Cisco Business Councils (2007): Unifying a Functional Enterprise with an Internal Governance System SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Leadership & Managing People
Strategy / MBA Resources
Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of Cisco Business Councils (2007): Unifying a Functional Enterprise with an Internal Governance System
In response to the 2001 market downturn, Cisco Systems implemented a major restructuring that transformed the company from a decentralized to centralized organization. While recognizing that a centralized, functional structure was necessary to avoid product and resource redundancies, it also risked making the company less customer-centric. To mitigate this risk, Cisco implemented a cross-functional system of executive-level councils that would bring leaders of different functions together to collaborate and focus on the needs and issues of specific customer groups. Each council employs a "Three-in-a-Box" leadership model consisting of an executive leader from the engineering or technology business unit, a member of the go-to-market team, and an operations resource director. Each council is also accountable to the Operating Committee, which is chaired by CEO John Chambers and determines the long-term corporate strategy and allocation of corporate resources. Many other companies have failed at facilitating collaboration across functions-particularly large organizations-but Cisco's system has been successful because the company remained committed to the system, required a consistent infrastructure while also allowing for flexibility, gave members decision making authority, and used council leaders who thrive in collaborative environments. The success of the council system led to the creation of 20 boards of "sub-councils" in 2007. The boards are charged with driving development efforts and customer reach further into the organization by addressing specific issues too narrow for the councils to address.
Swot Analysis of "Cisco Business Councils (2007): Unifying a Functional Enterprise with an Internal Governance System" written by Ranjay Gulati includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Councils Council facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Cisco Business Councils (2007): Unifying a Functional Enterprise with an Internal Governance System case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Customers, Organizational structure, Reorganization, Strategy execution, Technology and Leadership & Managing People.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Cisco Business Councils (2007): Unifying a Functional Enterprise with an Internal Governance System casestudy better are - – there is backlash against globalization, wage bills are increasing, digital marketing is dominated by two big players Facebook and Google, banking and financial system is disrupted by Bitcoin and other crypto currencies, technology disruption, talent flight as more people leaving formal jobs, increasing transportation and logistics costs,
increasing energy prices, competitive advantages are harder to sustain because of technology dispersion, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Cisco Business Councils (2007): Unifying a Functional Enterprise with an Internal Governance System
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Cisco Business Councils (2007): Unifying a Functional Enterprise with an Internal Governance System case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Councils Council, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Councils Council 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 Cisco Business Councils (2007): Unifying a Functional Enterprise with an Internal Governance System can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Cisco Business Councils (2007): Unifying a Functional Enterprise with an Internal Governance System case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Councils Council
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 Councils Council
Strengths Cisco Business Councils (2007): Unifying a Functional Enterprise with an Internal Governance System | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Councils Council in Cisco Business Councils (2007): Unifying a Functional Enterprise with an Internal Governance System Harvard Business Review case study are -
Innovation driven organization
– Councils Council is one of the most innovative firm in sector. Manager in Cisco Business Councils (2007): Unifying a Functional Enterprise with an Internal Governance System Harvard Business Review case study can use Clayton Christensen Disruptive Innovation strategies to further increase the scale of innovtions in the organization.
Digital Transformation in Leadership & Managing People segment
- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For Councils Council digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Councils Council 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.
Operational resilience
– The operational resilience strategy in the Cisco Business Councils (2007): Unifying a Functional Enterprise with an Internal Governance System 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.
Analytics focus
– Councils Council 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 Ranjay Gulati 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.
Diverse revenue streams
– Councils Council is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided firm in Cisco Business Councils (2007): Unifying a Functional Enterprise with an Internal Governance System 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.
Ability to recruit top talent
– Councils Council is one of the leading recruiters in the industry. Managers in the Cisco Business Councils (2007): Unifying a Functional Enterprise with an Internal Governance System are in a position to attract the best talent available. The firm has a robust talent identification program that helps in identifying the brightest.
Organizational Resilience of Councils Council
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing that Councils Council does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Leadership & Managing People industry
– Cisco Business Councils (2007): Unifying a Functional Enterprise with an Internal Governance System firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Councils Council to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Leadership & Managing People industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Councils Council to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of Councils Council in the sector have low bargaining power. Cisco Business Councils (2007): Unifying a Functional Enterprise with an Internal Governance System has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Councils Council to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
Training and development
– Councils Council has one of the best training and development program in the industry. The effectiveness of the training programs can be measured in Cisco Business Councils (2007): Unifying a Functional Enterprise with an Internal Governance System 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 Councils Council 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.
Superior customer experience
– The customer experience strategy of Councils Council in the segment is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.
