Open Leadership: A New Paradigm Emerges SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Leadership & Managing People
Strategy / MBA Resources
Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of Open Leadership: A New Paradigm Emerges
In this interview, best-selling author and social media expert Charlene Li talks about the new openness and the implications for leaders everywhere. According to Li, these include embracing four objectives of openness: learn, dialog, support and innovate. She describes each in detail and shows that just as there is a continuum of openness for organizations, there is also a continuum of openness for leaders. She describes four 'openness archetypes' and the particular challenges faced by each, as well as the need for every organization to clearly define its 'sandbox'. In the end, she shows that leaders never really had total control over their customers and employees; what they have to give up now is the need for control.
Swot Analysis of "Open Leadership: A New Paradigm Emerges" written by Charlene Li, Karen Christensen includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Openness Continuum facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Open Leadership: A New Paradigm Emerges case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Leadership, Strategy and Leadership & Managing People.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Open Leadership: A New Paradigm Emerges casestudy better are - – wage bills are increasing, there is backlash against globalization, increasing transportation and logistics costs, increasing commodity prices, increasing energy prices, increasing household debt because of falling income levels, talent flight as more people leaving formal jobs,
supply chains are disrupted by pandemic , central banks are concerned over increasing inflation, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Open Leadership: A New Paradigm Emerges
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Open Leadership: A New Paradigm Emerges case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Openness Continuum, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Openness Continuum 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 Open Leadership: A New Paradigm Emerges can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Open Leadership: A New Paradigm Emerges case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Openness Continuum
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 Openness Continuum
Strengths Open Leadership: A New Paradigm Emerges | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Openness Continuum in Open Leadership: A New Paradigm Emerges Harvard Business Review case study are -
High brand equity
– Openness Continuum has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Openness Continuum to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Digital Transformation in Leadership & Managing People segment
- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For Openness Continuum digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Openness Continuum 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.
Innovation driven organization
– Openness Continuum is one of the most innovative firm in sector. Manager in Open Leadership: A New Paradigm Emerges Harvard Business Review case study can use Clayton Christensen Disruptive Innovation strategies to further increase the scale of innovtions in the organization.
Analytics focus
– Openness Continuum 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 Charlene Li, Karen Christensen 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.
Successful track record of launching new products
– Openness Continuum has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Openness Continuum 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.
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of Openness Continuum in the sector have low bargaining power. Open Leadership: A New Paradigm Emerges has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Openness Continuum to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
Learning organization
- Openness Continuum 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 Openness Continuum is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders in Open Leadership: A New Paradigm Emerges Harvard Business Review case study emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
Superior customer experience
– The customer experience strategy of Openness Continuum in the segment is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.
Operational resilience
– The operational resilience strategy in the Open Leadership: A New Paradigm Emerges 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.
Diverse revenue streams
– Openness Continuum is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided firm in Open Leadership: A New Paradigm Emerges 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.
Strong track record of project management
– Openness Continuum 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 Openness Continuum 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.
Weaknesses Open Leadership: A New Paradigm Emerges | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Open Leadership: A New Paradigm Emerges are -
No frontier risks strategy
– After analyzing the HBR case study Open Leadership: A New Paradigm Emerges, 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.
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 Openness Continuum supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes mentioned in the HBR case study - Open Leadership: A New Paradigm Emerges, it is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left Openness Continuum vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.
High bargaining power of channel partners
– Because of the regulatory requirements, Charlene Li, Karen Christensen suggests that, Openness Continuum 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.
Need for greater diversity
– Openness Continuum has taken concrete steps on diversity, equity, and inclusion. But the efforts so far has resulted in limited success. It needs to expand the recruitment and selection process to hire more people from the minorities and underprivileged background.
High dependence on star products
– The top 2 products and services of the firm as mentioned in the Open Leadership: A New Paradigm Emerges 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 Openness Continuum has relatively successful track record of launching new products.
Employees’ incomplete understanding of strategy
– From the instances in the HBR case study Open Leadership: A New Paradigm Emerges, it seems that the employees of Openness Continuum 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.
High operating costs
– Compare to the competitors, firm in the HBR case study Open Leadership: A New Paradigm Emerges 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 Openness Continuum 's lucrative customers.
Skills based hiring
– The stress on hiring functional specialists at Openness Continuum 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.
Aligning sales with marketing
– It come across in the case study Open Leadership: A New Paradigm Emerges 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 Open Leadership: A New Paradigm Emerges can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Openness Continuum is planning to shift buying processes online.
Increasing silos among functional specialists
– The organizational structure of Openness Continuum is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Leadership & Managing People segment. Openness Continuum needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Openness Continuum to focus more on services rather than just following the product oriented approach.
Capital Spending Reduction
– Even during the low interest decade, Openness Continuum 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.
Opportunities Open Leadership: A New Paradigm Emerges | 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 Open Leadership: A New Paradigm Emerges are -
Building a culture of innovation
– managers at Openness Continuum 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.
Buying journey improvements
– Openness Continuum can improve the customer journey of consumers in the industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. Open Leadership: A New Paradigm Emerges suggest that firm can provide automated chats to help consumers solve their own problems, provide online suggestions to get maximum out of the products and services, and help consumers to build a community where they can interact with each other to develop new features and uses.
Changes in consumer behavior post Covid-19
– Consumer behavior has changed in the Leadership & Managing People industry because of Covid-19 restrictions. Some of this behavior will stay once things get back to normal. Openness Continuum 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. Openness Continuum 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.
Leveraging digital technologies
– Openness Continuum 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.
Better consumer reach
– The expansion of the 5G network will help Openness Continuum to increase its market reach. Openness Continuum 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.
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– Openness Continuum has spent a significant amount of money and effort to integrate analytics and machine learning into its operations in the sector. This continuous investment in analytics has enabled, as illustrated in the Harvard case study Open Leadership: A New Paradigm Emerges - to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Openness Continuum to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
Manufacturing automation
– Openness Continuum 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.
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. Openness Continuum can tie-up with other value chain partners to explore new opportunities regarding meeting customer demands and building a rewarding and engaging relationship.
Developing new processes and practices
– Openness Continuum 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.
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Openness Continuum has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Openness Continuum to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the Open Leadership: A New Paradigm Emerges case study. Openness Continuum can build new products and services such as - data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, 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. Openness Continuum can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.
Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities
– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Openness Continuum 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 Openness Continuum to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
Loyalty marketing
– Openness Continuum 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.
Threats Open Leadership: A New Paradigm Emerges External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Open Leadership: A New Paradigm Emerges are -
Environmental challenges
– Openness Continuum 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. Openness Continuum can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Leadership & Managing People industry.
Increasing wage structure of Openness Continuum
– 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 Openness Continuum.
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Openness Continuum 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.
Regulatory challenges
– Openness Continuum 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.
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry in the industry are lowering. It can presents Openness Continuum with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the sector.
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 Openness Continuum in the Leadership & Managing People sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
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 Openness Continuum.
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. Openness Continuum can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, as highlighted in case study Open Leadership: A New Paradigm Emerges, Openness Continuum 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.
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Openness Continuum 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 Open Leadership: A New Paradigm Emerges .
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Openness Continuum has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Leadership & Managing People industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Openness Continuum 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.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Open Leadership: A New Paradigm Emerges 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 Open Leadership: A New Paradigm Emerges 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 Open Leadership: A New Paradigm Emerges 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 Open Leadership: A New Paradigm Emerges 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 Open Leadership: A New Paradigm Emerges 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 Openness Continuum needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.
