Pierre Frankel in Moscow (B): Plowing Ahead 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 (B): Plowing Ahead
After several months into his turnaround of a global technology company's Russia subsidiary, a young and upcoming French executive reflected on how to institutionalize the subsidiary's transformation by further driving cultural change and breaking down internal silos. He realized that to complete the change he may need to continue into a second year. Yet the physical separation from his family had begun to take a toll. Had the executive done enough to institutionalize change or was it still too dependent on his personal relationships and the ability to build an internal coalition and exchange favors?
Swot Analysis of "Pierre Frankel in Moscow (B): Plowing Ahead" written by Rosabeth Moss Kanter, Matthew Bird includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Institutionalize Plowing facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Pierre Frankel in Moscow (B): Plowing Ahead case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Entrepreneurship, Innovation, IT, Leadership development, Organizational culture, Organizational structure and Leadership & Managing People.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Pierre Frankel in Moscow (B): Plowing Ahead casestudy better are - – increasing energy prices, talent flight as more people leaving formal jobs, banking and financial system is disrupted by Bitcoin and other crypto currencies, increasing inequality as vast percentage of new income is going to the top 1%, increasing government debt because of Covid-19 spendings, increasing transportation and logistics costs, digital marketing is dominated by two big players Facebook and Google,
increasing commodity prices, increasing household debt because of falling income levels, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Pierre Frankel in Moscow (B): Plowing Ahead
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Pierre Frankel in Moscow (B): Plowing Ahead case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Institutionalize Plowing, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Institutionalize Plowing 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 (B): Plowing Ahead can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Pierre Frankel in Moscow (B): Plowing Ahead case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Institutionalize Plowing
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 Institutionalize Plowing
Strengths Pierre Frankel in Moscow (B): Plowing Ahead | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Institutionalize Plowing in Pierre Frankel in Moscow (B): Plowing Ahead Harvard Business Review case study are -
Digital Transformation in Leadership & Managing People segment
- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For Institutionalize Plowing digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Institutionalize Plowing 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.
Successful track record of launching new products
– Institutionalize Plowing has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Institutionalize Plowing has effective processes in place that helps in exploring new product needs, doing quick pilot testing, and then launching the products quickly using its extensive distribution network.
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of Institutionalize Plowing in the sector have low bargaining power. Pierre Frankel in Moscow (B): Plowing Ahead has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Institutionalize Plowing to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
Ability to recruit top talent
– Institutionalize Plowing is one of the leading recruiters in the industry. Managers in the Pierre Frankel in Moscow (B): Plowing Ahead are in a position to attract the best talent available. The firm has a robust talent identification program that helps in identifying the brightest.
Training and development
– Institutionalize Plowing 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 (B): Plowing Ahead 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.
Cross disciplinary teams
– Horizontal connected teams at the Institutionalize Plowing 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.
Analytics focus
– Institutionalize Plowing 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.
Organizational Resilience of Institutionalize Plowing
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing that Institutionalize Plowing does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
Highly skilled collaborators
– Institutionalize Plowing 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 (B): Plowing Ahead 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 Pierre Frankel in Moscow (B): Plowing Ahead 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.
Ability to lead change in Leadership & Managing People field
– Institutionalize Plowing 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 Institutionalize Plowing in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Leadership & Managing People industry
– Pierre Frankel in Moscow (B): Plowing Ahead firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Institutionalize Plowing to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Leadership & Managing People industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Institutionalize Plowing to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Weaknesses Pierre Frankel in Moscow (B): Plowing Ahead | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Pierre Frankel in Moscow (B): Plowing Ahead are -
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 Institutionalize Plowing supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes mentioned in the HBR case study - Pierre Frankel in Moscow (B): Plowing Ahead, it is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left Institutionalize Plowing vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.
High cash cycle compare to competitors
Institutionalize Plowing 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.
Slow decision making process
– As mentioned earlier in the report, Institutionalize Plowing 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. Institutionalize Plowing 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.
Capital Spending Reduction
– Even during the low interest decade, Institutionalize Plowing 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.
