When Two (or More) Heads are Better than One: The Promise and Pitfalls of Shared Leadership SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Leadership & Managing People
Strategy / MBA Resources
Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of When Two (or More) Heads are Better than One: The Promise and Pitfalls of Shared Leadership
In both the business press and academic journals, corporate leadership typically is portrayed as a solo activity, the responsibility of one person at the top of an organizational hierarchy. However, evidence shows that shared leadership is not only common in the corporate world, it is often more effective than the storied "one-man shows." Ongoing research at the University of Southern California's Center for Effective Organizations pinpoints several factors needed to make joint leadership a success. Where two--or more--individuals share leadership, it turns out that making the arrangement work is more complicated than simply "divvying up the tasks." For example, sharing the limelight seems harder than sharing responsibility.
Authors :: James O'Toole, Jay Galbraith, Edward E. Lawler III
Swot Analysis of "When Two (or More) Heads are Better than One: The Promise and Pitfalls of Shared Leadership" written by James O'Toole, Jay Galbraith, Edward E. Lawler III includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Leadership Divvying facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in When Two (or More) Heads are Better than One: The Promise and Pitfalls of Shared Leadership case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Managing people and Leadership & Managing People.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the When Two (or More) Heads are Better than One: The Promise and Pitfalls of Shared Leadership casestudy better are - – increasing transportation and logistics costs, increasing household debt because of falling income levels, there is increasing trade war between United States & China, talent flight as more people leaving formal jobs, increasing commodity prices, geopolitical disruptions, competitive advantages are harder to sustain because of technology dispersion,
challanges to central banks by blockchain based private currencies, increasing energy prices, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of When Two (or More) Heads are Better than One: The Promise and Pitfalls of Shared Leadership
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in When Two (or More) Heads are Better than One: The Promise and Pitfalls of Shared Leadership case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Leadership Divvying, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Leadership Divvying 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 When Two (or More) Heads are Better than One: The Promise and Pitfalls of Shared Leadership can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in When Two (or More) Heads are Better than One: The Promise and Pitfalls of Shared Leadership case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Leadership Divvying
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 Leadership Divvying
Strengths When Two (or More) Heads are Better than One: The Promise and Pitfalls of Shared Leadership | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Leadership Divvying in When Two (or More) Heads are Better than One: The Promise and Pitfalls of Shared Leadership Harvard Business Review case study are -
High switching costs
– The high switching costs that Leadership Divvying 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.
Strong track record of project management
– Leadership Divvying is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.
Learning organization
- Leadership Divvying 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 Leadership Divvying is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders in When Two (or More) Heads are Better than One: The Promise and Pitfalls of Shared Leadership Harvard Business Review case study emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
Successful track record of launching new products
– Leadership Divvying has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Leadership Divvying 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.
Organizational Resilience of Leadership Divvying
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing that Leadership Divvying does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
High brand equity
– Leadership Divvying has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Leadership Divvying to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Leadership & Managing People industry
– When Two (or More) Heads are Better than One: The Promise and Pitfalls of Shared Leadership firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Leadership Divvying to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Leadership & Managing People industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Leadership Divvying to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Diverse revenue streams
– Leadership Divvying is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided firm in When Two (or More) Heads are Better than One: The Promise and Pitfalls of Shared Leadership 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.
Cross disciplinary teams
– Horizontal connected teams at the Leadership Divvying 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
– Leadership Divvying 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 When Two (or More) Heads are Better than One: The Promise and Pitfalls of Shared Leadership HBR case study have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
Innovation driven organization
– Leadership Divvying is one of the most innovative firm in sector. Manager in When Two (or More) Heads are Better than One: The Promise and Pitfalls of Shared Leadership Harvard Business Review case study can use Clayton Christensen Disruptive Innovation strategies to further increase the scale of innovtions in the organization.
Ability to recruit top talent
– Leadership Divvying is one of the leading recruiters in the industry. Managers in the When Two (or More) Heads are Better than One: The Promise and Pitfalls of Shared Leadership are in a position to attract the best talent available. The firm has a robust talent identification program that helps in identifying the brightest.
Weaknesses When Two (or More) Heads are Better than One: The Promise and Pitfalls of Shared Leadership | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of When Two (or More) Heads are Better than One: The Promise and Pitfalls of Shared Leadership are -
High dependence on star products
– The top 2 products and services of the firm as mentioned in the When Two (or More) Heads are Better than One: The Promise and Pitfalls of Shared Leadership 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 Leadership Divvying has relatively successful track record of launching new products.
Ability to respond to the competition
– As the decision making is very deliberative, highlighted in the case study When Two (or More) Heads are Better than One: The Promise and Pitfalls of Shared Leadership, in the dynamic environment Leadership Divvying has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. Leadership Divvying has reasonably good record with similar level competitors but it has struggled with new entrants taking away niches of its business.
