Nobody on the Podium: Lessons about Leadership from the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra (Video) SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Leadership & Managing People
Strategy / MBA Resources
Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of Nobody on the Podium: Lessons about Leadership from the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra (Video)
This video case uses the story of an orchestra which seeks to manage without a conductor as a metaphor for the nature and role of leadership in an organization. The video examines, over time and through rehearsals and tours, the trials and triumphs of the Orpheus orchestra, focusing on internal tensions and debates based in its group management approach. Interviews with individual members capture the disparate needs and viewpoints within the group. The case can be used as the basis for discussion of an underlying precepts of leadership, as well as discussion of communal or Utopian approaches to organizational management. DVD Run Time: 00:26:06
Authors :: J. Richard Hackman, Alexandra De Gonzalvez, Erin Lehman
Swot Analysis of "Nobody on the Podium: Lessons about Leadership from the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra (Video)" written by J. Richard Hackman, Alexandra De Gonzalvez, Erin Lehman includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Orchestra Orpheus facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Nobody on the Podium: Lessons about Leadership from the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra (Video) case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Leadership, Organizational culture, Organizational structure and Leadership & Managing People.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Nobody on the Podium: Lessons about Leadership from the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra (Video) casestudy better are - – supply chains are disrupted by pandemic , increasing energy prices, challanges to central banks by blockchain based private currencies, customer relationship management is fast transforming because of increasing concerns over data privacy, cloud computing is disrupting traditional business models, increasing government debt because of Covid-19 spendings, geopolitical disruptions,
increasing transportation and logistics costs, digital marketing is dominated by two big players Facebook and Google, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Nobody on the Podium: Lessons about Leadership from the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra (Video)
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Nobody on the Podium: Lessons about Leadership from the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra (Video) case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Orchestra Orpheus, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Orchestra Orpheus 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 Nobody on the Podium: Lessons about Leadership from the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra (Video) can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Nobody on the Podium: Lessons about Leadership from the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra (Video) case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Orchestra Orpheus
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 Orchestra Orpheus
Strengths Nobody on the Podium: Lessons about Leadership from the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra (Video) | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Orchestra Orpheus in Nobody on the Podium: Lessons about Leadership from the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra (Video) Harvard Business Review case study are -
Organizational Resilience of Orchestra Orpheus
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing that Orchestra Orpheus does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
Superior customer experience
– The customer experience strategy of Orchestra Orpheus in the segment is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.
Analytics focus
– Orchestra Orpheus 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 J. Richard Hackman, Alexandra De Gonzalvez, Erin Lehman 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.
Training and development
– Orchestra Orpheus has one of the best training and development program in the industry. The effectiveness of the training programs can be measured in Nobody on the Podium: Lessons about Leadership from the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra (Video) 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.
Diverse revenue streams
– Orchestra Orpheus is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided firm in Nobody on the Podium: Lessons about Leadership from the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra (Video) 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 Orchestra Orpheus 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.
Strong track record of project management
– Orchestra Orpheus is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.
Highly skilled collaborators
– Orchestra Orpheus 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 Nobody on the Podium: Lessons about Leadership from the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra (Video) HBR case study have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
Ability to recruit top talent
– Orchestra Orpheus is one of the leading recruiters in the industry. Managers in the Nobody on the Podium: Lessons about Leadership from the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra (Video) are in a position to attract the best talent available. The firm has a robust talent identification program that helps in identifying the brightest.
Ability to lead change in Leadership & Managing People field
– Orchestra Orpheus 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 Orchestra Orpheus in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.
Innovation driven organization
– Orchestra Orpheus is one of the most innovative firm in sector. Manager in Nobody on the Podium: Lessons about Leadership from the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra (Video) Harvard Business Review case study can use Clayton Christensen Disruptive Innovation strategies to further increase the scale of innovtions in the organization.
Successful track record of launching new products
– Orchestra Orpheus has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Orchestra Orpheus 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.
Weaknesses Nobody on the Podium: Lessons about Leadership from the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra (Video) | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Nobody on the Podium: Lessons about Leadership from the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra (Video) are -
Compensation and incentives
– The revenue per employee as mentioned in the HBR case study Nobody on the Podium: Lessons about Leadership from the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra (Video), is just above the industry average. Orchestra Orpheus 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.
Slow decision making process
– As mentioned earlier in the report, Orchestra Orpheus 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. Orchestra Orpheus 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 harness new channels of communication
– Even though competitors are using new communication channels such as Instagram, Tiktok, and Snap, Orchestra Orpheus is slow explore the new channels of communication. These new channels of communication mentioned in marketing section of case study Nobody on the Podium: Lessons about Leadership from the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra (Video) can help to provide better information regarding products and services. It can also build an online community to further reach out to potential customers.
