IBM and the Reinvention of High School (A): Proving the P-TECH Concept SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Leadership & Managing People
Strategy / MBA Resources
Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of IBM and the Reinvention of High School (A): Proving the P-TECH Concept
IBM's Corporate Citizenship office created a social and organizational innovation in public education through a business-school partnership. IBM's Stanley Litow was the key architect in designing Pathways in Technology Early College High School, known as P-TECH. The open enrollment high school located in New York City's Brooklyn was launched in 2011 through a joint partnership between IBM, City University of New York (CUNY), and the New York City Department of Education (NYCDOE). The innovative design incorporated career and technical education (CTE), STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math), and early college. Students could graduate with an associate degree (essentially, two free years of college) and be "first in line" for jobs at IBM. The school was already seeing remarkable results; one third of the inaugural class entered P-TECH below grade level and nearly all students were promoted to the 10th grade and more than half of them took college courses before the end of their sophomore year. This case explores the motivation behind P-TECH (a growing skills gap), how it was developed along with the challenges, and the attention generated by the unique school design.
Swot Analysis of "IBM and the Reinvention of High School (A): Proving the P-TECH Concept" written by Rosabeth Moss Kanter, Ai-Ling Jamila Malone includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that School Tech facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in IBM and the Reinvention of High School (A): Proving the P-TECH Concept case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Joint ventures, Leadership, Marketing, Technology and Leadership & Managing People.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the IBM and the Reinvention of High School (A): Proving the P-TECH Concept casestudy better are - – challanges to central banks by blockchain based private currencies, customer relationship management is fast transforming because of increasing concerns over data privacy, increasing inequality as vast percentage of new income is going to the top 1%, there is backlash against globalization, increasing transportation and logistics costs, central banks are concerned over increasing inflation, increasing commodity prices,
increasing government debt because of Covid-19 spendings, cloud computing is disrupting traditional business models, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of IBM and the Reinvention of High School (A): Proving the P-TECH Concept
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in IBM and the Reinvention of High School (A): Proving the P-TECH Concept case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the School Tech, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which School Tech 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 IBM and the Reinvention of High School (A): Proving the P-TECH Concept can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in IBM and the Reinvention of High School (A): Proving the P-TECH Concept case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of School Tech
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 School Tech
Strengths IBM and the Reinvention of High School (A): Proving the P-TECH Concept | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of School Tech in IBM and the Reinvention of High School (A): Proving the P-TECH Concept Harvard Business Review case study are -
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of School Tech in the sector have low bargaining power. IBM and the Reinvention of High School (A): Proving the P-TECH Concept has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps School Tech to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
Organizational Resilience of School Tech
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing that School Tech does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
Digital Transformation in Leadership & Managing People segment
- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For School Tech digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. School Tech 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.
Analytics focus
– School Tech 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 Rosabeth Moss Kanter, Ai-Ling Jamila Malone 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 switching costs
– The high switching costs that School Tech 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.
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Leadership & Managing People industry
– IBM and the Reinvention of High School (A): Proving the P-TECH Concept firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled School Tech to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Leadership & Managing People industry. The sustainable margins have also helped School Tech to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Learning organization
- School Tech 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 School Tech is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders in IBM and the Reinvention of High School (A): Proving the P-TECH Concept Harvard Business Review case study emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
Operational resilience
– The operational resilience strategy in the IBM and the Reinvention of High School (A): Proving the P-TECH Concept 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.
Effective Research and Development (R&D)
– School Tech 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 IBM and the Reinvention of High School (A): Proving the P-TECH Concept - staying ahead in the industry in terms of – new product launches, superior customer experience, highly competitive pricing strategies, and great returns to the shareholders.
Successful track record of launching new products
– School Tech has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. School Tech 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 brand equity
– School Tech has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled School Tech to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Highly skilled collaborators
– School Tech 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 IBM and the Reinvention of High School (A): Proving the P-TECH Concept HBR case study have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
Weaknesses IBM and the Reinvention of High School (A): Proving the P-TECH Concept | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of IBM and the Reinvention of High School (A): Proving the P-TECH Concept are -
No frontier risks strategy
– After analyzing the HBR case study IBM and the Reinvention of High School (A): Proving the P-TECH Concept, it seems that company is thinking about the frontier risks that can impact Leadership & Managing People strategy. But it has very little resources allocation to manage the risks emerging from events such as natural disasters, climate change, melting of permafrost, tacking the rise of artificial intelligence, opportunities and threats emerging from commercialization of space etc.