Weaknesses Cisco Business Councils (2007): Unifying a Functional Enterprise with an Internal Governance System | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Cisco Business Councils (2007): Unifying a Functional Enterprise with an Internal Governance System are -
Lack of clear differentiation of Councils Council products
– To increase the profitability and margins on the products, Councils Council needs to provide more differentiated products than what it is currently offering in the marketplace.
High bargaining power of channel partners
– Because of the regulatory requirements, Ranjay Gulati suggests that, Councils Council 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.
Ability to respond to the competition
– As the decision making is very deliberative, highlighted in the case study Cisco Business Councils (2007): Unifying a Functional Enterprise with an Internal Governance System, in the dynamic environment Councils Council has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. Councils Council has reasonably good record with similar level competitors but it has struggled with new entrants taking away niches of its business.
Slow to strategic competitive environment developments
– As Cisco Business Councils (2007): Unifying a Functional Enterprise with an Internal Governance System HBR case study mentions - Councils Council 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.
Skills based hiring
– The stress on hiring functional specialists at Councils Council 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.
High dependence on star products
– The top 2 products and services of the firm as mentioned in the Cisco Business Councils (2007): Unifying a Functional Enterprise with an Internal Governance System 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 Councils Council has relatively successful track record of launching new products.
Need for greater diversity
– Councils Council 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.
Increasing silos among functional specialists
– The organizational structure of Councils Council is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Leadership & Managing People segment. Councils Council needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Councils Council to focus more on services rather than just following the product oriented approach.
Slow decision making process
– As mentioned earlier in the report, Councils Council 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. Councils Council 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.
Low market penetration in new markets
– Outside its home market of Councils Council, firm in the HBR case study Cisco Business Councils (2007): Unifying a Functional Enterprise with an Internal Governance System needs to spend more promotional, marketing, and advertising efforts to penetrate international markets.
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 Councils Council supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes mentioned in the HBR case study - Cisco Business Councils (2007): Unifying a Functional Enterprise with an Internal Governance System, it is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left Councils Council vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.
Opportunities Cisco Business Councils (2007): Unifying a Functional Enterprise with an Internal Governance System | 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 Cisco Business Councils (2007): Unifying a Functional Enterprise with an Internal Governance System 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 Councils Council in the consumer business. Now Councils Council can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.
Buying journey improvements
– Councils Council can improve the customer journey of consumers in the industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. Cisco Business Councils (2007): Unifying a Functional Enterprise with an Internal Governance System 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.
Better consumer reach
– The expansion of the 5G network will help Councils Council to increase its market reach. Councils Council 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.
Loyalty marketing
– Councils Council 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.
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– Councils Council 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 Cisco Business Councils (2007): Unifying a Functional Enterprise with an Internal Governance System - to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Councils Council to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
Lowering marketing communication costs
– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Councils Council 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.
Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities
– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Councils Council 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 Councils Council to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
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. Councils Council 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. Councils Council 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.
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 Councils Council 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.
Building a culture of innovation
– managers at Councils Council 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.
Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains
– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Councils Council 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, Cisco Business Councils (2007): Unifying a Functional Enterprise with an Internal Governance System, to buy more products closer to the markets, and it can leverage its size and influence to get better deal from the local markets.
Leveraging digital technologies
– Councils Council 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.
Developing new processes and practices
– Councils Council 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.
Threats Cisco Business Councils (2007): Unifying a Functional Enterprise with an Internal Governance System External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Cisco Business Councils (2007): Unifying a Functional Enterprise with an Internal Governance System are -
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry in the industry are lowering. It can presents Councils Council with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the sector.
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. Councils Council 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.
High dependence on third party suppliers
– Councils Council 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.
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 Councils Council.
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Councils Council 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
– Councils Council 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.
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 Councils Council in the Leadership & Managing People sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Councils Council 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 Cisco Business Councils (2007): Unifying a Functional Enterprise with an Internal Governance System .
Consumer confidence and its impact on Councils Council 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.
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 Councils Council business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
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
– Councils Council has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Leadership & Managing People industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Councils Council 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.
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Councils Council 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.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Cisco Business Councils (2007): Unifying a Functional Enterprise with an Internal Governance System 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 Cisco Business Councils (2007): Unifying a Functional Enterprise with an Internal Governance System 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 Cisco Business Councils (2007): Unifying a Functional Enterprise with an Internal Governance System 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 Cisco Business Councils (2007): Unifying a Functional Enterprise with an Internal Governance System 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 Cisco Business Councils (2007): Unifying a Functional Enterprise with an Internal Governance System 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 Councils Council needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.
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