Leadership for Change: How Publicly-Traded Companies Can Drive Large-Scale Change SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Leadership & Managing People
Strategy / MBA Resources
Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of Leadership for Change: How Publicly-Traded Companies Can Drive Large-Scale Change
In an excerpt from the 2011 Skoll World Forum, leaders from Danone, Cisco and Novartis describe how they are working to develop scalable solutions to some of the world's most pressing issues by engaging local communities in the solution. They describe their initiatives - which include tackling malnutrition in Bangladesh, health care treatment in rural India, and educating youth for the technologically-driven 21st century - in detail and discuss lessons learned to date, providing inspiration and proof that public companies can drive large-scale change in the world.
Swot Analysis of "Leadership for Change: How Publicly-Traded Companies Can Drive Large-Scale Change" written by Dorje Mundle, Kathy Mulvaney, Emmanuel Marchant includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Describe Skoll facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Leadership for Change: How Publicly-Traded Companies Can Drive Large-Scale Change case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Social responsibility, Strategic thinking and Leadership & Managing People.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Leadership for Change: How Publicly-Traded Companies Can Drive Large-Scale Change casestudy better are - – increasing transportation and logistics costs, banking and financial system is disrupted by Bitcoin and other crypto currencies, there is backlash against globalization, increasing government debt because of Covid-19 spendings, wage bills are increasing, technology disruption, increasing household debt because of falling income levels,
supply chains are disrupted by pandemic , increasing commodity prices, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Leadership for Change: How Publicly-Traded Companies Can Drive Large-Scale Change
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Leadership for Change: How Publicly-Traded Companies Can Drive Large-Scale Change case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Describe Skoll, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Describe Skoll 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 for Change: How Publicly-Traded Companies Can Drive Large-Scale Change can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Leadership for Change: How Publicly-Traded Companies Can Drive Large-Scale Change case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Describe Skoll
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 Describe Skoll
Strengths Leadership for Change: How Publicly-Traded Companies Can Drive Large-Scale Change | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Describe Skoll in Leadership for Change: How Publicly-Traded Companies Can Drive Large-Scale Change Harvard Business Review case study are -
Cross disciplinary teams
– Horizontal connected teams at the Describe Skoll 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.
Innovation driven organization
– Describe Skoll is one of the most innovative firm in sector. Manager in Leadership for Change: How Publicly-Traded Companies Can Drive Large-Scale Change Harvard Business Review case study can use Clayton Christensen Disruptive Innovation strategies to further increase the scale of innovtions in the organization.
High switching costs
– The high switching costs that Describe Skoll 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.
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of Describe Skoll in the sector have low bargaining power. Leadership for Change: How Publicly-Traded Companies Can Drive Large-Scale Change has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Describe Skoll to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
High brand equity
– Describe Skoll has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Describe Skoll to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Strong track record of project management
– Describe Skoll is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.
Ability to recruit top talent
– Describe Skoll is one of the leading recruiters in the industry. Managers in the Leadership for Change: How Publicly-Traded Companies Can Drive Large-Scale Change are in a position to attract the best talent available. The firm has a robust talent identification program that helps in identifying the brightest.
Operational resilience
– The operational resilience strategy in the Leadership for Change: How Publicly-Traded Companies Can Drive Large-Scale Change 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.
Ability to lead change in Leadership & Managing People field
– Describe Skoll 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 Describe Skoll in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.
Learning organization
- Describe Skoll 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 Describe Skoll is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders in Leadership for Change: How Publicly-Traded Companies Can Drive Large-Scale Change Harvard Business Review case study emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
Superior customer experience
– The customer experience strategy of Describe Skoll in the segment is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.
Digital Transformation in Leadership & Managing People segment
- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For Describe Skoll digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Describe Skoll 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.
Weaknesses Leadership for Change: How Publicly-Traded Companies Can Drive Large-Scale Change | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Leadership for Change: How Publicly-Traded Companies Can Drive Large-Scale Change are -
High dependence on star products
– The top 2 products and services of the firm as mentioned in the Leadership for Change: How Publicly-Traded Companies Can Drive Large-Scale Change 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 Describe Skoll has relatively successful track record of launching new products.
Workers concerns about automation
– As automation is fast increasing in the segment, Describe Skoll needs to come up with a strategy to reduce the workers concern regarding automation. Without a clear strategy, it could lead to disruption and uncertainty within the organization.
