Reem Al-Shemari and the Abu Dhabi Brand: Generation Y Leadership in the UAE SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Leadership & Managing People
Strategy / MBA Resources
Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of Reem Al-Shemari and the Abu Dhabi Brand: Generation Y Leadership in the UAE
The Emirate of Abu Dhabi has witnessed rapid development in recent decades. As its physical, economic and demographic landscapes evolve, the time has come to reflect on the challenges and opportunities ahead. This case illustrates the establishment and achievements of the Office of the Brand of Abu Dhabi (OBAD). It describes the development challenges faced by the emirate as it enters the global economy while seeking to define and protect its national and cultural identity. The work of crafting an identity for a nation is interwoven with the advent of a new generation of leadership. The case focuses on OBAD's general manager and custodian of the Abu Dhabi brand, a young Emirati woman, Reem Al-Shemari, who exemplifies Generation Y leadership in the UAE.
Authors :: Manfred F.R. Kets de Vries, Katty Marmenout, Elizabeth Florent-Treacy, Rola Tassabehji
Swot Analysis of "Reem Al-Shemari and the Abu Dhabi Brand: Generation Y Leadership in the UAE" written by Manfred F.R. Kets de Vries, Katty Marmenout, Elizabeth Florent-Treacy, Rola Tassabehji includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Dhabi Abu facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Reem Al-Shemari and the Abu Dhabi Brand: Generation Y Leadership in the UAE case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, and Leadership & Managing People.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Reem Al-Shemari and the Abu Dhabi Brand: Generation Y Leadership in the UAE casestudy better are - – increasing household debt because of falling income levels, challanges to central banks by blockchain based private currencies, competitive advantages are harder to sustain because of technology dispersion, increasing transportation and logistics costs, wage bills are increasing, technology disruption, banking and financial system is disrupted by Bitcoin and other crypto currencies,
there is increasing trade war between United States & China, increasing government debt because of Covid-19 spendings, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Reem Al-Shemari and the Abu Dhabi Brand: Generation Y Leadership in the UAE
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Reem Al-Shemari and the Abu Dhabi Brand: Generation Y Leadership in the UAE case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Dhabi Abu, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Dhabi Abu 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 Reem Al-Shemari and the Abu Dhabi Brand: Generation Y Leadership in the UAE can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Reem Al-Shemari and the Abu Dhabi Brand: Generation Y Leadership in the UAE case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Dhabi Abu
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 Dhabi Abu
Strengths Reem Al-Shemari and the Abu Dhabi Brand: Generation Y Leadership in the UAE | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Dhabi Abu in Reem Al-Shemari and the Abu Dhabi Brand: Generation Y Leadership in the UAE Harvard Business Review case study are -
Effective Research and Development (R&D)
– Dhabi Abu 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 Reem Al-Shemari and the Abu Dhabi Brand: Generation Y Leadership in the UAE - staying ahead in the industry in terms of – new product launches, superior customer experience, highly competitive pricing strategies, and great returns to the shareholders.
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of Dhabi Abu in the sector have low bargaining power. Reem Al-Shemari and the Abu Dhabi Brand: Generation Y Leadership in the UAE has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Dhabi Abu to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
High brand equity
– Dhabi Abu has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Dhabi Abu to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Superior customer experience
– The customer experience strategy of Dhabi Abu in the segment is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.
Strong track record of project management
– Dhabi Abu is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.
Diverse revenue streams
– Dhabi Abu is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided firm in Reem Al-Shemari and the Abu Dhabi Brand: Generation Y Leadership in the UAE 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 Dhabi Abu digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Dhabi Abu 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 Reem Al-Shemari and the Abu Dhabi Brand: Generation Y Leadership in the UAE 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.
Cross disciplinary teams
– Horizontal connected teams at the Dhabi Abu 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.
Highly skilled collaborators
– Dhabi Abu 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 Reem Al-Shemari and the Abu Dhabi Brand: Generation Y Leadership in the UAE HBR case study have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
High switching costs
– The high switching costs that Dhabi Abu 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.
Organizational Resilience of Dhabi Abu
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing that Dhabi Abu does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
Weaknesses Reem Al-Shemari and the Abu Dhabi Brand: Generation Y Leadership in the UAE | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Reem Al-Shemari and the Abu Dhabi Brand: Generation Y Leadership in the UAE are -
Ability to respond to the competition
– As the decision making is very deliberative, highlighted in the case study Reem Al-Shemari and the Abu Dhabi Brand: Generation Y Leadership in the UAE, in the dynamic environment Dhabi Abu has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. Dhabi Abu has reasonably good record with similar level competitors but it has struggled with new entrants taking away niches of its business.
Compensation and incentives
– The revenue per employee as mentioned in the HBR case study Reem Al-Shemari and the Abu Dhabi Brand: Generation Y Leadership in the UAE, is just above the industry average. Dhabi Abu 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.
High bargaining power of channel partners
– Because of the regulatory requirements, Manfred F.R. Kets de Vries, Katty Marmenout, Elizabeth Florent-Treacy, Rola Tassabehji suggests that, Dhabi Abu 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.
Slow to harness new channels of communication
– Even though competitors are using new communication channels such as Instagram, Tiktok, and Snap, Dhabi Abu is slow explore the new channels of communication. These new channels of communication mentioned in marketing section of case study Reem Al-Shemari and the Abu Dhabi Brand: Generation Y Leadership in the UAE can help to provide better information regarding products and services. It can also build an online community to further reach out to potential customers.
