Winning Hearts and Minds: Reforming the Providence School District (A) SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Leadership & Managing People
Strategy / MBA Resources
Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of Winning Hearts and Minds: Reforming the Providence School District (A)
In August, 2002, Melody Johnson, the deputy superintendent of the Providence, Rhode Island, School District, was hastily appointed acting superintendent, in the wake of the resignation of her predecessor and close colleague Diana Lam. Lam and Johnson together had been embarked, over the previous three years, on an ambitious reform plan to upgrade the low-performing system. Despite some indicators of improvement, however, Johnson knew that there remained significant resistance to the changes-as evidenced, in part, by a bitter contract dispute recently settled with the system's teachers. This case describes the challenge facing Melody Johnson as she sought to gain rank-and-file support for reform, in the immediate months after her appointment as superintendent in her own right. It focuses on specific steps that she considered to gain that support, without compromising reforms including, radically, a day in which classes would be cancelled so that she and others could address the teaching force as a whole. This public leadership case is designed to highlight the choices and techniques of "adaptive leadership", as described in the work of Kennedy School professor Ronald Heifetz, "Leadership Without Easy Answers" (Belknap Press, September 1994). See also case # 1690.0. HKS Case Number 1689.0
Swot Analysis of "Winning Hearts and Minds: Reforming the Providence School District (A)" written by Susan Rosengrant, Dean Williams includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Johnson Superintendent facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Winning Hearts and Minds: Reforming the Providence School District (A) case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Communication, Government, Labor, Leadership, Project management, Social enterprise, Strategic planning and Leadership & Managing People.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Winning Hearts and Minds: Reforming the Providence School District (A) casestudy better are - – increasing transportation and logistics costs, increasing inequality as vast percentage of new income is going to the top 1%, there is backlash against globalization, central banks are concerned over increasing inflation, talent flight as more people leaving formal jobs, increasing government debt because of Covid-19 spendings, wage bills are increasing,
technology disruption, challanges to central banks by blockchain based private currencies, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Winning Hearts and Minds: Reforming the Providence School District (A)
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Winning Hearts and Minds: Reforming the Providence School District (A) case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Johnson Superintendent, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Johnson Superintendent 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 Winning Hearts and Minds: Reforming the Providence School District (A) can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Winning Hearts and Minds: Reforming the Providence School District (A) case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Johnson Superintendent
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 Johnson Superintendent
Strengths Winning Hearts and Minds: Reforming the Providence School District (A) | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Johnson Superintendent in Winning Hearts and Minds: Reforming the Providence School District (A) Harvard Business Review case study are -
Successful track record of launching new products
– Johnson Superintendent has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Johnson Superintendent 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.
Ability to recruit top talent
– Johnson Superintendent is one of the leading recruiters in the industry. Managers in the Winning Hearts and Minds: Reforming the Providence School District (A) are in a position to attract the best talent available. The firm has a robust talent identification program that helps in identifying the brightest.
Cross disciplinary teams
– Horizontal connected teams at the Johnson Superintendent 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
– Johnson Superintendent 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 Susan Rosengrant, Dean Williams 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.
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Leadership & Managing People industry
– Winning Hearts and Minds: Reforming the Providence School District (A) firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Johnson Superintendent to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Leadership & Managing People industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Johnson Superintendent to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Superior customer experience
– The customer experience strategy of Johnson Superintendent in the segment is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.
Innovation driven organization
– Johnson Superintendent is one of the most innovative firm in sector. Manager in Winning Hearts and Minds: Reforming the Providence School District (A) Harvard Business Review case study can use Clayton Christensen Disruptive Innovation strategies to further increase the scale of innovtions in the organization.
Strong track record of project management
– Johnson Superintendent is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.
Highly skilled collaborators
– Johnson Superintendent 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 Winning Hearts and Minds: Reforming the Providence School District (A) HBR case study have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
High switching costs
– The high switching costs that Johnson Superintendent has built up over years in its products and services combo offer has resulted in high retention of customers, lower marketing costs, and greater ability of the firm to focus on its customers.
Digital Transformation in Leadership & Managing People segment
- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For Johnson Superintendent digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Johnson Superintendent 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.
Ability to lead change in Leadership & Managing People field
– Johnson Superintendent 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 Johnson Superintendent in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.
Weaknesses Winning Hearts and Minds: Reforming the Providence School District (A) | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Winning Hearts and Minds: Reforming the Providence School District (A) are -
Increasing silos among functional specialists
– The organizational structure of Johnson Superintendent is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Leadership & Managing People segment. Johnson Superintendent needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Johnson Superintendent to focus more on services rather than just following the product oriented approach.
Lack of clear differentiation of Johnson Superintendent products
– To increase the profitability and margins on the products, Johnson Superintendent needs to provide more differentiated products than what it is currently offering in the marketplace.
Skills based hiring
– The stress on hiring functional specialists at Johnson Superintendent 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 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 Johnson Superintendent supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes mentioned in the HBR case study - Winning Hearts and Minds: Reforming the Providence School District (A), it is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left Johnson Superintendent vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.
Need for greater diversity
– Johnson Superintendent 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.
