"Reinventing" the Command: General Janet Wolfenbarger's Values-Based Leadership Drives Change at the United States Air Force SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Leadership & Managing People
Strategy / MBA Resources
Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of "Reinventing" the Command: General Janet Wolfenbarger's Values-Based Leadership Drives Change at the United States Air Force
Due to proposed long-term cuts in the United States Department of Defense (DOD) budget, the DOD prioritized improving efficiencies, reducing overhead, and eliminating redundancies within its many commands. Accordingly, the Commander of Air Force Materiel Command (AFMC), the support command responsible for equipping the Air Force to keep it ready for war, assembled a small team, led by AFMC's Vice Commander, Lieutenant General Janet Wolfenbarger, to examine their options. Her team proposed to reorganize the command to align with the Secretary of Defense's efficiency mandate. Even so, Wolfenbarger anticipated opposition to the plan since it called for the elimination of seven of twelve AFMC centers-a move that would require support from the AFMC leadership, the Air Force, the DOD and Congress. Wolfenbarger knew she would need to draw on her lifetime of military leadership experience to accomplish her mission of successfully reorganizing AFMC. This case illustrates how a leader's life experiences shape their values and principles and how those personal and professional values can influence a leadership and management challenge. Case Number 2065.0
Swot Analysis of ""Reinventing" the Command: General Janet Wolfenbarger's Values-Based Leadership Drives Change at the United States Air Force" written by Dana Born, Laura Winig includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Afmc Wolfenbarger facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in "Reinventing" the Command: General Janet Wolfenbarger's Values-Based Leadership Drives Change at the United States Air Force case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Communication, Decision making, Government, Leadership, Organizational culture, Reorganization and Leadership & Managing People.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the "Reinventing" the Command: General Janet Wolfenbarger's Values-Based Leadership Drives Change at the United States Air Force casestudy better are - – increasing transportation and logistics costs, wage bills are increasing, digital marketing is dominated by two big players Facebook and Google, competitive advantages are harder to sustain because of technology dispersion, technology disruption, increasing energy prices, increasing inequality as vast percentage of new income is going to the top 1%,
there is backlash against globalization, increasing government debt because of Covid-19 spendings, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of "Reinventing" the Command: General Janet Wolfenbarger's Values-Based Leadership Drives Change at the United States Air Force
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in "Reinventing" the Command: General Janet Wolfenbarger's Values-Based Leadership Drives Change at the United States Air Force case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Afmc Wolfenbarger, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Afmc Wolfenbarger 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 "Reinventing" the Command: General Janet Wolfenbarger's Values-Based Leadership Drives Change at the United States Air Force can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in "Reinventing" the Command: General Janet Wolfenbarger's Values-Based Leadership Drives Change at the United States Air Force case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Afmc Wolfenbarger
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 Afmc Wolfenbarger
Strengths "Reinventing" the Command: General Janet Wolfenbarger's Values-Based Leadership Drives Change at the United States Air Force | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Afmc Wolfenbarger in "Reinventing" the Command: General Janet Wolfenbarger's Values-Based Leadership Drives Change at the United States Air Force Harvard Business Review case study are -
Highly skilled collaborators
– Afmc Wolfenbarger 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 "Reinventing" the Command: General Janet Wolfenbarger's Values-Based Leadership Drives Change at the United States Air Force HBR case study have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
Operational resilience
– The operational resilience strategy in the "Reinventing" the Command: General Janet Wolfenbarger's Values-Based Leadership Drives Change at the United States Air Force 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.
Strong track record of project management
– Afmc Wolfenbarger 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 Afmc Wolfenbarger 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.
Diverse revenue streams
– Afmc Wolfenbarger is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided firm in "Reinventing" the Command: General Janet Wolfenbarger's Values-Based Leadership Drives Change at the United States Air Force 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)
– Afmc Wolfenbarger 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 "Reinventing" the Command: General Janet Wolfenbarger's Values-Based Leadership Drives Change at the United States Air Force - 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
– Afmc Wolfenbarger has one of the best training and development program in the industry. The effectiveness of the training programs can be measured in "Reinventing" the Command: General Janet Wolfenbarger's Values-Based Leadership Drives Change at the United States Air Force 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.
Innovation driven organization
– Afmc Wolfenbarger is one of the most innovative firm in sector. Manager in "Reinventing" the Command: General Janet Wolfenbarger's Values-Based Leadership Drives Change at the United States Air Force Harvard Business Review case study can use Clayton Christensen Disruptive Innovation strategies to further increase the scale of innovtions in the organization.
Cross disciplinary teams
– Horizontal connected teams at the Afmc Wolfenbarger 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 lead change in Leadership & Managing People field
– Afmc Wolfenbarger 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 Afmc Wolfenbarger in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.
Superior customer experience
– The customer experience strategy of Afmc Wolfenbarger in the segment is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Leadership & Managing People industry
– "Reinventing" the Command: General Janet Wolfenbarger's Values-Based Leadership Drives Change at the United States Air Force firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Afmc Wolfenbarger to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Leadership & Managing People industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Afmc Wolfenbarger to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Weaknesses "Reinventing" the Command: General Janet Wolfenbarger's Values-Based Leadership Drives Change at the United States Air Force | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of "Reinventing" the Command: General Janet Wolfenbarger's Values-Based Leadership Drives Change at the United States Air Force are -
High bargaining power of channel partners
– Because of the regulatory requirements, Dana Born, Laura Winig suggests that, Afmc Wolfenbarger 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.
