established a newspaper in 1902, chartered the St. Luke Penny Savings Bank in 1903 becoming the first woman bank president in the United States, and opened a store run by and for blacks. Throughout her life, Walker persevered and thrived despite personal, social and professional obstacles.
Swot Analysis of "Maggie Lena Walker and the Independent Order of St. Luke" written by Anthony J. Mayo, Shandi O. Smith includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Walker Blacks facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Maggie Lena Walker and the Independent Order of St. Luke case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Change management, Data, Entrepreneurship, Gender, Leadership, Organizational culture, Public relations, Race, Social responsibility and Leadership & Managing People.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Maggie Lena Walker and the Independent Order of St. Luke casestudy better are - – wage bills are increasing, central banks are concerned over increasing inflation, cloud computing is disrupting traditional business models, increasing inequality as vast percentage of new income is going to the top 1%, digital marketing is dominated by two big players Facebook and Google, supply chains are disrupted by pandemic , banking and financial system is disrupted by Bitcoin and other crypto currencies,
increasing commodity prices, increasing household debt because of falling income levels, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Maggie Lena Walker and the Independent Order of St. Luke
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Maggie Lena Walker and the Independent Order of St. Luke case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Walker Blacks, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Walker Blacks 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 Maggie Lena Walker and the Independent Order of St. Luke can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Maggie Lena Walker and the Independent Order of St. Luke case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Walker Blacks
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 Walker Blacks
Strengths Maggie Lena Walker and the Independent Order of St. Luke | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Walker Blacks in Maggie Lena Walker and the Independent Order of St. Luke Harvard Business Review case study are -
Analytics focus
– Walker Blacks 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 Anthony J. Mayo, Shandi O. Smith 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.
High brand equity
– Walker Blacks has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Walker Blacks to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Training and development
– Walker Blacks has one of the best training and development program in the industry. The effectiveness of the training programs can be measured in Maggie Lena Walker and the Independent Order of St. Luke 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.
Innovation driven organization
– Walker Blacks is one of the most innovative firm in sector. Manager in Maggie Lena Walker and the Independent Order of St. Luke Harvard Business Review case study can use Clayton Christensen Disruptive Innovation strategies to further increase the scale of innovtions in the organization.
Superior customer experience
– The customer experience strategy of Walker Blacks in the segment is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.
Diverse revenue streams
– Walker Blacks is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided firm in Maggie Lena Walker and the Independent Order of St. Luke 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.
Strong track record of project management
– Walker Blacks is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.
Successful track record of launching new products
– Walker Blacks has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Walker Blacks 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.
High switching costs
– The high switching costs that Walker Blacks 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.
Operational resilience
– The operational resilience strategy in the Maggie Lena Walker and the Independent Order of St. Luke 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
– Walker Blacks 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 Walker Blacks in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.
Ability to recruit top talent
– Walker Blacks is one of the leading recruiters in the industry. Managers in the Maggie Lena Walker and the Independent Order of St. Luke are in a position to attract the best talent available. The firm has a robust talent identification program that helps in identifying the brightest.
Weaknesses Maggie Lena Walker and the Independent Order of St. Luke | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Maggie Lena Walker and the Independent Order of St. Luke are -
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 Walker Blacks supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes mentioned in the HBR case study - Maggie Lena Walker and the Independent Order of St. Luke, it is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left Walker Blacks vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.
Aligning sales with marketing
– It come across in the case study Maggie Lena Walker and the Independent Order of St. Luke 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 Maggie Lena Walker and the Independent Order of St. Luke can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Walker Blacks is planning to shift buying processes online.
Slow decision making process
– As mentioned earlier in the report, Walker Blacks 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. Walker Blacks 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 Maggie Lena Walker and the Independent Order of St. Luke, in the dynamic environment Walker Blacks has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. Walker Blacks has reasonably good record with similar level competitors but it has struggled with new entrants taking away niches of its business.
