The Real-time Power of Twitter: Crisis Management and Leadership in an Age of Social Media SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis

Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution

Case Study Description of The Real-time Power of Twitter: Crisis Management and Leadership in an Age of Social Media

This article focuses on crisis management and leadership by executives, boards, and institutions and applies research on resilience, power, and sensemaking in the analysis of the ousting and subsequent return of a chief executive by the board of directors. Insights are shared on the transparency of information, the power of social media, the role of leaders in a crisis, and the ability of different voices to be heard and exert influence in our social media age. This case study provides a set of recommendations for leadership and crisis management in the contemporary business environment by showing how a crisis can be fueled by social media. Twitter is analyzed as a source of real-time news and information, which can have a significant impact on organizations and their strategies. Furthermore, implications for new executives are highlighted, with a focus on how their initial sensemaking process shapes the ability to respond to a crisis.

Authors :: Daniel A. Gruber, Ryan E. Smerek, Melissa Thomas-Hunt, Erika H. James

Topics :: Leadership & Managing People

Tags :: Crisis management, Human resource management, Leadership, Social platforms, SWOT Analysis, SWOT Matrix, TOWS, Weighted SWOT Analysis

Swot Analysis of "The Real-time Power of Twitter: Crisis Management and Leadership in an Age of Social Media" written by Daniel A. Gruber, Ryan E. Smerek, Melissa Thomas-Hunt, Erika H. James includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Crisis Sensemaking facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in The Real-time Power of Twitter: Crisis Management and Leadership in an Age of Social Media case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Crisis management, Human resource management, Leadership, Social platforms and Leadership & Managing People.

Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the The Real-time Power of Twitter: Crisis Management and Leadership in an Age of Social Media casestudy better are - – increasing inequality as vast percentage of new income is going to the top 1%, increasing government debt because of Covid-19 spendings, increasing energy prices, digital marketing is dominated by two big players Facebook and Google, talent flight as more people leaving formal jobs, technology disruption, banking and financial system is disrupted by Bitcoin and other crypto currencies, there is backlash against globalization, increasing transportation and logistics costs, etc

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Introduction to SWOT Analysis of The Real-time Power of Twitter: Crisis Management and Leadership in an Age of Social Media

SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in The Real-time Power of Twitter: Crisis Management and Leadership in an Age of Social Media case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Crisis Sensemaking, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Crisis Sensemaking 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.

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SWOT Objectives / Importance of SWOT Analysis and SWOT Matrix

SWOT analysis of The Real-time Power of Twitter: Crisis Management and Leadership in an Age of Social Media can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in The Real-time Power of Twitter: Crisis Management and Leadership in an Age of Social Media case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Crisis Sensemaking
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 Crisis Sensemaking

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Strengths The Real-time Power of Twitter: Crisis Management and Leadership in an Age of Social Media | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis

The strengths of Crisis Sensemaking in The Real-time Power of Twitter: Crisis Management and Leadership in an Age of Social Media Harvard Business Review case study are -

Analytics focus

– Crisis Sensemaking 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 Daniel A. Gruber, Ryan E. Smerek, Melissa Thomas-Hunt, Erika H. James 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.

Superior customer experience

– The customer experience strategy of Crisis Sensemaking 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

– The Real-time Power of Twitter: Crisis Management and Leadership in an Age of Social Media firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Crisis Sensemaking to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Leadership & Managing People industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Crisis Sensemaking to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.

Strong track record of project management

– Crisis Sensemaking is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.

Highly skilled collaborators

– Crisis Sensemaking 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 The Real-time Power of Twitter: Crisis Management and Leadership in an Age of Social Media HBR case study have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.

Low bargaining power of suppliers

– Suppliers of Crisis Sensemaking in the sector have low bargaining power. The Real-time Power of Twitter: Crisis Management and Leadership in an Age of Social Media has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Crisis Sensemaking to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.

High switching costs

– The high switching costs that Crisis Sensemaking 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.

High brand equity

– Crisis Sensemaking has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Crisis Sensemaking to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.

Operational resilience

– The operational resilience strategy in the The Real-time Power of Twitter: Crisis Management and Leadership in an Age of Social Media 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.

Effective Research and Development (R&D)

– Crisis Sensemaking 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 The Real-time Power of Twitter: Crisis Management and Leadership in an Age of Social Media - staying ahead in the industry in terms of – new product launches, superior customer experience, highly competitive pricing strategies, and great returns to the shareholders.

Learning organization

- Crisis Sensemaking 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 Crisis Sensemaking is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders in The Real-time Power of Twitter: Crisis Management and Leadership in an Age of Social Media Harvard Business Review case study emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.

Successful track record of launching new products

– Crisis Sensemaking has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Crisis Sensemaking 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.

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Weaknesses The Real-time Power of Twitter: Crisis Management and Leadership in an Age of Social Media | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis

The weaknesses of The Real-time Power of Twitter: Crisis Management and Leadership in an Age of Social Media are -

Slow to strategic competitive environment developments

– As The Real-time Power of Twitter: Crisis Management and Leadership in an Age of Social Media HBR case study mentions - Crisis Sensemaking 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.

