Analyzing Performance in Service Organizations SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Leadership & Managing People
Strategy / MBA Resources
Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of Analyzing Performance in Service Organizations
This is an MIT Sloan Management Review article. Just as sports teams have increasingly relied on rigorous quantitative analyses, so have many businesses. In particular, a growing number of service organizations have been investigating the use of a sophisticated linear programming technique called DEA, or data envelopment analysis. (In this article, the authors use the term "balanced benchmarking"to denote DEA.) The technique enables companies to benchmark and locate best practices that are not visible through other commonly used management methodologies. Today, balanced benchmarking can be used by anyone with Microsoft Excel, but it was not always so easy. When it was first introduced in the 1980s, balanced benchmarking was an academic tool for measuring and managing relative efficiency of peer organizations. Balanced benchmarking simultaneously considers the multiple resources used to generate multiple services, along with the quality of the services provided. It also provides managers with a sophisticated mechanism to assess the performance of different service providers -comparing, for example, the London and Tokyo offices of a global advertising agency -by going well beyond crude metrics and ratios such as profitability and account billings per employee. A company can identify its least efficient offices or business units, and it can assess the magnitude of the inefficiency and investigate potential paths for improvement. Moreover, executives can study the top-performing units, identify the best practices and transfer that valuable knowledge throughout the organization. Lastly, balanced benchmarking enables companies to test their assumptions, particularly before implementing initiatives that might inadvertently be counterproductive.
Swot Analysis of "Analyzing Performance in Service Organizations" written by H. David Sherman, Joe Zhu includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Benchmarking Balanced facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Analyzing Performance in Service Organizations case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, and Leadership & Managing People.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Analyzing Performance in Service Organizations casestudy better are - – technology disruption, increasing inequality as vast percentage of new income is going to the top 1%, talent flight as more people leaving formal jobs, supply chains are disrupted by pandemic , there is increasing trade war between United States & China, increasing commodity prices, digital marketing is dominated by two big players Facebook and Google,
increasing transportation and logistics costs, competitive advantages are harder to sustain because of technology dispersion, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Analyzing Performance in Service Organizations
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Analyzing Performance in Service Organizations case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Benchmarking Balanced, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Benchmarking Balanced 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 Analyzing Performance in Service Organizations can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Analyzing Performance in Service Organizations case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Benchmarking Balanced
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 Benchmarking Balanced
Strengths Analyzing Performance in Service Organizations | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Benchmarking Balanced in Analyzing Performance in Service Organizations Harvard Business Review case study are -
Highly skilled collaborators
– Benchmarking Balanced 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 Analyzing Performance in Service Organizations HBR case study have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
Learning organization
- Benchmarking Balanced 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 Benchmarking Balanced is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders in Analyzing Performance in Service Organizations Harvard Business Review case study emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
Successful track record of launching new products
– Benchmarking Balanced has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Benchmarking Balanced 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.
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of Benchmarking Balanced in the sector have low bargaining power. Analyzing Performance in Service Organizations has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Benchmarking Balanced to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
Cross disciplinary teams
– Horizontal connected teams at the Benchmarking Balanced 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
– Benchmarking Balanced is one of the leading recruiters in the industry. Managers in the Analyzing Performance in Service Organizations are in a position to attract the best talent available. The firm has a robust talent identification program that helps in identifying the brightest.
Effective Research and Development (R&D)
– Benchmarking Balanced 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 Analyzing Performance in Service Organizations - staying ahead in the industry in terms of – new product launches, superior customer experience, highly competitive pricing strategies, and great returns to the shareholders.
Ability to lead change in Leadership & Managing People field
– Benchmarking Balanced 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 Benchmarking Balanced in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.
Strong track record of project management
– Benchmarking Balanced is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.
Organizational Resilience of Benchmarking Balanced
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing that Benchmarking Balanced does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Leadership & Managing People industry
– Analyzing Performance in Service Organizations firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Benchmarking Balanced to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Leadership & Managing People industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Benchmarking Balanced to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Superior customer experience
– The customer experience strategy of Benchmarking Balanced in the segment is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.
Weaknesses Analyzing Performance in Service Organizations | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Analyzing Performance in Service Organizations are -
Need for greater diversity
– Benchmarking Balanced 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.