High dependence on star products
– The top 2 products and services of the firm as mentioned in the "Reinventing" the Command: General Janet Wolfenbarger's Values-Based Leadership Drives Change at the United States Air Force 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 Afmc Wolfenbarger has relatively successful track record of launching new products.
Capital Spending Reduction
– Even during the low interest decade, Afmc Wolfenbarger 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.
Products dominated business model
– Even though Afmc Wolfenbarger 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 - "Reinventing" the Command: General Janet Wolfenbarger's Values-Based Leadership Drives Change at the United States Air Force should strive to include more intangible value offerings along with its core products and services.
Increasing silos among functional specialists
– The organizational structure of Afmc Wolfenbarger is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Leadership & Managing People segment. Afmc Wolfenbarger needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Afmc Wolfenbarger to focus more on services rather than just following the product oriented approach.
Skills based hiring
– The stress on hiring functional specialists at Afmc Wolfenbarger 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.
Need for greater diversity
– Afmc Wolfenbarger 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.
Interest costs
– Compare to the competition, Afmc Wolfenbarger 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.
Ability to respond to the competition
– As the decision making is very deliberative, highlighted in the case study "Reinventing" the Command: General Janet Wolfenbarger's Values-Based Leadership Drives Change at the United States Air Force, in the dynamic environment Afmc Wolfenbarger has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. Afmc Wolfenbarger has reasonably good record with similar level competitors but it has struggled with new entrants taking away niches of its business.
Slow to strategic competitive environment developments
– As "Reinventing" the Command: General Janet Wolfenbarger's Values-Based Leadership Drives Change at the United States Air Force HBR case study mentions - Afmc Wolfenbarger takes time to assess the upcoming competitions. This has led to missing out on atleast 2-3 big opportunities in the industry in last five years.
Lack of clear differentiation of Afmc Wolfenbarger products
– To increase the profitability and margins on the products, Afmc Wolfenbarger needs to provide more differentiated products than what it is currently offering in the marketplace.
Opportunities "Reinventing" the Command: General Janet Wolfenbarger's Values-Based Leadership Drives Change at the United States Air Force | 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 "Reinventing" the Command: General Janet Wolfenbarger's Values-Based Leadership Drives Change at the United States Air Force 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 Afmc Wolfenbarger in the consumer business. Now Afmc Wolfenbarger can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.
Manufacturing automation
– Afmc Wolfenbarger 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.
Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains
– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Afmc Wolfenbarger 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, "Reinventing" the Command: General Janet Wolfenbarger's Values-Based Leadership Drives Change at the United States Air Force, to buy more products closer to the markets, and it can leverage its size and influence to get better deal from the local markets.
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. Afmc Wolfenbarger can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.
Low interest rates
– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Afmc Wolfenbarger 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
– Afmc Wolfenbarger 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.
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. Afmc Wolfenbarger 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 Afmc Wolfenbarger has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Afmc Wolfenbarger to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the "Reinventing" the Command: General Janet Wolfenbarger's Values-Based Leadership Drives Change at the United States Air Force case study. Afmc Wolfenbarger can build new products and services such as - data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
Leveraging digital technologies
– Afmc Wolfenbarger can leverage digital technologies such as artificial intelligence and machine learning to automate the production process, customer analytics to get better insights into consumer behavior, realtime digital dashboards to get better sales tracking, logistics and transportation, product tracking, etc.
Developing new processes and practices
– Afmc Wolfenbarger can develop new processes and procedures in Leadership & Managing People industry using technology such as automation using artificial intelligence, real time transportation and products tracking, 3D modeling for concept development and new products pilot testing etc.
Lowering marketing communication costs
– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Afmc Wolfenbarger 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.
Learning at scale
– Online learning technologies has now opened space for Afmc Wolfenbarger 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 Afmc Wolfenbarger 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.
Threats "Reinventing" the Command: General Janet Wolfenbarger's Values-Based Leadership Drives Change at the United States Air Force External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study "Reinventing" the Command: General Janet Wolfenbarger's Values-Based Leadership Drives Change at the United States Air Force are -
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.
Consumer confidence and its impact on Afmc Wolfenbarger 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.
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 Afmc Wolfenbarger in the Leadership & Managing People sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Afmc Wolfenbarger 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.
High dependence on third party suppliers
– Afmc Wolfenbarger 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.
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. Afmc Wolfenbarger needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Leadership & Managing People industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
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 Afmc Wolfenbarger.
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, as highlighted in case study "Reinventing" the Command: General Janet Wolfenbarger's Values-Based Leadership Drives Change at the United States Air Force, Afmc Wolfenbarger 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 .
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry in the industry are lowering. It can presents Afmc Wolfenbarger with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the sector.
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.
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. Afmc Wolfenbarger 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.
Increasing wage structure of Afmc Wolfenbarger
– 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 Afmc Wolfenbarger.
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. Afmc Wolfenbarger can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of "Reinventing" the Command: General Janet Wolfenbarger's Values-Based Leadership Drives Change at the United States Air Force 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 "Reinventing" the Command: General Janet Wolfenbarger's Values-Based Leadership Drives Change at the United States Air Force 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 "Reinventing" the Command: General Janet Wolfenbarger's Values-Based Leadership Drives Change at the United States Air Force 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 "Reinventing" the Command: General Janet Wolfenbarger's Values-Based Leadership Drives Change at the United States Air Force 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 "Reinventing" the Command: General Janet Wolfenbarger's Values-Based Leadership Drives Change at the United States Air Force 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 Afmc Wolfenbarger needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.
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