Case Study Description of REVIEWING STRATEGY-EXECUTION CAPABILITIES
This note is a self-assessment instrument to help identify whether an organization has the required capabilities to successfully execute its strategic initiatives. It is meant to be used to support the group work of a group of executives (preferably from the same company) who are responsible for the execution of one or several strategic initiatives in their organization.A "radar chart" is proposed to visualize where the company needs to improve. It can also be used to support the discussion of any group of executives on the reasons for failure of most strategic initiatives; they may do that by assessing their own company against the six proposed required capabilities and by comparing notes with each other. The six required capabilities are: 1) Companies need to have a clear and well-communicated strategy, with clear and well-communicated strategic priorities, to which strategic initiatives contribute in a clear and well-communicated way. 2) Companies need to have a cadre of executives at different levels selected for their entrepreneurial and action-learning capabilities. 3) Companies need to understand and encourage action-learning and know how to plan execution accordingly. 4) Companies need to have an inclusive approach to execution. 5) Companies need to be serious about follow-through and see it as an essential part of action-learning. 6) Companies need to realize that, in the end, lack of respect for people, is a sure cause for execution failure. These capabilities are described at length in the book Smarter Execution, published by IMD (also available from Amazon UK). Learning objectives: This note is very effective to support a group discussion on the execution capabilities of a company. It can be used by a senior management team before they decide to launch strategic initiatives; it can be used as part of a kick-off workshop when launching a strategic initiative; or it can be used along the way during execution to identify and correct execution frustrations.
Swot Analysis of "REVIEWING STRATEGY-EXECUTION CAPABILITIES" written by Xavier Gilbert includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Execution Capabilities facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in REVIEWING STRATEGY-EXECUTION CAPABILITIES case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, and Leadership & Managing People.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the REVIEWING STRATEGY-EXECUTION CAPABILITIES casestudy better are - – banking and financial system is disrupted by Bitcoin and other crypto currencies, increasing household debt because of falling income levels, challanges to central banks by blockchain based private currencies, customer relationship management is fast transforming because of increasing concerns over data privacy, increasing commodity prices, geopolitical disruptions, increasing transportation and logistics costs,
increasing government debt because of Covid-19 spendings, central banks are concerned over increasing inflation, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of REVIEWING STRATEGY-EXECUTION CAPABILITIES
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in REVIEWING STRATEGY-EXECUTION CAPABILITIES case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Execution Capabilities, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Execution Capabilities 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 REVIEWING STRATEGY-EXECUTION CAPABILITIES can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in REVIEWING STRATEGY-EXECUTION CAPABILITIES case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Execution Capabilities
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 Execution Capabilities
Strengths REVIEWING STRATEGY-EXECUTION CAPABILITIES | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Execution Capabilities in REVIEWING STRATEGY-EXECUTION CAPABILITIES Harvard Business Review case study are -
Ability to lead change in Leadership & Managing People field
– Execution Capabilities 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 Execution Capabilities in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.
High switching costs
– The high switching costs that Execution Capabilities 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
– Execution Capabilities 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 REVIEWING STRATEGY-EXECUTION CAPABILITIES HBR case study have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
Strong track record of project management
– Execution Capabilities is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.
Effective Research and Development (R&D)
– Execution Capabilities 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 REVIEWING STRATEGY-EXECUTION CAPABILITIES - staying ahead in the industry in terms of – new product launches, superior customer experience, highly competitive pricing strategies, and great returns to the shareholders.
Training and development
– Execution Capabilities has one of the best training and development program in the industry. The effectiveness of the training programs can be measured in REVIEWING STRATEGY-EXECUTION CAPABILITIES 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.
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of Execution Capabilities in the sector have low bargaining power. REVIEWING STRATEGY-EXECUTION CAPABILITIES has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Execution Capabilities to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
Operational resilience
– The operational resilience strategy in the REVIEWING STRATEGY-EXECUTION CAPABILITIES 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.
Cross disciplinary teams
– Horizontal connected teams at the Execution Capabilities 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.
Ability to recruit top talent
– Execution Capabilities is one of the leading recruiters in the industry. Managers in the REVIEWING STRATEGY-EXECUTION CAPABILITIES are in a position to attract the best talent available. The firm has a robust talent identification program that helps in identifying the brightest.
Digital Transformation in Leadership & Managing People segment
- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For Execution Capabilities digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Execution Capabilities 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.
Successful track record of launching new products
– Execution Capabilities has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Execution Capabilities 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.
Weaknesses REVIEWING STRATEGY-EXECUTION CAPABILITIES | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of REVIEWING STRATEGY-EXECUTION CAPABILITIES are -
Aligning sales with marketing
– It come across in the case study REVIEWING STRATEGY-EXECUTION CAPABILITIES 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 REVIEWING STRATEGY-EXECUTION CAPABILITIES can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Execution Capabilities is planning to shift buying processes online.
