Pierre Frankel in Moscow (A): Unfreezing Change SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Leadership & Managing People
Strategy / MBA Resources
Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of Pierre Frankel in Moscow (A): Unfreezing Change
A young and upcoming French executive in a global technology company is sent to Moscow as deputy managing director to turn around the Russia subsidiary. He must report to the subsidiary's managing director (a large reason for the organization's underperformance) and to corporate. In his first three months, he took steps to prepare the organization for change. Yet the lack of more tangible actions and results leaves him open to criticism from subsidiary employees and pressure from corporate executives. How can the young executive unfreeze the situation and get movement?
Swot Analysis of "Pierre Frankel in Moscow (A): Unfreezing Change" written by Rosabeth Moss Kanter, Matthew Bird includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Moscow Unfreeze facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Pierre Frankel in Moscow (A): Unfreezing Change case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Innovation, IT, Leadership development, Reorganization and Leadership & Managing People.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Pierre Frankel in Moscow (A): Unfreezing Change casestudy better are - – competitive advantages are harder to sustain because of technology dispersion, banking and financial system is disrupted by Bitcoin and other crypto currencies, wage bills are increasing, increasing inequality as vast percentage of new income is going to the top 1%, supply chains are disrupted by pandemic , increasing energy prices, central banks are concerned over increasing inflation,
there is increasing trade war between United States & China, digital marketing is dominated by two big players Facebook and Google, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Pierre Frankel in Moscow (A): Unfreezing Change
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Pierre Frankel in Moscow (A): Unfreezing Change case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Moscow Unfreeze, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Moscow Unfreeze 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 Pierre Frankel in Moscow (A): Unfreezing Change can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Pierre Frankel in Moscow (A): Unfreezing Change case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Moscow Unfreeze
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 Moscow Unfreeze
Strengths Pierre Frankel in Moscow (A): Unfreezing Change | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Moscow Unfreeze in Pierre Frankel in Moscow (A): Unfreezing Change Harvard Business Review case study are -
Cross disciplinary teams
– Horizontal connected teams at the Moscow Unfreeze 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.
Organizational Resilience of Moscow Unfreeze
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing that Moscow Unfreeze 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
– Moscow Unfreeze has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Moscow Unfreeze 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.
Training and development
– Moscow Unfreeze has one of the best training and development program in the industry. The effectiveness of the training programs can be measured in Pierre Frankel in Moscow (A): Unfreezing Change 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.
Ability to lead change in Leadership & Managing People field
– Moscow Unfreeze 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 Moscow Unfreeze in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.
High brand equity
– Moscow Unfreeze has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Moscow Unfreeze to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Analytics focus
– Moscow Unfreeze 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, Matthew Bird 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.
Superior customer experience
– The customer experience strategy of Moscow Unfreeze in the segment is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.
Diverse revenue streams
– Moscow Unfreeze is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided firm in Pierre Frankel in Moscow (A): Unfreezing Change 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.
Highly skilled collaborators
– Moscow Unfreeze 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 Pierre Frankel in Moscow (A): Unfreezing Change HBR case study have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Leadership & Managing People industry
– Pierre Frankel in Moscow (A): Unfreezing Change firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Moscow Unfreeze to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Leadership & Managing People industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Moscow Unfreeze to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Innovation driven organization
– Moscow Unfreeze is one of the most innovative firm in sector. Manager in Pierre Frankel in Moscow (A): Unfreezing Change Harvard Business Review case study can use Clayton Christensen Disruptive Innovation strategies to further increase the scale of innovtions in the organization.
Weaknesses Pierre Frankel in Moscow (A): Unfreezing Change | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Pierre Frankel in Moscow (A): Unfreezing Change are -
Employees’ incomplete understanding of strategy
– From the instances in the HBR case study Pierre Frankel in Moscow (A): Unfreezing Change, it seems that the employees of Moscow Unfreeze don’t have comprehensive understanding of the firm’s strategy. This is reflected in number of promotional campaigns over the last few years that had mixed messaging and competing priorities. Some of the strategic activities and services promoted in the promotional campaigns were not consistent with the organization’s strategy.
Slow to strategic competitive environment developments
– As Pierre Frankel in Moscow (A): Unfreezing Change HBR case study mentions - Moscow Unfreeze 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, Matthew Bird suggests that, Moscow Unfreeze is facing high bargaining power of the channel partners. So far it has not able to streamline the operations to reduce the bargaining power of the value chain partners in the industry.
