Leadership Forum: The View from the C-Suite SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Leadership & Managing People
Strategy / MBA Resources
Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of Leadership Forum: The View from the C-Suite
Three veterans of the C-suite discuss the current business landscape and some of their key challenges past, present and future. Mark Barrenechea, CEO of OpenText, explains why "Big Data is a bit over-hyped"; Former MasterCard CMO (now Sotheby's CMO) Alfredo Gangotena describes his greatest challenge ever: marketing EuroDisney to Parisians; and Mountain Equipment Co-Op CEO Mark Labistour explains his affinity for Design Thinking, and the importance of working towards a "desired future state" for your customer.
Authors :: David Labistour, Mark Barrenechea, Alfredo Gangotena, Mark Leung
Swot Analysis of "Leadership Forum: The View from the C-Suite" written by David Labistour, Mark Barrenechea, Alfredo Gangotena, Mark Leung includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Cmo Suite facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Leadership Forum: The View from the C-Suite case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Strategic thinking and Leadership & Managing People.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Leadership Forum: The View from the C-Suite casestudy better are - – increasing transportation and logistics costs, increasing energy prices, challanges to central banks by blockchain based private currencies, cloud computing is disrupting traditional business models, customer relationship management is fast transforming because of increasing concerns over data privacy, geopolitical disruptions, banking and financial system is disrupted by Bitcoin and other crypto currencies,
there is increasing trade war between United States & China, increasing commodity prices, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Leadership Forum: The View from the C-Suite
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Leadership Forum: The View from the C-Suite case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Cmo Suite, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Cmo Suite 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 Leadership Forum: The View from the C-Suite can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Leadership Forum: The View from the C-Suite case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Cmo Suite
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 Cmo Suite
Strengths Leadership Forum: The View from the C-Suite | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Cmo Suite in Leadership Forum: The View from the C-Suite Harvard Business Review case study are -
Analytics focus
– Cmo Suite 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 David Labistour, Mark Barrenechea, Alfredo Gangotena, Mark Leung 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.
Organizational Resilience of Cmo Suite
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing that Cmo Suite does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
Diverse revenue streams
– Cmo Suite is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided firm in Leadership Forum: The View from the C-Suite 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.
Digital Transformation in Leadership & Managing People segment
- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For Cmo Suite digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Cmo Suite 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.
Operational resilience
– The operational resilience strategy in the Leadership Forum: The View from the C-Suite 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.
Training and development
– Cmo Suite has one of the best training and development program in the industry. The effectiveness of the training programs can be measured in Leadership Forum: The View from the C-Suite 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.
Strong track record of project management
– Cmo Suite is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of Cmo Suite in the sector have low bargaining power. Leadership Forum: The View from the C-Suite has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Cmo Suite to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
Innovation driven organization
– Cmo Suite is one of the most innovative firm in sector. Manager in Leadership Forum: The View from the C-Suite Harvard Business Review case study can use Clayton Christensen Disruptive Innovation strategies to further increase the scale of innovtions in the organization.
Effective Research and Development (R&D)
– Cmo Suite 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 Leadership Forum: The View from the C-Suite - 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
– Leadership Forum: The View from the C-Suite firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Cmo Suite to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Leadership & Managing People industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Cmo Suite to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Learning organization
- Cmo Suite 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 Cmo Suite is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders in Leadership Forum: The View from the C-Suite Harvard Business Review case study emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
Weaknesses Leadership Forum: The View from the C-Suite | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Leadership Forum: The View from the C-Suite are -
Need for greater diversity
– Cmo Suite 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 cash cycle compare to competitors
Cmo Suite 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 operating costs
– Compare to the competitors, firm in the HBR case study Leadership Forum: The View from the C-Suite 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 Cmo Suite 's lucrative customers.
Capital Spending Reduction
– Even during the low interest decade, Cmo Suite 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.
Lack of clear differentiation of Cmo Suite products
– To increase the profitability and margins on the products, Cmo Suite needs to provide more differentiated products than what it is currently offering in the marketplace.