Slow decision making process
– As mentioned earlier in the report, Execution Capabilities 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. Execution Capabilities 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.
Need for greater diversity
– Execution Capabilities 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 bargaining power of channel partners
– Because of the regulatory requirements, Xavier Gilbert suggests that, Execution Capabilities 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.
Employees’ incomplete understanding of strategy
– From the instances in the HBR case study REVIEWING STRATEGY-EXECUTION CAPABILITIES, it seems that the employees of Execution Capabilities 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.
Low market penetration in new markets
– Outside its home market of Execution Capabilities, firm in the HBR case study REVIEWING STRATEGY-EXECUTION CAPABILITIES needs to spend more promotional, marketing, and advertising efforts to penetrate international markets.
Lack of clear differentiation of Execution Capabilities products
– To increase the profitability and margins on the products, Execution Capabilities needs to provide more differentiated products than what it is currently offering in the marketplace.
Capital Spending Reduction
– Even during the low interest decade, Execution Capabilities 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.
High operating costs
– Compare to the competitors, firm in the HBR case study REVIEWING STRATEGY-EXECUTION CAPABILITIES 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 Execution Capabilities 's lucrative customers.
Ability to respond to the competition
– As the decision making is very deliberative, highlighted in the case study REVIEWING STRATEGY-EXECUTION CAPABILITIES, in the dynamic environment Execution Capabilities has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. Execution Capabilities has reasonably good record with similar level competitors but it has struggled with new entrants taking away niches of its business.
Products dominated business model
– Even though Execution Capabilities 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 - REVIEWING STRATEGY-EXECUTION CAPABILITIES should strive to include more intangible value offerings along with its core products and services.
Opportunities REVIEWING STRATEGY-EXECUTION CAPABILITIES | 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 REVIEWING STRATEGY-EXECUTION CAPABILITIES are -
Loyalty marketing
– Execution Capabilities 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.
Manufacturing automation
– Execution Capabilities 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.
Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities
– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Execution Capabilities 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 Execution Capabilities 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. Execution Capabilities 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. Execution Capabilities 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.
Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains
– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Execution Capabilities 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, REVIEWING STRATEGY-EXECUTION CAPABILITIES, to buy more products closer to the markets, and it can leverage its size and influence to get better deal from the local markets.
Low interest rates
– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Execution Capabilities 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.
Better consumer reach
– The expansion of the 5G network will help Execution Capabilities to increase its market reach. Execution Capabilities 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.
Learning at scale
– Online learning technologies has now opened space for Execution Capabilities 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.
Leveraging digital technologies
– Execution Capabilities 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.
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. Execution Capabilities 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. Execution Capabilities can tie-up with other value chain partners to explore new opportunities regarding meeting customer demands and building a rewarding and engaging relationship.
Building a culture of innovation
– managers at Execution Capabilities 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.
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Execution Capabilities has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Execution Capabilities to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the REVIEWING STRATEGY-EXECUTION CAPABILITIES case study. Execution Capabilities can build new products and services such as - data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
Threats REVIEWING STRATEGY-EXECUTION CAPABILITIES External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study REVIEWING STRATEGY-EXECUTION CAPABILITIES 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 Execution Capabilities business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
Technology disruption because of hacks, piracy etc
– The colonial pipeline illustrated, how vulnerable modern organization are to international hackers, miscreants, and disruptors. The cyber security interruption, data leaks, etc can seriously jeopardize the future growth of the organization.
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. Execution Capabilities can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
Increasing wage structure of Execution Capabilities
– 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 Execution Capabilities.
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, as highlighted in case study REVIEWING STRATEGY-EXECUTION CAPABILITIES, Execution Capabilities 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 .
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.
Consumer confidence and its impact on Execution Capabilities 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.
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. Execution Capabilities 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.
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 Execution Capabilities.
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 Execution Capabilities in the Leadership & Managing People sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
High dependence on third party suppliers
– Execution Capabilities 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.
Regulatory challenges
– Execution Capabilities 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 international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Execution Capabilities 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 REVIEWING STRATEGY-EXECUTION CAPABILITIES .
Weighted SWOT Analysis of REVIEWING STRATEGY-EXECUTION CAPABILITIES 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 REVIEWING STRATEGY-EXECUTION CAPABILITIES 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 REVIEWING STRATEGY-EXECUTION CAPABILITIES 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 REVIEWING STRATEGY-EXECUTION CAPABILITIES 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 REVIEWING STRATEGY-EXECUTION CAPABILITIES 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 Execution Capabilities needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.
