Jeffrey Dunn and Sesame Workshop: Bringing Big Bird Back to Health SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Leadership & Managing People
Strategy / MBA Resources
Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of Jeffrey Dunn and Sesame Workshop: Bringing Big Bird Back to Health
Sesame Workshop was transforming in 2016. CEO Jeff Dunn had reorganized and shifted the iconic institution to respond to digital disruption and a consensus culture. This case examines his efforts to turn Sesame Workshop around. It notes Sesame's storied history and the underlying financial troubles that Dunn confronted upon taking over in 2014. It shows how Dunn's leadership changes, increased communication, new partnership deals, and a focus on digital, sought speed, innovation, and accountability to better fulfill Sesame's educational mission. By 2016, Sesame was in the middle of its change, and Dunn contemplated how best to position the organization for success in the future.
Authors :: Rosabeth Moss Kanter, Ryan Raffaelli, Jonathan Cohen
Swot Analysis of "Jeffrey Dunn and Sesame Workshop: Bringing Big Bird Back to Health" written by Rosabeth Moss Kanter, Ryan Raffaelli, Jonathan Cohen includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Sesame Dunn facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Jeffrey Dunn and Sesame Workshop: Bringing Big Bird Back to Health case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Operations management, Reorganization, Strategy, Technology and Leadership & Managing People.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Jeffrey Dunn and Sesame Workshop: Bringing Big Bird Back to Health casestudy better are - – increasing commodity prices, supply chains are disrupted by pandemic , there is increasing trade war between United States & China, banking and financial system is disrupted by Bitcoin and other crypto currencies, digital marketing is dominated by two big players Facebook and Google, technology disruption, wage bills are increasing,
central banks are concerned over increasing inflation, increasing inequality as vast percentage of new income is going to the top 1%, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Jeffrey Dunn and Sesame Workshop: Bringing Big Bird Back to Health
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Jeffrey Dunn and Sesame Workshop: Bringing Big Bird Back to Health case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Sesame Dunn, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Sesame Dunn 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 Jeffrey Dunn and Sesame Workshop: Bringing Big Bird Back to Health can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Jeffrey Dunn and Sesame Workshop: Bringing Big Bird Back to Health case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Sesame Dunn
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 Sesame Dunn
Strengths Jeffrey Dunn and Sesame Workshop: Bringing Big Bird Back to Health | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Sesame Dunn in Jeffrey Dunn and Sesame Workshop: Bringing Big Bird Back to Health Harvard Business Review case study are -
Diverse revenue streams
– Sesame Dunn is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided firm in Jeffrey Dunn and Sesame Workshop: Bringing Big Bird Back to Health 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.
Superior customer experience
– The customer experience strategy of Sesame Dunn in the segment is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.
Digital Transformation in Leadership & Managing People segment
- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For Sesame Dunn digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Sesame Dunn 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.
Learning organization
- Sesame Dunn 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 Sesame Dunn is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders in Jeffrey Dunn and Sesame Workshop: Bringing Big Bird Back to Health Harvard Business Review case study emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
Cross disciplinary teams
– Horizontal connected teams at the Sesame Dunn 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.
Ability to recruit top talent
– Sesame Dunn is one of the leading recruiters in the industry. Managers in the Jeffrey Dunn and Sesame Workshop: Bringing Big Bird Back to Health are in a position to attract the best talent available. The firm has a robust talent identification program that helps in identifying the brightest.
High switching costs
– The high switching costs that Sesame Dunn 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.
Innovation driven organization
– Sesame Dunn is one of the most innovative firm in sector. Manager in Jeffrey Dunn and Sesame Workshop: Bringing Big Bird Back to Health Harvard Business Review case study can use Clayton Christensen Disruptive Innovation strategies to further increase the scale of innovtions in the organization.
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of Sesame Dunn in the sector have low bargaining power. Jeffrey Dunn and Sesame Workshop: Bringing Big Bird Back to Health has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Sesame Dunn to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
Effective Research and Development (R&D)
– Sesame Dunn 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 Jeffrey Dunn and Sesame Workshop: Bringing Big Bird Back to Health - staying ahead in the industry in terms of – new product launches, superior customer experience, highly competitive pricing strategies, and great returns to the shareholders.
Successful track record of launching new products
– Sesame Dunn has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Sesame Dunn 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
– Sesame Dunn 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 Jeffrey Dunn and Sesame Workshop: Bringing Big Bird Back to Health HBR case study have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
Weaknesses Jeffrey Dunn and Sesame Workshop: Bringing Big Bird Back to Health | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Jeffrey Dunn and Sesame Workshop: Bringing Big Bird Back to Health are -
Slow decision making process
– As mentioned earlier in the report, Sesame Dunn 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. Sesame Dunn 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.