Lack of clear differentiation of Institutionalize Plowing products
– To increase the profitability and margins on the products, Institutionalize Plowing needs to provide more differentiated products than what it is currently offering in the marketplace.
Slow to strategic competitive environment developments
– As Pierre Frankel in Moscow (B): Plowing Ahead HBR case study mentions - Institutionalize Plowing 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.
Aligning sales with marketing
– It come across in the case study Pierre Frankel in Moscow (B): Plowing Ahead 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 (B): Plowing Ahead can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Institutionalize Plowing is planning to shift buying processes online.
Compensation and incentives
– The revenue per employee as mentioned in the HBR case study Pierre Frankel in Moscow (B): Plowing Ahead, is just above the industry average. Institutionalize Plowing 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 harness new channels of communication
– Even though competitors are using new communication channels such as Instagram, Tiktok, and Snap, Institutionalize Plowing is slow explore the new channels of communication. These new channels of communication mentioned in marketing section of case study Pierre Frankel in Moscow (B): Plowing Ahead 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 dependence on star products
– The top 2 products and services of the firm as mentioned in the Pierre Frankel in Moscow (B): Plowing Ahead 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 Institutionalize Plowing has relatively successful track record of launching new products.
High operating costs
– Compare to the competitors, firm in the HBR case study Pierre Frankel in Moscow (B): Plowing Ahead 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 Institutionalize Plowing 's lucrative customers.
Opportunities Pierre Frankel in Moscow (B): Plowing Ahead | 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 (B): Plowing Ahead are -
Redefining models of collaboration and team work
– As explained in the weaknesses section, Institutionalize Plowing is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. Pierre Frankel in Moscow (B): Plowing Ahead 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.
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. Institutionalize Plowing 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. Institutionalize Plowing 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.
Lowering marketing communication costs
– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Institutionalize Plowing 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.
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 Institutionalize Plowing in the consumer business. Now Institutionalize Plowing can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.
Learning at scale
– Online learning technologies has now opened space for Institutionalize Plowing 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.
Buying journey improvements
– Institutionalize Plowing can improve the customer journey of consumers in the industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. Pierre Frankel in Moscow (B): Plowing Ahead 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
– Institutionalize Plowing 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.
Loyalty marketing
– Institutionalize Plowing 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 Institutionalize Plowing 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 Institutionalize Plowing has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Institutionalize Plowing to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the Pierre Frankel in Moscow (B): Plowing Ahead case study. Institutionalize Plowing can build new products and services such as - data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains
– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Institutionalize Plowing 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 (B): Plowing Ahead, to buy more products closer to the markets, and it can leverage its size and influence to get better deal from the local markets.
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. Institutionalize Plowing can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.
Low interest rates
– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Institutionalize Plowing 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.
Threats Pierre Frankel in Moscow (B): Plowing Ahead 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 (B): Plowing Ahead are -
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Institutionalize Plowing has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Leadership & Managing People industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Institutionalize Plowing needs to keep up with the evolution of technology in the Leadership & Managing People sector. According to Mckinsey study top managers believe that the adoption of technology in operations, communications is 20-25 times faster than what they planned in the beginning of 2019.
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry in the industry are lowering. It can presents Institutionalize Plowing with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the sector.
Regulatory challenges
– Institutionalize Plowing 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.
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Institutionalize Plowing 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.
Environmental challenges
– Institutionalize Plowing 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. Institutionalize Plowing can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Leadership & Managing People industry.
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, as highlighted in case study Pierre Frankel in Moscow (B): Plowing Ahead, Institutionalize Plowing 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 .
Increasing wage structure of Institutionalize Plowing
– 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 Institutionalize Plowing.
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Institutionalize Plowing 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.
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.
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Institutionalize Plowing 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 (B): Plowing Ahead .
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 Institutionalize Plowing business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
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 Institutionalize Plowing in the Leadership & Managing People sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
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 Institutionalize Plowing.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Pierre Frankel in Moscow (B): Plowing Ahead 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 (B): Plowing Ahead 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 (B): Plowing Ahead 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 (B): Plowing Ahead 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 (B): Plowing Ahead 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 Institutionalize Plowing needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.