Slow decision making process
– As mentioned earlier in the report, Moscow Unfreeze 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. Moscow Unfreeze 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.
Lack of clear differentiation of Moscow Unfreeze products
– To increase the profitability and margins on the products, Moscow Unfreeze needs to provide more differentiated products than what it is currently offering in the marketplace.
Aligning sales with marketing
– It come across in the case study Pierre Frankel in Moscow (A): Unfreezing Change 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 Pierre Frankel in Moscow (A): Unfreezing Change can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Moscow Unfreeze is planning to shift buying processes online.
Increasing silos among functional specialists
– The organizational structure of Moscow Unfreeze is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Leadership & Managing People segment. Moscow Unfreeze needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Moscow Unfreeze to focus more on services rather than just following the product oriented approach.
Capital Spending Reduction
– Even during the low interest decade, Moscow Unfreeze 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.
Low market penetration in new markets
– Outside its home market of Moscow Unfreeze, firm in the HBR case study Pierre Frankel in Moscow (A): Unfreezing Change needs to spend more promotional, marketing, and advertising efforts to penetrate international markets.
Skills based hiring
– The stress on hiring functional specialists at Moscow Unfreeze 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.
Slow to harness new channels of communication
– Even though competitors are using new communication channels such as Instagram, Tiktok, and Snap, Moscow Unfreeze is slow explore the new channels of communication. These new channels of communication mentioned in marketing section of case study Pierre Frankel in Moscow (A): Unfreezing Change can help to provide better information regarding products and services. It can also build an online community to further reach out to potential customers.
Opportunities Pierre Frankel in Moscow (A): Unfreezing Change | 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 Pierre Frankel in Moscow (A): Unfreezing Change are -
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 Moscow Unfreeze in the consumer business. Now Moscow Unfreeze can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Moscow Unfreeze has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Moscow Unfreeze to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the Pierre Frankel in Moscow (A): Unfreezing Change case study. Moscow Unfreeze can build new products and services such as - data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
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. Moscow Unfreeze 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. Moscow Unfreeze 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.
Better consumer reach
– The expansion of the 5G network will help Moscow Unfreeze to increase its market reach. Moscow Unfreeze 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.
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. Moscow Unfreeze 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, Moscow Unfreeze 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, Pierre Frankel in Moscow (A): Unfreezing Change, to buy more products closer to the markets, and it can leverage its size and influence to get better deal from the local markets.
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– Moscow Unfreeze 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 Pierre Frankel in Moscow (A): Unfreezing Change - to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Moscow Unfreeze to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
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. Moscow Unfreeze can tie-up with other value chain partners to explore new opportunities regarding meeting customer demands and building a rewarding and engaging relationship.
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 Moscow Unfreeze 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.
Increase in government spending
– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Moscow Unfreeze can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Moscow Unfreeze operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Leadership & Managing People sector.
Learning at scale
– Online learning technologies has now opened space for Moscow Unfreeze 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.
Loyalty marketing
– Moscow Unfreeze 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.
Lowering marketing communication costs
– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Moscow Unfreeze 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 Pierre Frankel in Moscow (A): Unfreezing Change External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Pierre Frankel in Moscow (A): Unfreezing Change are -
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Moscow Unfreeze 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.
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 Moscow Unfreeze in the Leadership & Managing People sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
Consumer confidence and its impact on Moscow Unfreeze 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.
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Moscow Unfreeze has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Leadership & Managing People industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Moscow Unfreeze 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.
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.
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Moscow Unfreeze is facing in Leadership & Managing People sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.
Environmental challenges
– Moscow Unfreeze 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. Moscow Unfreeze can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Leadership & Managing People industry.
High level of anxiety and lack of motivation
– the Great Resignation in United States is the sign of broader dissatisfaction among the workforce in United States. Moscow Unfreeze needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Leadership & Managing People industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Moscow Unfreeze 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.
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Moscow Unfreeze 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 Pierre Frankel in Moscow (A): Unfreezing Change .
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 Moscow Unfreeze.
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.
Regulatory challenges
– Moscow Unfreeze 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.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Pierre Frankel in Moscow (A): Unfreezing Change 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 Pierre Frankel in Moscow (A): Unfreezing Change 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 Pierre Frankel in Moscow (A): Unfreezing Change 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 Pierre Frankel in Moscow (A): Unfreezing Change 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 Pierre Frankel in Moscow (A): Unfreezing Change 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 Moscow Unfreeze needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.
