Ganesh Natarajan: Leading Innovation and Organizational Change at Zensar (B) 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 (B)
After Proposing a fourth business unit to help grow the market for zensar's innovative technology, to be led by Dilip Ittyera, CEO Natarajan adopted a new organizational structure focused on industry verticals.
Swot Analysis of "Ganesh Natarajan: Leading Innovation and Organizational Change at Zensar (B)" written by Michael L. Tushman, David Kiron includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Natarajan Dilip facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Ganesh Natarajan: Leading Innovation and Organizational Change at Zensar (B) 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 (B) casestudy better are - – there is backlash against globalization, central banks are concerned over increasing inflation, wage bills are increasing, increasing inequality as vast percentage of new income is going to the top 1%, challanges to central banks by blockchain based private currencies, customer relationship management is fast transforming because of increasing concerns over data privacy, banking and financial system is disrupted by Bitcoin and other crypto currencies,
there is increasing trade war between United States & China, increasing household debt because of falling income levels, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Ganesh Natarajan: Leading Innovation and Organizational Change at Zensar (B)
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 (B) case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Natarajan Dilip, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Natarajan Dilip 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 (B) can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Ganesh Natarajan: Leading Innovation and Organizational Change at Zensar (B) case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Natarajan Dilip
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 Dilip
Strengths Ganesh Natarajan: Leading Innovation and Organizational Change at Zensar (B) | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Natarajan Dilip in Ganesh Natarajan: Leading Innovation and Organizational Change at Zensar (B) Harvard Business Review case study are -
Digital Transformation in Leadership & Managing People segment
- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For Natarajan Dilip digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Natarajan Dilip 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.
Superior customer experience
– The customer experience strategy of Natarajan Dilip in the segment is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.
Highly skilled collaborators
– Natarajan Dilip 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 (B) HBR case study have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
Ability to lead change in Leadership & Managing People field
– Natarajan Dilip 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 Natarajan Dilip in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.
Diverse revenue streams
– Natarajan Dilip is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided firm in Ganesh Natarajan: Leading Innovation and Organizational Change at Zensar (B) 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.
Effective Research and Development (R&D)
– Natarajan Dilip 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 (B) - staying ahead in the industry in terms of – new product launches, superior customer experience, highly competitive pricing strategies, and great returns to the shareholders.
Training and development
– Natarajan Dilip has one of the best training and development program in the industry. The effectiveness of the training programs can be measured in Ganesh Natarajan: Leading Innovation and Organizational Change at Zensar (B) 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.
High brand equity
– Natarajan Dilip has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Natarajan Dilip to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Organizational Resilience of Natarajan Dilip
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing that Natarajan Dilip does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
Strong track record of project management
– Natarajan Dilip is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of Natarajan Dilip in the sector have low bargaining power. Ganesh Natarajan: Leading Innovation and Organizational Change at Zensar (B) has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Natarajan Dilip to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
Ability to recruit top talent
– Natarajan Dilip is one of the leading recruiters in the industry. Managers in the Ganesh Natarajan: Leading Innovation and Organizational Change at Zensar (B) are in a position to attract the best talent available. The firm has a robust talent identification program that helps in identifying the brightest.
Weaknesses Ganesh Natarajan: Leading Innovation and Organizational Change at Zensar (B) | 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 (B) are -
Slow decision making process
– As mentioned earlier in the report, Natarajan Dilip 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. Natarajan Dilip even though has strong showing on digital transformation primary two stages, it has struggled to capitalize the power of digital transformation in marketing efforts and new venture efforts.
High cash cycle compare to competitors
Natarajan Dilip 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 to harness new channels of communication
– Even though competitors are using new communication channels such as Instagram, Tiktok, and Snap, Natarajan Dilip 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 (B) can help to provide better information regarding products and services. It can also build an online community to further reach out to potential customers.
Interest costs
– Compare to the competition, Natarajan Dilip has borrowed money from the capital market at higher rates. It needs to restructure the interest payment and costs so that it can compete better and improve profitability.