High cash cycle compare to competitors
Dhabi Abu 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 star products
– The top 2 products and services of the firm as mentioned in the Reem Al-Shemari and the Abu Dhabi Brand: Generation Y Leadership in the UAE 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 Dhabi Abu has relatively successful track record of launching new products.
Products dominated business model
– Even though Dhabi Abu 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 - Reem Al-Shemari and the Abu Dhabi Brand: Generation Y Leadership in the UAE should strive to include more intangible value offerings along with its core products and services.
Slow decision making process
– As mentioned earlier in the report, Dhabi Abu has a very deliberative decision making approach. This approach has resulted in prudent decisions, but it has also resulted in missing opportunities in the industry over the last five years. Dhabi Abu even though has strong showing on digital transformation primary two stages, it has struggled to capitalize the power of digital transformation in marketing efforts and new venture efforts.
Low market penetration in new markets
– Outside its home market of Dhabi Abu, firm in the HBR case study Reem Al-Shemari and the Abu Dhabi Brand: Generation Y Leadership in the UAE needs to spend more promotional, marketing, and advertising efforts to penetrate international markets.
Interest costs
– Compare to the competition, Dhabi Abu 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.
Aligning sales with marketing
– It come across in the case study Reem Al-Shemari and the Abu Dhabi Brand: Generation Y Leadership in the UAE 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 Reem Al-Shemari and the Abu Dhabi Brand: Generation Y Leadership in the UAE can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Dhabi Abu is planning to shift buying processes online.
Opportunities Reem Al-Shemari and the Abu Dhabi Brand: Generation Y Leadership in the UAE | 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 Reem Al-Shemari and the Abu Dhabi Brand: Generation Y Leadership in the UAE are -
Leveraging digital technologies
– Dhabi Abu 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.
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 Dhabi Abu 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.
Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains
– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Dhabi Abu 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, Reem Al-Shemari and the Abu Dhabi Brand: Generation Y Leadership in the UAE, to buy more products closer to the markets, and it can leverage its size and influence to get better deal from the local markets.
Identify volunteer opportunities
– Covid-19 has impacted working population in two ways – it has led to people soul searching about their professional choices, resulting in mass resignation. Secondly it has encouraged people to do things that they are passionate about. This has opened opportunities for businesses to build volunteer oriented socially driven projects. Dhabi Abu can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.
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. Dhabi Abu 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. Dhabi Abu 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.
Buying journey improvements
– Dhabi Abu can improve the customer journey of consumers in the industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. Reem Al-Shemari and the Abu Dhabi Brand: Generation Y Leadership in the UAE 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.
Developing new processes and practices
– Dhabi Abu 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.
Loyalty marketing
– Dhabi Abu 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.
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– Dhabi Abu 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 Reem Al-Shemari and the Abu Dhabi Brand: Generation Y Leadership in the UAE - to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Dhabi Abu to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
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 Dhabi Abu in the consumer business. Now Dhabi Abu can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.
Redefining models of collaboration and team work
– As explained in the weaknesses section, Dhabi Abu is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. Reem Al-Shemari and the Abu Dhabi Brand: Generation Y Leadership in the UAE 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.
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Dhabi Abu has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Dhabi Abu to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the Reem Al-Shemari and the Abu Dhabi Brand: Generation Y Leadership in the UAE case study. Dhabi Abu can build new products and services such as - data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
Low interest rates
– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Dhabi Abu can still utilize the low interest rates to borrow money for capital investment. Secondly it can also use the increase of government spending in infrastructure projects to get new business.
Threats Reem Al-Shemari and the Abu Dhabi Brand: Generation Y Leadership in the UAE External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Reem Al-Shemari and the Abu Dhabi Brand: Generation Y Leadership in the UAE are -
Increasing wage structure of Dhabi Abu
– 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 Dhabi Abu.
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 Dhabi Abu business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Dhabi Abu 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.
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, as highlighted in case study Reem Al-Shemari and the Abu Dhabi Brand: Generation Y Leadership in the UAE, Dhabi Abu may face longer learning curve for training and development of existing employees. This can open space for more nimble competitors in the field of Leadership & Managing People .
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry in the industry are lowering. It can presents Dhabi Abu with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the sector.
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Dhabi Abu is facing in Leadership & Managing People sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.
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. Dhabi Abu 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.
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Dhabi Abu has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Leadership & Managing People industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Dhabi Abu 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.
High dependence on third party suppliers
– Dhabi Abu 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.
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.
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Dhabi Abu 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 Reem Al-Shemari and the Abu Dhabi Brand: Generation Y Leadership in the UAE .
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. Dhabi Abu needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Leadership & Managing People industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
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 Dhabi Abu in the Leadership & Managing People sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Reem Al-Shemari and the Abu Dhabi Brand: Generation Y Leadership in the UAE 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 Reem Al-Shemari and the Abu Dhabi Brand: Generation Y Leadership in the UAE 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 Reem Al-Shemari and the Abu Dhabi Brand: Generation Y Leadership in the UAE 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 Reem Al-Shemari and the Abu Dhabi Brand: Generation Y Leadership in the UAE 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 Reem Al-Shemari and the Abu Dhabi Brand: Generation Y Leadership in the UAE 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 Dhabi Abu needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.
