GE's Two-Decade Transformation: Interview with Jack Welch, November 1999, Video SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Leadership & Managing People
Strategy / MBA Resources
Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of GE's Two-Decade Transformation: Interview with Jack Welch, November 1999, Video
An interview with Jack Welch on his views of the current status of GE's two-decade transformation and his changing role in leading it. Among topics discussed include his views of GE as a learning organization, the process of change that allowed GE's transformation to succeed, his own evolution as a CEO, the legacy he is leaving, and the challenges his successor faces.
Swot Analysis of "GE's Two-Decade Transformation: Interview with Jack Welch, November 1999, Video" written by Christopher A. Bartlett includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Ge's Welch facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in GE's Two-Decade Transformation: Interview with Jack Welch, November 1999, Video case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Corporate governance, Leadership, Organizational culture, Organizational structure, Strategy execution and Leadership & Managing People.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the GE's Two-Decade Transformation: Interview with Jack Welch, November 1999, Video casestudy better are - – there is backlash against globalization, increasing government debt because of Covid-19 spendings, geopolitical disruptions, banking and financial system is disrupted by Bitcoin and other crypto currencies, increasing energy prices, technology disruption, customer relationship management is fast transforming because of increasing concerns over data privacy,
challanges to central banks by blockchain based private currencies, there is increasing trade war between United States & China, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of GE's Two-Decade Transformation: Interview with Jack Welch, November 1999, Video
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in GE's Two-Decade Transformation: Interview with Jack Welch, November 1999, Video case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Ge's Welch, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Ge's Welch 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 GE's Two-Decade Transformation: Interview with Jack Welch, November 1999, Video can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in GE's Two-Decade Transformation: Interview with Jack Welch, November 1999, Video case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Ge's Welch
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 Ge's Welch
Strengths GE's Two-Decade Transformation: Interview with Jack Welch, November 1999, Video | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Ge's Welch in GE's Two-Decade Transformation: Interview with Jack Welch, November 1999, Video Harvard Business Review case study are -
High switching costs
– The high switching costs that Ge's Welch 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.
Highly skilled collaborators
– Ge's Welch 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 GE's Two-Decade Transformation: Interview with Jack Welch, November 1999, Video 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
– Ge's Welch 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 Ge's Welch in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.
High brand equity
– Ge's Welch has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Ge's Welch to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Learning organization
- Ge's Welch is a learning organization. It has inculcated three key characters of learning organization in its processes and operations – exploration, creativity, and expansiveness. The work place at Ge's Welch is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders in GE's Two-Decade Transformation: Interview with Jack Welch, November 1999, Video Harvard Business Review case study emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
Diverse revenue streams
– Ge's Welch is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided firm in GE's Two-Decade Transformation: Interview with Jack Welch, November 1999, Video 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)
– Ge's Welch 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 GE's Two-Decade Transformation: Interview with Jack Welch, November 1999, Video - staying ahead in the industry in terms of – new product launches, superior customer experience, highly competitive pricing strategies, and great returns to the shareholders.
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Leadership & Managing People industry
– GE's Two-Decade Transformation: Interview with Jack Welch, November 1999, Video firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Ge's Welch to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Leadership & Managing People industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Ge's Welch to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Cross disciplinary teams
– Horizontal connected teams at the Ge's Welch 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
– Ge's Welch is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.
Superior customer experience
– The customer experience strategy of Ge's Welch in the segment is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.
Analytics focus
– Ge's Welch 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 Christopher A. Bartlett 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 GE's Two-Decade Transformation: Interview with Jack Welch, November 1999, Video | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of GE's Two-Decade Transformation: Interview with Jack Welch, November 1999, Video are -
Capital Spending Reduction
– Even during the low interest decade, Ge's Welch 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.
Slow to harness new channels of communication
– Even though competitors are using new communication channels such as Instagram, Tiktok, and Snap, Ge's Welch is slow explore the new channels of communication. These new channels of communication mentioned in marketing section of case study GE's Two-Decade Transformation: Interview with Jack Welch, November 1999, Video 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 GE's Two-Decade Transformation: Interview with Jack Welch, November 1999, Video, it seems that the employees of Ge's Welch 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.
Slow decision making process
– As mentioned earlier in the report, Ge's Welch 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. Ge's Welch 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.
No frontier risks strategy
– After analyzing the HBR case study GE's Two-Decade Transformation: Interview with Jack Welch, November 1999, Video, 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 Ge's Welch is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Leadership & Managing People segment. Ge's Welch needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Ge's Welch to focus more on services rather than just following the product oriented approach.
