Ganesh Natarajan: Leading Innovation and Organizational Change at Zensar (A) SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Leadership & Managing People
Strategy / MBA Resources
Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of Ganesh Natarajan: Leading Innovation and Organizational Change at Zensar (A)
In 2005, Ganesh Natarajan, CEO of Zensar, a Pune, India-based software company, and his senior management team are considering consolidating staff and resources at the firms. Natarajan proposes an additional, possible controversial business unit to the proposed new structure. The additional unit would explore new markets for the firm's promising innovation-Solution BluePrint (SBP). While he knew that some on his team would resist his proposal, he was eager to get the new technology into the field, and felt he had the right manager to lead the proposed group. Natarajan felt sure a group dedicated to SBP led by one of the firm's most respected technologists would help spur adoption.
Swot Analysis of "Ganesh Natarajan: Leading Innovation and Organizational Change at Zensar (A)" written by Michael L. Tushman, David Kiron includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Natarajan Sbp facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Ganesh Natarajan: Leading Innovation and Organizational Change at Zensar (A) case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Innovation, IT, Leadership, Organizational culture, Organizational structure and Leadership & Managing People.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Ganesh Natarajan: Leading Innovation and Organizational Change at Zensar (A) casestudy better are - – customer relationship management is fast transforming because of increasing concerns over data privacy, digital marketing is dominated by two big players Facebook and Google, challanges to central banks by blockchain based private currencies, increasing government debt because of Covid-19 spendings, technology disruption, increasing inequality as vast percentage of new income is going to the top 1%, banking and financial system is disrupted by Bitcoin and other crypto currencies,
increasing household debt because of falling income levels, competitive advantages are harder to sustain because of technology dispersion, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Ganesh Natarajan: Leading Innovation and Organizational Change at Zensar (A)
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Ganesh Natarajan: Leading Innovation and Organizational Change at Zensar (A) case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Natarajan Sbp, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Natarajan Sbp 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 Ganesh Natarajan: Leading Innovation and Organizational Change at Zensar (A) can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Ganesh Natarajan: Leading Innovation and Organizational Change at Zensar (A) case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Natarajan Sbp
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 Natarajan Sbp
Strengths Ganesh Natarajan: Leading Innovation and Organizational Change at Zensar (A) | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Natarajan Sbp in Ganesh Natarajan: Leading Innovation and Organizational Change at Zensar (A) Harvard Business Review case study are -
High brand equity
– Natarajan Sbp has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Natarajan Sbp to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Successful track record of launching new products
– Natarajan Sbp has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Natarajan Sbp 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.
Innovation driven organization
– Natarajan Sbp is one of the most innovative firm in sector. Manager in Ganesh Natarajan: Leading Innovation and Organizational Change at Zensar (A) Harvard Business Review case study can use Clayton Christensen Disruptive Innovation strategies to further increase the scale of innovtions in the organization.
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of Natarajan Sbp in the sector have low bargaining power. Ganesh Natarajan: Leading Innovation and Organizational Change at Zensar (A) has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Natarajan Sbp to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
Ability to recruit top talent
– Natarajan Sbp is one of the leading recruiters in the industry. Managers in the Ganesh Natarajan: Leading Innovation and Organizational Change at Zensar (A) are in a position to attract the best talent available. The firm has a robust talent identification program that helps in identifying the brightest.
Learning organization
- Natarajan Sbp 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 Natarajan Sbp is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders in Ganesh Natarajan: Leading Innovation and Organizational Change at Zensar (A) Harvard Business Review case study emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
Highly skilled collaborators
– Natarajan Sbp 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 Ganesh Natarajan: Leading Innovation and Organizational Change at Zensar (A) HBR case study have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
Operational resilience
– The operational resilience strategy in the Ganesh Natarajan: Leading Innovation and Organizational Change at Zensar (A) 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.
Digital Transformation in Leadership & Managing People segment
- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For Natarajan Sbp digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Natarajan Sbp 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 Natarajan Sbp 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.
Effective Research and Development (R&D)
– Natarajan Sbp 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 Ganesh Natarajan: Leading Innovation and Organizational Change at Zensar (A) - staying ahead in the industry in terms of – new product launches, superior customer experience, highly competitive pricing strategies, and great returns to the shareholders.
Organizational Resilience of Natarajan Sbp
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing that Natarajan Sbp does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
Weaknesses Ganesh Natarajan: Leading Innovation and Organizational Change at Zensar (A) | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Ganesh Natarajan: Leading Innovation and Organizational Change at Zensar (A) are -
Increasing silos among functional specialists
– The organizational structure of Natarajan Sbp is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Leadership & Managing People segment. Natarajan Sbp needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Natarajan Sbp to focus more on services rather than just following the product oriented approach.