Low market penetration in new markets
– Outside its home market of Natarajan Dilip, firm in the HBR case study Ganesh Natarajan: Leading Innovation and Organizational Change at Zensar (B) needs to spend more promotional, marketing, and advertising efforts to penetrate international markets.
Lack of clear differentiation of Natarajan Dilip products
– To increase the profitability and margins on the products, Natarajan Dilip needs to provide more differentiated products than what it is currently offering in the marketplace.
Compensation and incentives
– The revenue per employee as mentioned in the HBR case study Ganesh Natarajan: Leading Innovation and Organizational Change at Zensar (B), is just above the industry average. Natarajan Dilip 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.
Skills based hiring
– The stress on hiring functional specialists at Natarajan Dilip 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.
Need for greater diversity
– Natarajan Dilip 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.
No frontier risks strategy
– After analyzing the HBR case study Ganesh Natarajan: Leading Innovation and Organizational Change at Zensar (B), 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.
Increasing silos among functional specialists
– The organizational structure of Natarajan Dilip is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Leadership & Managing People segment. Natarajan Dilip needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Natarajan Dilip to focus more on services rather than just following the product oriented approach.
Opportunities Ganesh Natarajan: Leading Innovation and Organizational Change at Zensar (B) | 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 (B) are -
Manufacturing automation
– Natarajan Dilip can use the latest technology developments to improve its manufacturing and designing process in Leadership & Managing People segment. It can use CAD and 3D printing to build a quick prototype and pilot testing products. It can leverage automation using machine learning and artificial intelligence to do faster production at lowers costs, and it can leverage the growth in satellite and tracking technologies to improve inventory management, transportation, and shipping.
Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains
– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Natarajan Dilip 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, Ganesh Natarajan: Leading Innovation and Organizational Change at Zensar (B), to buy more products closer to the markets, and it can leverage its size and influence to get better deal from the local markets.
Building a culture of innovation
– managers at Natarajan Dilip 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.
Redefining models of collaboration and team work
– As explained in the weaknesses section, Natarajan Dilip is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. Ganesh Natarajan: Leading Innovation and Organizational Change at Zensar (B) 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.
Buying journey improvements
– Natarajan Dilip can improve the customer journey of consumers in the industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. Ganesh Natarajan: Leading Innovation and Organizational Change at Zensar (B) 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.
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 Dilip 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.
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 Dilip can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.
Better consumer reach
– The expansion of the 5G network will help Natarajan Dilip to increase its market reach. Natarajan Dilip 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.
Reforming the budgeting process
- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects Natarajan Dilip can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.
Low interest rates
– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Natarajan Dilip 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.
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– Natarajan Dilip 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 (B) - to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Natarajan Dilip 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. Natarajan Dilip can tie-up with other value chain partners to explore new opportunities regarding meeting customer demands and building a rewarding and engaging relationship.
Leveraging digital technologies
– Natarajan Dilip 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.
Threats Ganesh Natarajan: Leading Innovation and Organizational Change at Zensar (B) 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 (B) are -
Environmental challenges
– Natarajan Dilip 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 Dilip 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 Ganesh Natarajan: Leading Innovation and Organizational Change at Zensar (B), Natarajan Dilip 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 .
High dependence on third party suppliers
– Natarajan Dilip high dependence on third party suppliers can disrupt its processes and delivery mechanism. For example -the current troubles of car makers because of chip shortage is because the chip companies started producing chips for electronic companies rather than car manufacturers.
Increasing wage structure of Natarajan Dilip
– 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 Dilip.
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Natarajan Dilip 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 Ganesh Natarajan: Leading Innovation and Organizational Change at Zensar (B) .
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 Dilip.
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 Natarajan Dilip in the Leadership & Managing People sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
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. Natarajan Dilip 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
– Natarajan Dilip 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.
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Natarajan Dilip is facing in Leadership & Managing People sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.
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.
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. Natarajan Dilip 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.
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry in the industry are lowering. It can presents Natarajan Dilip with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the sector.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Ganesh Natarajan: Leading Innovation and Organizational Change at Zensar (B) 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 (B) 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 (B) 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 (B) 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 (B) 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 Dilip needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.