Winning Hearts and Minds: Reforming the Providence School District (B) 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 (B)
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. HKS Case Number 1690.0
Swot Analysis of "Winning Hearts and Minds: Reforming the Providence School District (B)" 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 (B) case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Generational issues, Leadership, Policy, 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 (B) casestudy better are - – competitive advantages are harder to sustain because of technology dispersion, banking and financial system is disrupted by Bitcoin and other crypto currencies, increasing transportation and logistics costs, central banks are concerned over increasing inflation, increasing household debt because of falling income levels, increasing government debt because of Covid-19 spendings, increasing commodity prices,
technology disruption, increasing inequality as vast percentage of new income is going to the top 1%, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Winning Hearts and Minds: Reforming the Providence School District (B)
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 (B) 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 (B) can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Winning Hearts and Minds: Reforming the Providence School District (B) 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 (B) | 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 (B) Harvard Business Review case study are -
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.
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of Johnson Superintendent in the sector have low bargaining power. Winning Hearts and Minds: Reforming the Providence School District (B) has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Johnson Superintendent to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
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 (B) Harvard Business Review case study can use Clayton Christensen Disruptive Innovation strategies to further increase the scale of innovtions in the organization.
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.
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 (B) HBR case study have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Diverse revenue streams
– Johnson Superintendent is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided firm in Winning Hearts and Minds: Reforming the Providence School District (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.
High brand equity
– Johnson Superintendent has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Johnson Superintendent to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
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.
Weaknesses Winning Hearts and Minds: Reforming the Providence School District (B) | 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 (B) are -
Products dominated business model
– Even though Johnson Superintendent has some of the most successful products in the industry, this business model has made each new product launch extremely critical for continuous financial growth of the organization. firm in the HBR case study - Winning Hearts and Minds: Reforming the Providence School District (B) should strive to include more intangible value offerings along with its core products and services.
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 (B), 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.
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 (B) 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.
Aligning sales with marketing
– It come across in the case study Winning Hearts and Minds: Reforming the Providence School District (B) 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 Winning Hearts and Minds: Reforming the Providence School District (B) can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Johnson Superintendent is planning to shift buying processes online.
High operating costs
– Compare to the competitors, firm in the HBR case study Winning Hearts and Minds: Reforming the Providence School District (B) 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 Johnson Superintendent 's lucrative customers.
Slow to harness new channels of communication
– Even though competitors are using new communication channels such as Instagram, Tiktok, and Snap, Johnson Superintendent is slow explore the new channels of communication. These new channels of communication mentioned in marketing section of case study Winning Hearts and Minds: Reforming the Providence School District (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.
Employees’ incomplete understanding of strategy
– From the instances in the HBR case study Winning Hearts and Minds: Reforming the Providence School District (B), it seems that the employees of Johnson Superintendent don’t have comprehensive understanding of the firm’s strategy. This is reflected in number of promotional campaigns over the last few years that had mixed messaging and competing priorities. Some of the strategic activities and services promoted in the promotional campaigns were not consistent with the organization’s strategy.
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.
Interest costs
– Compare to the competition, Johnson Superintendent 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.
Slow decision making process
– As mentioned earlier in the report, Johnson Superintendent 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. Johnson Superintendent 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 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 (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 Winning Hearts and Minds: Reforming the Providence School District (B) 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 Johnson Superintendent in the consumer business. Now Johnson Superintendent can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.
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.
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 (B) case study. Johnson Superintendent can build new products and services such as - data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
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.
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.
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. Johnson Superintendent can tie-up with other value chain partners to explore new opportunities regarding meeting customer demands and building a rewarding and engaging relationship.
Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities
– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Johnson Superintendent 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 Johnson Superintendent to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
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.
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.
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. Johnson Superintendent 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. Johnson Superintendent 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.
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– Johnson Superintendent 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 Winning Hearts and Minds: Reforming the Providence School District (B) - to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Johnson Superintendent 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 Johnson Superintendent 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.
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.
Threats Winning Hearts and Minds: Reforming the Providence School District (B) 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 (B) are -
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.
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 Johnson Superintendent.
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.
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 Johnson Superintendent in the Leadership & Managing People sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
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.
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.
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 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.
Environmental challenges
– Johnson Superintendent 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. Johnson Superintendent can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Leadership & Managing People industry.
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Johnson Superintendent 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 Winning Hearts and Minds: Reforming the Providence School District (B) .
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.
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Johnson Superintendent 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.
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.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Winning Hearts and Minds: Reforming the Providence School District (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 Winning Hearts and Minds: Reforming the Providence School District (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 Winning Hearts and Minds: Reforming the Providence School District (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 Winning Hearts and Minds: Reforming the Providence School District (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 Winning Hearts and Minds: Reforming the Providence School District (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 Johnson Superintendent needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.