High operating costs
– Compare to the competitors, firm in the HBR case study Jeffrey Dunn and Sesame Workshop: Bringing Big Bird Back to Health 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 Sesame Dunn 's lucrative customers.
Compensation and incentives
– The revenue per employee as mentioned in the HBR case study Jeffrey Dunn and Sesame Workshop: Bringing Big Bird Back to Health, is just above the industry average. Sesame Dunn 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 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 Sesame Dunn supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes mentioned in the HBR case study - Jeffrey Dunn and Sesame Workshop: Bringing Big Bird Back to Health, it is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left Sesame Dunn vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.
High cash cycle compare to competitors
Sesame Dunn 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.
Employees’ incomplete understanding of strategy
– From the instances in the HBR case study Jeffrey Dunn and Sesame Workshop: Bringing Big Bird Back to Health, it seems that the employees of Sesame Dunn 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.
Capital Spending Reduction
– Even during the low interest decade, Sesame Dunn has not been able to do capital spending to the tune of the competition. This has resulted into fewer innovations and company facing stiff competition from both existing competitors and new entrants who are disrupting the industry using digital technology.
Slow to strategic competitive environment developments
– As Jeffrey Dunn and Sesame Workshop: Bringing Big Bird Back to Health HBR case study mentions - Sesame Dunn 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.
Products dominated business model
– Even though Sesame Dunn 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 - Jeffrey Dunn and Sesame Workshop: Bringing Big Bird Back to Health should strive to include more intangible value offerings along with its core products and services.
Slow to harness new channels of communication
– Even though competitors are using new communication channels such as Instagram, Tiktok, and Snap, Sesame Dunn is slow explore the new channels of communication. These new channels of communication mentioned in marketing section of case study Jeffrey Dunn and Sesame Workshop: Bringing Big Bird Back to Health can help to provide better information regarding products and services. It can also build an online community to further reach out to potential customers.
Low market penetration in new markets
– Outside its home market of Sesame Dunn, firm in the HBR case study Jeffrey Dunn and Sesame Workshop: Bringing Big Bird Back to Health needs to spend more promotional, marketing, and advertising efforts to penetrate international markets.
Opportunities Jeffrey Dunn and Sesame Workshop: Bringing Big Bird Back to Health | 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 Jeffrey Dunn and Sesame Workshop: Bringing Big Bird Back to Health are -
Reforming the budgeting process
- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects Sesame Dunn can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.
Building a culture of innovation
– managers at Sesame Dunn 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.
Manufacturing automation
– Sesame Dunn 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.
Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains
– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Sesame Dunn 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, Jeffrey Dunn and Sesame Workshop: Bringing Big Bird Back to Health, to buy more products closer to the markets, and it can leverage its size and influence to get better deal from the local markets.
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. Sesame Dunn 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. Sesame Dunn 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.
Redefining models of collaboration and team work
– As explained in the weaknesses section, Sesame Dunn is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. Jeffrey Dunn and Sesame Workshop: Bringing Big Bird Back to Health 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.
Lowering marketing communication costs
– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Sesame Dunn 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.
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. Sesame Dunn can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.
Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities
– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Sesame Dunn 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 Sesame Dunn to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
Learning at scale
– Online learning technologies has now opened space for Sesame Dunn 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.
Better consumer reach
– The expansion of the 5G network will help Sesame Dunn to increase its market reach. Sesame Dunn 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.
Low interest rates
– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Sesame Dunn 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.
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 Sesame Dunn in the consumer business. Now Sesame Dunn can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.
Threats Jeffrey Dunn and Sesame Workshop: Bringing Big Bird Back to Health External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Jeffrey Dunn and Sesame Workshop: Bringing Big Bird Back to Health are -
Regulatory challenges
– Sesame Dunn 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.
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 Sesame Dunn business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
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 Sesame Dunn in the Leadership & Managing People sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
High dependence on third party suppliers
– Sesame Dunn 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 Sesame Dunn with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the sector.
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 Sesame Dunn.
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.
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Sesame Dunn is facing in Leadership & Managing People sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.
Consumer confidence and its impact on Sesame Dunn 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.
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Sesame Dunn 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.
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.
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. Sesame Dunn needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Leadership & Managing People industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
Environmental challenges
– Sesame Dunn 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. Sesame Dunn can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Leadership & Managing People industry.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Jeffrey Dunn and Sesame Workshop: Bringing Big Bird Back to Health 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 Jeffrey Dunn and Sesame Workshop: Bringing Big Bird Back to Health 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 Jeffrey Dunn and Sesame Workshop: Bringing Big Bird Back to Health 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 Jeffrey Dunn and Sesame Workshop: Bringing Big Bird Back to Health 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 Jeffrey Dunn and Sesame Workshop: Bringing Big Bird Back to Health 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 Sesame Dunn needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.