Ability to respond to the competition
– As the decision making is very deliberative, highlighted in the case study GE's Two-Decade Transformation: Interview with Jack Welch, November 1999, Video, in the dynamic environment Ge's Welch has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. Ge's Welch has reasonably good record with similar level competitors but it has struggled with new entrants taking away niches of its business.
Workers concerns about automation
– As automation is fast increasing in the segment, Ge's Welch needs to come up with a strategy to reduce the workers concern regarding automation. Without a clear strategy, it could lead to disruption and uncertainty within the organization.
Need for greater diversity
– Ge's Welch 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 GE's Two-Decade Transformation: Interview with Jack Welch, November 1999, Video 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 Ge's Welch has relatively successful track record of launching new products.
Low market penetration in new markets
– Outside its home market of Ge's Welch, firm in the HBR case study GE's Two-Decade Transformation: Interview with Jack Welch, November 1999, Video needs to spend more promotional, marketing, and advertising efforts to penetrate international markets.
Opportunities GE's Two-Decade Transformation: Interview with Jack Welch, November 1999, Video | 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 GE's Two-Decade Transformation: Interview with Jack Welch, November 1999, Video are -
Reforming the budgeting process
- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects Ge's Welch 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, Ge's Welch 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
– Ge's Welch has focused on building a highly responsive customer relationship management platform. This platform is built on in-house data and driven by analytics and artificial intelligence. The customer analytics can help the organization to fine tune its loyalty marketing efforts, increase the wallet share of the organization, reduce wastage on mainstream advertising spending, build better pricing strategies using personalization, etc.
Building a culture of innovation
– managers at Ge's Welch 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.
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. Ge's Welch can tie-up with other value chain partners to explore new opportunities regarding meeting customer demands and building a rewarding and engaging relationship.
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Ge's Welch has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Ge's Welch to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the GE's Two-Decade Transformation: Interview with Jack Welch, November 1999, Video case study. Ge's Welch can build new products and services such as - data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
Redefining models of collaboration and team work
– As explained in the weaknesses section, Ge's Welch is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. GE's Two-Decade Transformation: Interview with Jack Welch, November 1999, Video 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.
Better consumer reach
– The expansion of the 5G network will help Ge's Welch to increase its market reach. Ge's Welch 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.
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 Ge's Welch 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.
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– Ge's Welch 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 GE's Two-Decade Transformation: Interview with Jack Welch, November 1999, Video - to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Ge's Welch to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
Buying journey improvements
– Ge's Welch can improve the customer journey of consumers in the industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. GE's Two-Decade Transformation: Interview with Jack Welch, November 1999, Video 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.
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. Ge's Welch 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. Ge's Welch 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.
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. Ge's Welch can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.
Threats GE's Two-Decade Transformation: Interview with Jack Welch, November 1999, Video External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study GE's Two-Decade Transformation: Interview with Jack Welch, November 1999, Video are -
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 Ge's Welch business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
High dependence on third party suppliers
– Ge's Welch 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 Ge's Welch.
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, as highlighted in case study GE's Two-Decade Transformation: Interview with Jack Welch, November 1999, Video, Ge's Welch 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 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. Ge's Welch needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Leadership & Managing People industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
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. Ge's Welch 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.
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 Ge's Welch in the Leadership & Managing People sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Ge's Welch is facing in Leadership & Managing People sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.
Environmental challenges
– Ge's Welch 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. Ge's Welch can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Leadership & Managing People industry.
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. Ge's Welch can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Ge's Welch can face lack of demand in the market place because of Fed actions to reduce inflation. This can lead to sluggish growth in the economy, lower demands, lower investments, higher borrowing costs, and consolidation in the field.
Aging population
– As the populations of most advanced economies are aging, it will lead to high social security costs, higher savings among population, and lower demand for goods and services in the economy. The household savings in US, France, UK, Germany, and Japan are growing faster than predicted because of uncertainty caused by pandemic.
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry in the industry are lowering. It can presents Ge's Welch 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 GE's Two-Decade Transformation: Interview with Jack Welch, November 1999, Video 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 GE's Two-Decade Transformation: Interview with Jack Welch, November 1999, Video 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 GE's Two-Decade Transformation: Interview with Jack Welch, November 1999, Video 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 GE's Two-Decade Transformation: Interview with Jack Welch, November 1999, Video 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 GE's Two-Decade Transformation: Interview with Jack Welch, November 1999, Video 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 Ge's Welch needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.