Lack of clear differentiation of Orchestra Orpheus products
– To increase the profitability and margins on the products, Orchestra Orpheus needs to provide more differentiated products than what it is currently offering in the marketplace.
Low market penetration in new markets
– Outside its home market of Orchestra Orpheus, firm in the HBR case study Nobody on the Podium: Lessons about Leadership from the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra (Video) needs to spend more promotional, marketing, and advertising efforts to penetrate international markets.
Aligning sales with marketing
– It come across in the case study Nobody on the Podium: Lessons about Leadership from the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra (Video) 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 Nobody on the Podium: Lessons about Leadership from the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra (Video) can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Orchestra Orpheus is planning to shift buying processes online.
Workers concerns about automation
– As automation is fast increasing in the segment, Orchestra Orpheus 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.
Employees’ incomplete understanding of strategy
– From the instances in the HBR case study Nobody on the Podium: Lessons about Leadership from the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra (Video), it seems that the employees of Orchestra Orpheus 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 Orchestra Orpheus 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.
Need for greater diversity
– Orchestra Orpheus has taken concrete steps on diversity, equity, and inclusion. But the efforts so far has resulted in limited success. It needs to expand the recruitment and selection process to hire more people from the minorities and underprivileged background.
High dependence on star products
– The top 2 products and services of the firm as mentioned in the Nobody on the Podium: Lessons about Leadership from the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra (Video) 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 Orchestra Orpheus has relatively successful track record of launching new products.
Opportunities Nobody on the Podium: Lessons about Leadership from the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra (Video) | 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 Nobody on the Podium: Lessons about Leadership from the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra (Video) are -
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. Orchestra Orpheus 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. Orchestra Orpheus 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.
Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities
– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Orchestra Orpheus 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 Orchestra Orpheus to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
Learning at scale
– Online learning technologies has now opened space for Orchestra Orpheus 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.
Building a culture of innovation
– managers at Orchestra Orpheus 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.
Leveraging digital technologies
– Orchestra Orpheus 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.
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– Orchestra Orpheus 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 Nobody on the Podium: Lessons about Leadership from the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra (Video) - to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Orchestra Orpheus to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
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. Orchestra Orpheus can tie-up with other value chain partners to explore new opportunities regarding meeting customer demands and building a rewarding and engaging relationship.
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Orchestra Orpheus has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Orchestra Orpheus to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the Nobody on the Podium: Lessons about Leadership from the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra (Video) case study. Orchestra Orpheus can build new products and services such as - data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
Loyalty marketing
– Orchestra Orpheus 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.
Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains
– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Orchestra Orpheus 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, Nobody on the Podium: Lessons about Leadership from the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra (Video), to buy more products closer to the markets, and it can leverage its size and influence to get better deal from the local markets.
Manufacturing automation
– Orchestra Orpheus 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.
Increase in government spending
– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Orchestra Orpheus can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Orchestra Orpheus operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Leadership & Managing People sector.
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 Orchestra Orpheus 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 Nobody on the Podium: Lessons about Leadership from the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra (Video) External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Nobody on the Podium: Lessons about Leadership from the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra (Video) are -
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 Orchestra Orpheus business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
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 Orchestra Orpheus.
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Orchestra Orpheus has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Leadership & Managing People industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Orchestra Orpheus 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.
Regulatory challenges
– Orchestra Orpheus 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.
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Orchestra Orpheus 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.
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry in the industry are lowering. It can presents Orchestra Orpheus with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the sector.
Environmental challenges
– Orchestra Orpheus 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. Orchestra Orpheus can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Leadership & Managing People industry.
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Orchestra Orpheus 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.
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Orchestra Orpheus 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 Nobody on the Podium: Lessons about Leadership from the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra (Video) .
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 Orchestra Orpheus in the Leadership & Managing People sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
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.
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, as highlighted in case study Nobody on the Podium: Lessons about Leadership from the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra (Video), Orchestra Orpheus 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 .
Increasing wage structure of Orchestra Orpheus
– 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 Orchestra Orpheus.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Nobody on the Podium: Lessons about Leadership from the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra (Video) 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 Nobody on the Podium: Lessons about Leadership from the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra (Video) 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 Nobody on the Podium: Lessons about Leadership from the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra (Video) 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 Nobody on the Podium: Lessons about Leadership from the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra (Video) 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 Nobody on the Podium: Lessons about Leadership from the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra (Video) 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 Orchestra Orpheus needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.
Feel free to connect with us if you need business research.
You can download Excel Template of Case Study Solution & Analysis of Nobody on the Podium: Lessons about Leadership from the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra (Video)