High dependence on star products
– The top 2 products and services of the firm as mentioned in the Winning Hearts and Minds: Reforming the Providence School District (A) HBR case study still accounts for major business revenue. This dependence on star products in has resulted into insufficient focus on developing new products, even though Johnson Superintendent has relatively successful track record of launching new products.
Capital Spending Reduction
– Even during the low interest decade, Johnson Superintendent 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.
Ability to respond to the competition
– As the decision making is very deliberative, highlighted in the case study Winning Hearts and Minds: Reforming the Providence School District (A), in the dynamic environment Johnson Superintendent has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. Johnson Superintendent has reasonably good record with similar level competitors but it has struggled with new entrants taking away niches of its business.
No frontier risks strategy
– After analyzing the HBR case study Winning Hearts and Minds: Reforming the Providence School District (A), 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.
Low market penetration in new markets
– Outside its home market of Johnson Superintendent, firm in the HBR case study Winning Hearts and Minds: Reforming the Providence School District (A) needs to spend more promotional, marketing, and advertising efforts to penetrate international markets.
High bargaining power of channel partners
– Because of the regulatory requirements, Susan Rosengrant, Dean Williams suggests that, Johnson Superintendent 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.
Opportunities Winning Hearts and Minds: Reforming the Providence School District (A) | External Strategic Factors
What are Opportunities in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The opportunities highlighted in the Harvard Business Review case study Winning Hearts and Minds: Reforming the Providence School District (A) are -
Building a culture of innovation
– managers at Johnson Superintendent 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, Johnson Superintendent 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, Winning Hearts and Minds: Reforming the Providence School District (A), 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
– Johnson Superintendent 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.
Increase in government spending
– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Johnson Superintendent can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Johnson Superintendent operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Leadership & Managing People sector.
Low interest rates
– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Johnson Superintendent 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.
Loyalty marketing
– Johnson Superintendent 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.
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. Johnson Superintendent 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 Johnson Superintendent to increase its market reach. Johnson Superintendent 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.
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 Johnson Superintendent in the consumer business. Now Johnson Superintendent 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 Johnson Superintendent has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Johnson Superintendent to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the Winning Hearts and Minds: Reforming the Providence School District (A) case study. Johnson Superintendent can build new products and services such as - data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
Learning at scale
– Online learning technologies has now opened space for Johnson Superintendent 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.
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 Johnson Superintendent 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.
Manufacturing automation
– Johnson Superintendent 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.
Threats Winning Hearts and Minds: Reforming the Providence School District (A) External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Winning Hearts and Minds: Reforming the Providence School District (A) are -
Consumer confidence and its impact on Johnson Superintendent 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.
Regulatory challenges
– Johnson Superintendent 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.
Increasing wage structure of Johnson Superintendent
– 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 Johnson Superintendent.
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 Johnson Superintendent business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Johnson Superintendent 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.
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Johnson Superintendent has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Leadership & Managing People industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Johnson Superintendent 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.
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Johnson Superintendent is facing in Leadership & Managing People sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.
Easy access to finance
– Easy access to finance in Leadership & Managing People field will also reduce the barriers to entry in the industry, thus putting downward pressure on the prices because of increasing competition. Johnson Superintendent can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
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. Johnson Superintendent 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.
Technology disruption because of hacks, piracy etc
– The colonial pipeline illustrated, how vulnerable modern organization are to international hackers, miscreants, and disruptors. The cyber security interruption, data leaks, etc can seriously jeopardize the future growth of the organization.
Aging population
– As the populations of most advanced economies are aging, it will lead to high social security costs, higher savings among population, and lower demand for goods and services in the economy. The household savings in US, France, UK, Germany, and Japan are growing faster than predicted because of uncertainty caused by pandemic.
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, as highlighted in case study Winning Hearts and Minds: Reforming the Providence School District (A), Johnson Superintendent 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
– Johnson Superintendent 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.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Winning Hearts and Minds: Reforming the Providence School District (A) Template, Example
Not all factors mentioned under the Strengths, Weakness, Opportunities, and Threats quadrants in the SWOT Analysis are equal. Managers in the HBR case study Winning Hearts and Minds: Reforming the Providence School District (A) needs to zero down on the relative importance of each factor mentioned in the Strengths, Weakness, Opportunities, and Threats quadrants.
We can provide the relative importance to each factor by assigning relative weights. Weighted SWOT analysis process is a three stage process –
First stage for doing weighted SWOT analysis of the case study Winning Hearts and Minds: Reforming the Providence School District (A) is to rank the strengths and weaknesses of the organization. This will help you to assess the most important strengths and weaknesses of the firm and which one of the strengths and weaknesses mentioned in the initial lists are marginal and can be left out.
Second stage for conducting weighted SWOT analysis of the Harvard case study Winning Hearts and Minds: Reforming the Providence School District (A) is to give probabilities to the external strategic factors thus better understanding the opportunities and threats arising out of macro environment changes and developments.
Third stage of constructing weighted SWOT analysis of Winning Hearts and Minds: Reforming the Providence School District (A) is to provide strategic recommendations includes – joining likelihood of external strategic factors such as opportunities and threats to the internal strategic factors – strengths and weaknesses. You should start with external factors as they will provide the direction of the overall industry. Secondly by joining probabilities with internal strategic factors can help the company not only strategic fit but also the most probably strategic trade-off that Johnson Superintendent needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.