Low market penetration in new markets
– Outside its home market of Cmo Suite, firm in the HBR case study Leadership Forum: The View from the C-Suite needs to spend more promotional, marketing, and advertising efforts to penetrate international markets.
Ability to respond to the competition
– As the decision making is very deliberative, highlighted in the case study Leadership Forum: The View from the C-Suite, in the dynamic environment Cmo Suite has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. Cmo Suite has reasonably good record with similar level competitors but it has struggled with new entrants taking away niches of its business.
No frontier risks strategy
– After analyzing the HBR case study Leadership Forum: The View from the C-Suite, 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.
Products dominated business model
– Even though Cmo Suite 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 - Leadership Forum: The View from the C-Suite should strive to include more intangible value offerings along with its core products and services.
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 Cmo Suite supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes mentioned in the HBR case study - Leadership Forum: The View from the C-Suite, it is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left Cmo Suite vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.
Employees’ incomplete understanding of strategy
– From the instances in the HBR case study Leadership Forum: The View from the C-Suite, it seems that the employees of Cmo Suite 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.
Opportunities Leadership Forum: The View from the C-Suite | 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 Leadership Forum: The View from the C-Suite are -
Manufacturing automation
– Cmo Suite 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.
Building a culture of innovation
– managers at Cmo Suite 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.
Better consumer reach
– The expansion of the 5G network will help Cmo Suite to increase its market reach. Cmo Suite will be able to reach out to new customers. Secondly 5G will also provide technology framework to build new tools and products that can help more immersive consumer experience and faster consumer journey.
Identify volunteer opportunities
– Covid-19 has impacted working population in two ways – it has led to people soul searching about their professional choices, resulting in mass resignation. Secondly it has encouraged people to do things that they are passionate about. This has opened opportunities for businesses to build volunteer oriented socially driven projects. Cmo Suite can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.
Loyalty marketing
– Cmo Suite 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.
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Cmo Suite has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Cmo Suite to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the Leadership Forum: The View from the C-Suite case study. Cmo Suite can build new products and services such as - data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
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 Cmo Suite in the consumer business. Now Cmo Suite can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.
Reforming the budgeting process
- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects Cmo Suite can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.
Increase in government spending
– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Cmo Suite can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Cmo Suite operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Leadership & Managing People sector.
Leveraging digital technologies
– Cmo Suite 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.
Buying journey improvements
– Cmo Suite can improve the customer journey of consumers in the industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. Leadership Forum: The View from the C-Suite 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.
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. Cmo Suite can tie-up with other value chain partners to explore new opportunities regarding meeting customer demands and building a rewarding and engaging relationship.
Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains
– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Cmo Suite 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, Leadership Forum: The View from the C-Suite, to buy more products closer to the markets, and it can leverage its size and influence to get better deal from the local markets.
Threats Leadership Forum: The View from the C-Suite External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Leadership Forum: The View from the C-Suite are -
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Cmo Suite 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 Cmo Suite in the Leadership & Managing People sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
Environmental challenges
– Cmo Suite 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. Cmo Suite 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
– Cmo Suite 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.
Consumer confidence and its impact on Cmo Suite 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.
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Cmo Suite has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Leadership & Managing People industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Cmo Suite needs to keep up with the evolution of technology in the Leadership & Managing People sector. According to Mckinsey study top managers believe that the adoption of technology in operations, communications is 20-25 times faster than what they planned in the beginning of 2019.
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, as highlighted in case study Leadership Forum: The View from the C-Suite, Cmo Suite 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 .
Regulatory challenges
– Cmo Suite 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.
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.
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Cmo Suite 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.
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. Cmo Suite can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
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 Cmo Suite.
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.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Leadership Forum: The View from the C-Suite 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 Leadership Forum: The View from the C-Suite 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 Leadership Forum: The View from the C-Suite 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 Leadership Forum: The View from the C-Suite 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 Leadership Forum: The View from the C-Suite 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 Cmo Suite needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.