Workers concerns about automation
– As automation is fast increasing in the segment, Leadership Divvying 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.
Slow to harness new channels of communication
– Even though competitors are using new communication channels such as Instagram, Tiktok, and Snap, Leadership Divvying is slow explore the new channels of communication. These new channels of communication mentioned in marketing section of case study When Two (or More) Heads are Better than One: The Promise and Pitfalls of Shared Leadership can help to provide better information regarding products and services. It can also build an online community to further reach out to potential customers.
Slow to strategic competitive environment developments
– As When Two (or More) Heads are Better than One: The Promise and Pitfalls of Shared Leadership HBR case study mentions - Leadership Divvying takes time to assess the upcoming competitions. This has led to missing out on atleast 2-3 big opportunities in the industry in last five years.
Aligning sales with marketing
– It come across in the case study When Two (or More) Heads are Better than One: The Promise and Pitfalls of Shared Leadership 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 When Two (or More) Heads are Better than One: The Promise and Pitfalls of Shared Leadership can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Leadership Divvying is planning to shift buying processes online.
High cash cycle compare to competitors
Leadership Divvying 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 decision making process
– As mentioned earlier in the report, Leadership Divvying 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. Leadership Divvying 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 Leadership Divvying, firm in the HBR case study When Two (or More) Heads are Better than One: The Promise and Pitfalls of Shared Leadership needs to spend more promotional, marketing, and advertising efforts to penetrate international markets.
Increasing silos among functional specialists
– The organizational structure of Leadership Divvying is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Leadership & Managing People segment. Leadership Divvying needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Leadership Divvying to focus more on services rather than just following the product oriented approach.
Need for greater diversity
– Leadership Divvying 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 When Two (or More) Heads are Better than One: The Promise and Pitfalls of Shared Leadership | 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 When Two (or More) Heads are Better than One: The Promise and Pitfalls of Shared Leadership are -
Low interest rates
– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Leadership Divvying 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.
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. Leadership Divvying can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.
Learning at scale
– Online learning technologies has now opened space for Leadership Divvying 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.
Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities
– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Leadership Divvying 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 Leadership Divvying to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
Lowering marketing communication costs
– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Leadership Divvying 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 Leadership Divvying has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Leadership Divvying to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the When Two (or More) Heads are Better than One: The Promise and Pitfalls of Shared Leadership case study. Leadership Divvying can build new products and services such as - data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
Increase in government spending
– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Leadership Divvying can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Leadership Divvying operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Leadership & Managing People sector.
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 Leadership Divvying in the consumer business. Now Leadership Divvying can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.
Building a culture of innovation
– managers at Leadership Divvying 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.
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 Leadership Divvying 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.
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. Leadership Divvying can tie-up with other value chain partners to explore new opportunities regarding meeting customer demands and building a rewarding and engaging relationship.
Better consumer reach
– The expansion of the 5G network will help Leadership Divvying to increase its market reach. Leadership Divvying 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.
Leveraging digital technologies
– Leadership Divvying 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.
Threats When Two (or More) Heads are Better than One: The Promise and Pitfalls of Shared Leadership External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study When Two (or More) Heads are Better than One: The Promise and Pitfalls of Shared Leadership are -
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. Leadership Divvying 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.
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. Leadership Divvying needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Leadership & Managing People industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Leadership Divvying 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.
Regulatory challenges
– Leadership Divvying 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 dependence on third party suppliers
– Leadership Divvying 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 acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Leadership Divvying has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Leadership & Managing People industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Leadership Divvying 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.
Increasing wage structure of Leadership Divvying
– 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 Leadership Divvying.
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, as highlighted in case study When Two (or More) Heads are Better than One: The Promise and Pitfalls of Shared Leadership, Leadership Divvying 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 Leadership Divvying with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the sector.
Aging population
– As the populations of most advanced economies are aging, it will lead to high social security costs, higher savings among population, and lower demand for goods and services in the economy. The household savings in US, France, UK, Germany, and Japan are growing faster than predicted because of uncertainty caused by pandemic.
Consumer confidence and its impact on Leadership Divvying 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.
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Leadership Divvying 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 When Two (or More) Heads are Better than One: The Promise and Pitfalls of Shared Leadership .
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 Leadership Divvying.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of When Two (or More) Heads are Better than One: The Promise and Pitfalls of Shared Leadership 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 When Two (or More) Heads are Better than One: The Promise and Pitfalls of Shared Leadership 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 When Two (or More) Heads are Better than One: The Promise and Pitfalls of Shared Leadership 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 When Two (or More) Heads are Better than One: The Promise and Pitfalls of Shared Leadership 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 When Two (or More) Heads are Better than One: The Promise and Pitfalls of Shared Leadership 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 Leadership Divvying needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.
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