High dependence on star products

– The top 2 products and services of the firm as mentioned in the The Real-time Power of Twitter: Crisis Management and Leadership in an Age of Social Media 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 Crisis Sensemaking has relatively successful track record of launching new products.

High cash cycle compare to competitors

Crisis Sensemaking has a high cash cycle compare to other players in the industry. It needs to shorten the cash cycle by 12% to be more competitive in the marketplace, reduce inventory costs, and be more profitable.

High dependence on existing supply chain

– The disruption in the global supply chains because of the Covid-19 pandemic and blockage of the Suez Canal illustrated the fragile nature of Crisis Sensemaking supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes mentioned in the HBR case study - The Real-time Power of Twitter: Crisis Management and Leadership in an Age of Social Media, it is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left Crisis Sensemaking vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.

Lack of clear differentiation of Crisis Sensemaking products

– To increase the profitability and margins on the products, Crisis Sensemaking needs to provide more differentiated products than what it is currently offering in the marketplace.

Slow to harness new channels of communication

– Even though competitors are using new communication channels such as Instagram, Tiktok, and Snap, Crisis Sensemaking is slow explore the new channels of communication. These new channels of communication mentioned in marketing section of case study The Real-time Power of Twitter: Crisis Management and Leadership in an Age of Social Media can help to provide better information regarding products and services. It can also build an online community to further reach out to potential customers.

Compensation and incentives

– The revenue per employee as mentioned in the HBR case study The Real-time Power of Twitter: Crisis Management and Leadership in an Age of Social Media, is just above the industry average. Crisis Sensemaking needs to redesign the compensation structure and incentives to increase the revenue per employees. Some of the steps that it can take are – hiring more specialists on project basis, etc.

No frontier risks strategy

– After analyzing the HBR case study The Real-time Power of Twitter: Crisis Management and Leadership in an Age of Social Media, 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.

Interest costs

– Compare to the competition, Crisis Sensemaking 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.

High operating costs

– Compare to the competitors, firm in the HBR case study The Real-time Power of Twitter: Crisis Management and Leadership in an Age of Social Media 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 Crisis Sensemaking 's lucrative customers.

Need for greater diversity

– Crisis Sensemaking 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.

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Opportunities The Real-time Power of Twitter: Crisis Management and Leadership in an Age of Social Media | 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 The Real-time Power of Twitter: Crisis Management and Leadership in an Age of Social Media are -

Lowering marketing communication costs

– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Crisis Sensemaking 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.

Redefining models of collaboration and team work

– As explained in the weaknesses section, Crisis Sensemaking is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. The Real-time Power of Twitter: Crisis Management and Leadership in an Age of Social Media 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.

Leveraging digital technologies

– Crisis Sensemaking 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.

Building a culture of innovation

– managers at Crisis Sensemaking 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.

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 Crisis Sensemaking in the consumer business. Now Crisis Sensemaking can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.

Creating value in data economy

– The success of analytics program of Crisis Sensemaking has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Crisis Sensemaking to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the The Real-time Power of Twitter: Crisis Management and Leadership in an Age of Social Media case study. Crisis Sensemaking can build new products and services such as - data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, 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 Crisis Sensemaking 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.

Reforming the budgeting process

- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects Crisis Sensemaking can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.

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. Crisis Sensemaking 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. Crisis Sensemaking 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.

Learning at scale

– Online learning technologies has now opened space for Crisis Sensemaking 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.

Increase in government spending

– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Crisis Sensemaking can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Crisis Sensemaking operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Leadership & Managing People sector.

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. Crisis Sensemaking can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.

Manufacturing automation

– Crisis Sensemaking 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.

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Threats The Real-time Power of Twitter: Crisis Management and Leadership in an Age of Social Media External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis

The threats mentioned in the HBR case study The Real-time Power of Twitter: Crisis Management and Leadership in an Age of Social Media are -

Trade war between China and United States

– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Crisis Sensemaking 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.

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 Crisis Sensemaking in the Leadership & Managing People sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.

Barriers of entry lowering

– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry in the industry are lowering. It can presents Crisis Sensemaking with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the sector.

Learning curve for new practices

– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, as highlighted in case study The Real-time Power of Twitter: Crisis Management and Leadership in an Age of Social Media, Crisis Sensemaking 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 .

Environmental challenges

– Crisis Sensemaking 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. Crisis Sensemaking can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Leadership & Managing People industry.

High dependence on third party suppliers

– Crisis Sensemaking 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.

Shortening product life cycle

– it is one of the major threat that Crisis Sensemaking is facing in Leadership & Managing People sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.

Regulatory challenges

– Crisis Sensemaking 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 Crisis Sensemaking.

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. Crisis Sensemaking can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.

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 Crisis Sensemaking 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. Crisis Sensemaking 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.

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Weighted SWOT Analysis of The Real-time Power of Twitter: Crisis Management and Leadership in an Age of Social Media 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 The Real-time Power of Twitter: Crisis Management and Leadership in an Age of Social Media 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 The Real-time Power of Twitter: Crisis Management and Leadership in an Age of Social Media 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 The Real-time Power of Twitter: Crisis Management and Leadership in an Age of Social Media 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 The Real-time Power of Twitter: Crisis Management and Leadership in an Age of Social Media 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 Crisis Sensemaking needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.

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