High cash cycle compare to competitors
Walker Blacks 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.
Low market penetration in new markets
– Outside its home market of Walker Blacks, firm in the HBR case study Maggie Lena Walker and the Independent Order of St. Luke needs to spend more promotional, marketing, and advertising efforts to penetrate international markets.
Slow to strategic competitive environment developments
– As Maggie Lena Walker and the Independent Order of St. Luke HBR case study mentions - Walker Blacks 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.
Increasing silos among functional specialists
– The organizational structure of Walker Blacks is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Leadership & Managing People segment. Walker Blacks needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Walker Blacks to focus more on services rather than just following the product oriented approach.
High bargaining power of channel partners
– Because of the regulatory requirements, Anthony J. Mayo, Shandi O. Smith suggests that, Walker Blacks 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.
Slow to harness new channels of communication
– Even though competitors are using new communication channels such as Instagram, Tiktok, and Snap, Walker Blacks is slow explore the new channels of communication. These new channels of communication mentioned in marketing section of case study Maggie Lena Walker and the Independent Order of St. Luke 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 Maggie Lena Walker and the Independent Order of St. Luke, is just above the industry average. Walker Blacks 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.
Opportunities Maggie Lena Walker and the Independent Order of St. Luke | 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 Maggie Lena Walker and the Independent Order of St. Luke are -
Learning at scale
– Online learning technologies has now opened space for Walker Blacks 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 Walker Blacks 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.
Redefining models of collaboration and team work
– As explained in the weaknesses section, Walker Blacks is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. Maggie Lena Walker and the Independent Order of St. Luke 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.
Leveraging digital technologies
– Walker Blacks 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.
Developing new processes and practices
– Walker Blacks 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.
Better consumer reach
– The expansion of the 5G network will help Walker Blacks to increase its market reach. Walker Blacks 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 Walker Blacks has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Walker Blacks to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the Maggie Lena Walker and the Independent Order of St. Luke case study. Walker Blacks can build new products and services such as - data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities
– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Walker Blacks 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 Walker Blacks to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
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 Walker Blacks in the consumer business. Now Walker Blacks can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.
Reforming the budgeting process
- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects Walker Blacks can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.
Loyalty marketing
– Walker Blacks 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, Walker Blacks can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Walker Blacks operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Leadership & Managing People sector.
Changes in consumer behavior post Covid-19
– Consumer behavior has changed in the Leadership & Managing People industry because of Covid-19 restrictions. Some of this behavior will stay once things get back to normal. Walker Blacks can take advantage of these changes in consumer behavior to build a far more efficient business model. For example consumer regular ordering of products can reduce both last mile delivery costs and market penetration costs. Walker Blacks can further use this consumer data to build better customer loyalty, provide better products and service collection, and improve the value proposition in inflationary times.
Threats Maggie Lena Walker and the Independent Order of St. Luke External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Maggie Lena Walker and the Independent Order of St. Luke are -
Environmental challenges
– Walker Blacks 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. Walker Blacks can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Leadership & Managing People industry.
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. Walker Blacks 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
– Walker Blacks 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.
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 Walker Blacks in the Leadership & Managing People sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
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 Walker Blacks 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 Walker Blacks
– 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 Walker Blacks.
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 Maggie Lena Walker and the Independent Order of St. Luke, Walker Blacks 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 .
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 Walker Blacks.
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry in the industry are lowering. It can presents Walker Blacks with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the sector.
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. Walker Blacks can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Walker Blacks has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Leadership & Managing People industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Walker Blacks 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 Maggie Lena Walker and the Independent Order of St. Luke 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 Maggie Lena Walker and the Independent Order of St. Luke 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 Maggie Lena Walker and the Independent Order of St. Luke 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 Maggie Lena Walker and the Independent Order of St. Luke 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 Maggie Lena Walker and the Independent Order of St. Luke 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 Walker Blacks needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.