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 - – challanges to central banks by blockchain based private currencies, banking and financial system is disrupted by Bitcoin and other crypto currencies, competitive advantages are harder to sustain because of technology dispersion, there is increasing trade war between United States & China, increasing government debt because of Covid-19 spendings, talent flight as more people leaving formal jobs, technology disruption,
increasing inequality as vast percentage of new income is going to the top 1%, increasing commodity 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 -
Effective Research and Development (R&D)
– Leadership Divvying 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 When Two (or More) Heads are Better than One: The Promise and Pitfalls of Shared Leadership - staying ahead in the industry in terms of – new product launches, superior customer experience, highly competitive pricing strategies, and great returns to the shareholders.
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.
Training and development
– Leadership Divvying has one of the best training and development program in the industry. The effectiveness of the training programs can be measured in When Two (or More) Heads are Better than One: The Promise and Pitfalls of Shared Leadership Harvard Business Review case study by analyzing – employees retention, in-house promotion, loyalty, new venture initiation, lack of conflict, and high level of both employees and customer engagement.
Analytics focus
– Leadership Divvying 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 James O'Toole, Jay Galbraith, Edward E. Lawler III 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.
Operational resilience
– The operational resilience strategy in the When Two (or More) Heads are Better than One: The Promise and Pitfalls of Shared Leadership 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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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 -
Employees’ incomplete understanding of strategy
– From the instances in the HBR case study When Two (or More) Heads are Better than One: The Promise and Pitfalls of Shared Leadership, it seems that the employees of Leadership Divvying 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.
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.
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 Leadership Divvying supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes mentioned in the HBR case study - When Two (or More) Heads are Better than One: The Promise and Pitfalls of Shared Leadership, it is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left Leadership Divvying vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.
No frontier risks strategy
– After analyzing the HBR case study When Two (or More) Heads are Better than One: The Promise and Pitfalls of Shared Leadership, it seems that company is thinking about the frontier risks that can impact Leadership & Managing People strategy. But it has very little resources allocation to manage the risks emerging from events such as natural disasters, climate change, melting of permafrost, tacking the rise of artificial intelligence, opportunities and threats emerging from commercialization of space etc.
Products dominated business model
– Even though Leadership Divvying 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 - When Two (or More) Heads are Better than One: The Promise and Pitfalls of Shared Leadership 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, 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.
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.
High operating costs
– Compare to the competitors, firm in the HBR case study When Two (or More) Heads are Better than One: The Promise and Pitfalls of Shared Leadership 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 Leadership Divvying 's lucrative customers.
Lack of clear differentiation of Leadership Divvying products
– To increase the profitability and margins on the products, Leadership Divvying needs to provide more differentiated products than what it is currently offering in the marketplace.
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.
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.
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 -
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.
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.
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.
Developing new processes and practices
– Leadership Divvying 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.
Buying journey improvements
– Leadership Divvying can improve the customer journey of consumers in the industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. When Two (or More) Heads are Better than One: The Promise and Pitfalls of Shared Leadership 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.
Manufacturing automation
– Leadership Divvying 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.
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.
Reforming the budgeting process
- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects Leadership Divvying can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– Leadership Divvying 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 When Two (or More) Heads are Better than One: The Promise and Pitfalls of Shared Leadership - to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Leadership Divvying to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
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. Leadership Divvying 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. Leadership Divvying 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.
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.
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.
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 -
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.
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 Leadership Divvying business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
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 .
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Leadership Divvying 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.
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.
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. Leadership Divvying can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
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.
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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