High cash cycle compare to competitors
Benchmarking Balanced 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.
Capital Spending Reduction
– Even during the low interest decade, Benchmarking Balanced 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 strategic competitive environment developments
– As Analyzing Performance in Service Organizations HBR case study mentions - Benchmarking Balanced 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.
Interest costs
– Compare to the competition, Benchmarking Balanced 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.
Low market penetration in new markets
– Outside its home market of Benchmarking Balanced, firm in the HBR case study Analyzing Performance in Service Organizations needs to spend more promotional, marketing, and advertising efforts to penetrate international markets.
Workers concerns about automation
– As automation is fast increasing in the segment, Benchmarking Balanced 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 operating costs
– Compare to the competitors, firm in the HBR case study Analyzing Performance in Service Organizations 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 Benchmarking Balanced 's lucrative customers.
Lack of clear differentiation of Benchmarking Balanced products
– To increase the profitability and margins on the products, Benchmarking Balanced needs to provide more differentiated products than what it is currently offering in the marketplace.
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 Benchmarking Balanced supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes mentioned in the HBR case study - Analyzing Performance in Service Organizations, it is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left Benchmarking Balanced vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.
High bargaining power of channel partners
– Because of the regulatory requirements, H. David Sherman, Joe Zhu suggests that, Benchmarking Balanced 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 Analyzing Performance in Service Organizations | 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 Analyzing Performance in Service Organizations are -
Better consumer reach
– The expansion of the 5G network will help Benchmarking Balanced to increase its market reach. Benchmarking Balanced 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.
Buying journey improvements
– Benchmarking Balanced can improve the customer journey of consumers in the industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. Analyzing Performance in Service Organizations 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.
Redefining models of collaboration and team work
– As explained in the weaknesses section, Benchmarking Balanced is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. Analyzing Performance in Service Organizations 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.
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 Benchmarking Balanced in the consumer business. Now Benchmarking Balanced can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.
Low interest rates
– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Benchmarking Balanced 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.
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– Benchmarking Balanced 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 Analyzing Performance in Service Organizations - to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Benchmarking Balanced to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
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. Benchmarking Balanced 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. Benchmarking Balanced 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.
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Benchmarking Balanced has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Benchmarking Balanced to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the Analyzing Performance in Service Organizations case study. Benchmarking Balanced can build new products and services such as - data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
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. Benchmarking Balanced can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.
Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains
– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Benchmarking Balanced 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, Analyzing Performance in Service Organizations, to buy more products closer to the markets, and it can leverage its size and influence to get better deal from the local markets.
Learning at scale
– Online learning technologies has now opened space for Benchmarking Balanced 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.
Manufacturing automation
– Benchmarking Balanced 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.
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 Benchmarking Balanced 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.
Threats Analyzing Performance in Service Organizations External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Analyzing Performance in Service Organizations are -
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Benchmarking Balanced can face lack of demand in the market place because of Fed actions to reduce inflation. This can lead to sluggish growth in the economy, lower demands, lower investments, higher borrowing costs, and consolidation in the field.
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Benchmarking Balanced is facing in Leadership & Managing People sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.
Consumer confidence and its impact on Benchmarking Balanced 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.
Increasing wage structure of Benchmarking Balanced
– 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 Benchmarking Balanced.
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Benchmarking Balanced has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Leadership & Managing People industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Benchmarking Balanced 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.
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry in the industry are lowering. It can presents Benchmarking Balanced with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the sector.
High dependence on third party suppliers
– Benchmarking Balanced 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.
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 Benchmarking Balanced.
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, as highlighted in case study Analyzing Performance in Service Organizations, Benchmarking Balanced 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 .
Environmental challenges
– Benchmarking Balanced 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. Benchmarking Balanced can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Leadership & Managing People industry.
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 Benchmarking Balanced in the Leadership & Managing People sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Benchmarking Balanced 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 Analyzing Performance in Service Organizations .
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. Benchmarking Balanced needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Leadership & Managing People industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Analyzing Performance in Service Organizations 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 Analyzing Performance in Service Organizations 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 Analyzing Performance in Service Organizations 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 Analyzing Performance in Service Organizations 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 Analyzing Performance in Service Organizations 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 Benchmarking Balanced needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.