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IBM and the Reinvention of High School (A): Proving the P-TECH Concept SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis

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.

Authors :: Rosabeth Moss Kanter, Ai-Ling Jamila Malone

Topics :: Leadership & Managing People

Tags :: Joint ventures, Leadership, Marketing, Technology, SWOT Analysis, SWOT Matrix, TOWS, Weighted SWOT Analysis

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 - – increasing transportation and logistics costs, increasing government debt because of Covid-19 spendings, wage bills are increasing, challanges to central banks by blockchain based private currencies, there is increasing trade war between United States & China, competitive advantages are harder to sustain because of technology dispersion, cloud computing is disrupting traditional business models, banking and financial system is disrupted by Bitcoin and other crypto currencies, technology disruption, etc



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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 -

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.

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.

Superior customer experience

– The customer experience strategy of School Tech in the segment is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.

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.

Diverse revenue streams

– School Tech is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided firm in IBM and the Reinvention of High School (A): Proving the P-TECH Concept 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.

Training and development

– School Tech has one of the best training and development program in the industry. The effectiveness of the training programs can be measured in IBM and the Reinvention of High School (A): Proving the P-TECH Concept 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.

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.

Cross disciplinary teams

– Horizontal connected teams at the School Tech 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.

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.

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.

Innovation driven organization

– School Tech is one of the most innovative firm in sector. Manager in IBM and the Reinvention of High School (A): Proving the P-TECH Concept Harvard Business Review case study can use Clayton Christensen Disruptive Innovation strategies to further increase the scale of innovtions in the organization.

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.






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 -

Lack of clear differentiation of School Tech products

– To increase the profitability and margins on the products, School Tech needs to provide more differentiated products than what it is currently offering in the marketplace.

High dependence on star products

– The top 2 products and services of the firm as mentioned in the IBM and the Reinvention of High School (A): Proving the P-TECH Concept 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 School Tech has relatively successful track record of launching new products.

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.

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.

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.

Skills based hiring

– The stress on hiring functional specialists at School Tech 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.

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.

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.

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.

Workers concerns about automation

– As automation is fast increasing in the segment, School Tech 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.

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.




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 -

Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities

– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for School Tech 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 School Tech to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.

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.

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.

Using analytics as competitive advantage

– School Tech 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 IBM and the Reinvention of High School (A): Proving the P-TECH Concept - to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help School Tech to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.

Better consumer reach

– The expansion of the 5G network will help School Tech to increase its market reach. School Tech 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.

Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains

– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, School Tech 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, IBM and the Reinvention of High School (A): Proving the P-TECH Concept, to buy more products closer to the markets, and it can leverage its size and influence to get better deal from the local markets.

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. School Tech 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. School Tech 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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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 School Tech 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.

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.




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 -

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.

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.

Regulatory challenges

– School Tech needs to prepare for regulatory challenges as consumer protection groups and other pressure groups are vigorously advocating for more regulations on big business - to reduce inequality, to create a level playing field, to product data privacy and consumer privacy, to reduce the influence of big money on democratic institutions, etc. This can lead to significant changes in the Leadership & Managing People industry regulations.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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

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 .

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.

Instability in the European markets

– European Union markets are facing three big challenges post Covid – expanded balance sheets, Brexit related business disruption, and aggressive Russia looking to distract the existing security mechanism. School Tech will face different problems in different parts of Europe. For example it will face inflationary pressures in UK, France, and Germany, balance sheet expansion and demand challenges in Southern European countries, and geopolitical instability in the Eastern Europe.

Learning curve for new practices

– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, as highlighted in case study IBM and the Reinvention of High School (A): Proving the P-TECH Concept, School Tech 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 .

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.




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.



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