Slow to harness new channels of communication
– Even though competitors are using new communication channels such as Instagram, Tiktok, and Snap, School Tech is slow explore the new channels of communication. These new channels of communication mentioned in marketing section of case study IBM and the Reinvention of High School (A): Proving the P-TECH Concept can help to provide better information regarding products and services. It can also build an online community to further reach out to potential customers.
Slow decision making process
– As mentioned earlier in the report, School Tech 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. School Tech 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.
High bargaining power of channel partners
– Because of the regulatory requirements, Rosabeth Moss Kanter, Ai-Ling Jamila Malone suggests that, School Tech 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 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 School Tech supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes mentioned in the HBR case study - IBM and the Reinvention of High School (A): Proving the P-TECH Concept, it is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left School Tech vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.
Slow to strategic competitive environment developments
– As IBM and the Reinvention of High School (A): Proving the P-TECH Concept HBR case study mentions - School Tech 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.
Ability to respond to the competition
– As the decision making is very deliberative, highlighted in the case study IBM and the Reinvention of High School (A): Proving the P-TECH Concept, in the dynamic environment School Tech has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. School Tech has reasonably good record with similar level competitors but it has struggled with new entrants taking away niches of its business.
Need for greater diversity
– School Tech 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 School Tech is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Leadership & Managing People segment. School Tech needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help School Tech to focus more on services rather than just following the product oriented approach.
Compensation and incentives
– The revenue per employee as mentioned in the HBR case study IBM and the Reinvention of High School (A): Proving the P-TECH Concept, is just above the industry average. School Tech 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.
Low market penetration in new markets
– Outside its home market of School Tech, firm in the HBR case study IBM and the Reinvention of High School (A): Proving the P-TECH Concept needs to spend more promotional, marketing, and advertising efforts to penetrate international markets.
Opportunities IBM and the Reinvention of High School (A): Proving the P-TECH Concept | 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 IBM and the Reinvention of High School (A): Proving the P-TECH Concept are -
Buying journey improvements
– School Tech can improve the customer journey of consumers in the industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. IBM and the Reinvention of High School (A): Proving the P-TECH Concept 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.
Increase in government spending
– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, School Tech can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that School Tech operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Leadership & Managing People sector.
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 School Tech in the consumer business. Now School Tech can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.
Redefining models of collaboration and team work
– As explained in the weaknesses section, School Tech is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. IBM and the Reinvention of High School (A): Proving the P-TECH Concept 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.
Loyalty marketing
– School Tech 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.
Building a culture of innovation
– managers at School Tech 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
– School Tech 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.
Lowering marketing communication costs
– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for School Tech 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.
Reforming the budgeting process
- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects School Tech can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of School Tech has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help School Tech to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the IBM and the Reinvention of High School (A): Proving the P-TECH Concept case study. School Tech can build new products and services such as - data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, 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. School Tech can tie-up with other value chain partners to explore new opportunities regarding meeting customer demands and building a rewarding and engaging relationship.
Low interest rates
– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, School Tech 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.
Developing new processes and practices
– School Tech 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.
Threats IBM and the Reinvention of High School (A): Proving the P-TECH Concept External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study IBM and the Reinvention of High School (A): Proving the P-TECH Concept are -
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– School Tech has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Leadership & Managing People industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, School Tech 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 School Tech.
High dependence on third party suppliers
– School Tech high dependence on third party suppliers can disrupt its processes and delivery mechanism. For example -the current troubles of car makers because of chip shortage is because the chip companies started producing chips for electronic companies rather than car manufacturers.
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, School Tech 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 IBM and the Reinvention of High School (A): Proving the P-TECH Concept .
Environmental challenges
– School Tech 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. School Tech can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Leadership & Managing People industry.
Increasing wage structure of School Tech
– 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 School Tech.
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 School Tech in the Leadership & Managing People sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
Backlash against dominant players
– US Congress and other legislative arms of the government are getting tough on big business especially technology companies. The digital arm of School Tech business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry in the industry are lowering. It can presents School Tech 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. School Tech can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for School Tech 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.
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.
Consumer confidence and its impact on School Tech 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.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of IBM and the Reinvention of High School (A): Proving the P-TECH Concept 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 IBM and the Reinvention of High School (A): Proving the P-TECH Concept 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 IBM and the Reinvention of High School (A): Proving the P-TECH Concept 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 IBM and the Reinvention of High School (A): Proving the P-TECH Concept 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 IBM and the Reinvention of High School (A): Proving the P-TECH Concept 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 School Tech needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.