High cash cycle compare to competitors
Describe Skoll 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.
Slow to harness new channels of communication
– Even though competitors are using new communication channels such as Instagram, Tiktok, and Snap, Describe Skoll is slow explore the new channels of communication. These new channels of communication mentioned in marketing section of case study Leadership for Change: How Publicly-Traded Companies Can Drive Large-Scale Change can help to provide better information regarding products and services. It can also build an online community to further reach out to potential customers.
Increasing silos among functional specialists
– The organizational structure of Describe Skoll is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Leadership & Managing People segment. Describe Skoll needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Describe Skoll to focus more on services rather than just following the product oriented approach.
Capital Spending Reduction
– Even during the low interest decade, Describe Skoll 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.
Low market penetration in new markets
– Outside its home market of Describe Skoll, firm in the HBR case study Leadership for Change: How Publicly-Traded Companies Can Drive Large-Scale Change needs to spend more promotional, marketing, and advertising efforts to penetrate international markets.
Employees’ incomplete understanding of strategy
– From the instances in the HBR case study Leadership for Change: How Publicly-Traded Companies Can Drive Large-Scale Change, it seems that the employees of Describe Skoll 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.
Skills based hiring
– The stress on hiring functional specialists at Describe Skoll 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.
High operating costs
– Compare to the competitors, firm in the HBR case study Leadership for Change: How Publicly-Traded Companies Can Drive Large-Scale Change 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 Describe Skoll 's lucrative customers.
Need for greater diversity
– Describe Skoll 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.
Opportunities Leadership for Change: How Publicly-Traded Companies Can Drive Large-Scale Change | 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 for Change: How Publicly-Traded Companies Can Drive Large-Scale Change are -
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. Describe Skoll can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.
Leveraging digital technologies
– Describe Skoll 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.
Manufacturing automation
– Describe Skoll 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.
Lowering marketing communication costs
– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Describe Skoll 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.
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Describe Skoll has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Describe Skoll to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the Leadership for Change: How Publicly-Traded Companies Can Drive Large-Scale Change case study. Describe Skoll can build new products and services such as - data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
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. Describe Skoll 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. Describe Skoll 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.
Developing new processes and practices
– Describe Skoll 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.
Better consumer reach
– The expansion of the 5G network will help Describe Skoll to increase its market reach. Describe Skoll 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
– Describe Skoll 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 Leadership for Change: How Publicly-Traded Companies Can Drive Large-Scale Change - to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Describe Skoll to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
Building a culture of innovation
– managers at Describe Skoll 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 Describe Skoll in the consumer business. Now Describe Skoll can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.
Learning at scale
– Online learning technologies has now opened space for Describe Skoll 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.
Redefining models of collaboration and team work
– As explained in the weaknesses section, Describe Skoll is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. Leadership for Change: How Publicly-Traded Companies Can Drive Large-Scale Change 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.
Threats Leadership for Change: How Publicly-Traded Companies Can Drive Large-Scale Change External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Leadership for Change: How Publicly-Traded Companies Can Drive Large-Scale Change are -
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Describe Skoll is facing in Leadership & Managing People sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.
Backlash against dominant players
– US Congress and other legislative arms of the government are getting tough on big business especially technology companies. The digital arm of Describe Skoll business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry in the industry are lowering. It can presents Describe Skoll with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the sector.
Regulatory challenges
– Describe Skoll 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.
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. Describe Skoll needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Leadership & Managing People industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Describe Skoll 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 Leadership for Change: How Publicly-Traded Companies Can Drive Large-Scale Change .
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 Describe Skoll.
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Describe Skoll 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.
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.
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Describe Skoll has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Leadership & Managing People industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Describe Skoll 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.
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. Describe Skoll 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.
Environmental challenges
– Describe Skoll 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. Describe Skoll can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Leadership & Managing People industry.
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 for Change: How Publicly-Traded Companies Can Drive Large-Scale Change 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 for Change: How Publicly-Traded Companies Can Drive Large-Scale Change 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 for Change: How Publicly-Traded Companies Can Drive Large-Scale Change 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 for Change: How Publicly-Traded Companies Can Drive Large-Scale Change 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 for Change: How Publicly-Traded Companies Can Drive Large-Scale Change 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 Describe Skoll needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.