Lack of clear differentiation of Natarajan Sbp products
– To increase the profitability and margins on the products, Natarajan Sbp needs to provide more differentiated products than what it is currently offering in the marketplace.
Slow to harness new channels of communication
– Even though competitors are using new communication channels such as Instagram, Tiktok, and Snap, Natarajan Sbp is slow explore the new channels of communication. These new channels of communication mentioned in marketing section of case study Ganesh Natarajan: Leading Innovation and Organizational Change at Zensar (A) can help to provide better information regarding products and services. It can also build an online community to further reach out to potential customers.
High cash cycle compare to competitors
Natarajan Sbp 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.
Workers concerns about automation
– As automation is fast increasing in the segment, Natarajan Sbp 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.
Products dominated business model
– Even though Natarajan Sbp has some of the most successful products in the industry, this business model has made each new product launch extremely critical for continuous financial growth of the organization. firm in the HBR case study - Ganesh Natarajan: Leading Innovation and Organizational Change at Zensar (A) should strive to include more intangible value offerings along with its core products and services.
High operating costs
– Compare to the competitors, firm in the HBR case study Ganesh Natarajan: Leading Innovation and Organizational Change at Zensar (A) 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 Natarajan Sbp 's lucrative customers.
High dependence on star products
– The top 2 products and services of the firm as mentioned in the Ganesh Natarajan: Leading Innovation and Organizational Change at Zensar (A) 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 Natarajan Sbp has relatively successful track record of launching new products.
Need for greater diversity
– Natarajan Sbp 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.
Compensation and incentives
– The revenue per employee as mentioned in the HBR case study Ganesh Natarajan: Leading Innovation and Organizational Change at Zensar (A), is just above the industry average. Natarajan Sbp 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.
Aligning sales with marketing
– It come across in the case study Ganesh Natarajan: Leading Innovation and Organizational Change at Zensar (A) 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 Ganesh Natarajan: Leading Innovation and Organizational Change at Zensar (A) can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Natarajan Sbp is planning to shift buying processes online.
Opportunities Ganesh Natarajan: Leading Innovation and Organizational Change at Zensar (A) | 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 Ganesh Natarajan: Leading Innovation and Organizational Change at Zensar (A) are -
Increase in government spending
– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Natarajan Sbp can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Natarajan Sbp operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Leadership & Managing People sector.
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. Natarajan Sbp can tie-up with other value chain partners to explore new opportunities regarding meeting customer demands and building a rewarding and engaging relationship.
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. Natarajan Sbp 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. Natarajan Sbp 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.
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. Natarajan Sbp can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.
Redefining models of collaboration and team work
– As explained in the weaknesses section, Natarajan Sbp is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. Ganesh Natarajan: Leading Innovation and Organizational Change at Zensar (A) 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 Natarajan Sbp in the consumer business. Now Natarajan Sbp can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– Natarajan Sbp 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 Ganesh Natarajan: Leading Innovation and Organizational Change at Zensar (A) - to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Natarajan Sbp to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
Building a culture of innovation
– managers at Natarajan Sbp 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.
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Natarajan Sbp has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Natarajan Sbp to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the Ganesh Natarajan: Leading Innovation and Organizational Change at Zensar (A) case study. Natarajan Sbp 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 Natarajan Sbp 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 Natarajan Sbp to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
Lowering marketing communication costs
– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Natarajan Sbp 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.
Developing new processes and practices
– Natarajan Sbp 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 Natarajan Sbp 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 Ganesh Natarajan: Leading Innovation and Organizational Change at Zensar (A) External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Ganesh Natarajan: Leading Innovation and Organizational Change at Zensar (A) 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 Natarajan Sbp.
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Natarajan Sbp is facing in Leadership & Managing People sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Natarajan Sbp 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.
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry in the industry are lowering. It can presents Natarajan Sbp with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the sector.
Increasing wage structure of Natarajan Sbp
– 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 Natarajan Sbp.
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Natarajan Sbp 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.
Consumer confidence and its impact on Natarajan Sbp 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.
Environmental challenges
– Natarajan Sbp 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. Natarajan Sbp can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Leadership & Managing People industry.
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.
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.
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Natarajan Sbp has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Leadership & Managing People industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Natarajan Sbp 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.
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 Natarajan Sbp business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
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. Natarajan Sbp can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Ganesh Natarajan: Leading Innovation and Organizational Change at Zensar (A) 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 Ganesh Natarajan: Leading Innovation and Organizational Change at Zensar (A) 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 Ganesh Natarajan: Leading Innovation and Organizational Change at Zensar (A) 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 Ganesh Natarajan: Leading Innovation and Organizational Change at Zensar (A) 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 Ganesh Natarajan: Leading Innovation and Organizational Change at Zensar (A) 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 Natarajan Sbp needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.