Michael Boulos: A Career Derailed SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Leadership & Managing People
Strategy / MBA Resources
Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of Michael Boulos: A Career Derailed
On July 16, 2014, the finance manager of the Powertrain Department in the Whitby, Ontario branch of Astra Automotive, a global automotive parts manufacturer, was summoned to a meeting. He had been with the company for 11 years, steadily rising through the ranks because of his analytical capabilities, grasp of business complexities and intense work ethic. He was ambitious and driven to succeed; as a result, he was sometimes perceived as unnecessarily harsh and somewhat disrespectful toward colleagues and those under him when mistakes were made. He had been in his present role for just over a year, and though the company was pleased with his results, they were insistent that he enrol in training to help him better lead his department and staff. Overcome with preparing for a major presentation, he neglected to do so. As a result, he was suspended with pay for one week for allegedly not treating a colleague with respect. Now, his director, the Canadian president of operations and the human resources manager were waiting to give him the bad news: he was being fired.
Swot Analysis of "Michael Boulos: A Career Derailed" written by Gerard Seijts, Kanina Blanchard includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Automotive Boulos facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Michael Boulos: A Career Derailed case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Professional transitions and Leadership & Managing People.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Michael Boulos: A Career Derailed casestudy better are - – increasing energy prices, geopolitical disruptions, digital marketing is dominated by two big players Facebook and Google, there is increasing trade war between United States & China, increasing household debt because of falling income levels, increasing commodity prices, there is backlash against globalization,
technology disruption, wage bills are increasing, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Michael Boulos: A Career Derailed
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Michael Boulos: A Career Derailed case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Automotive Boulos, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Automotive Boulos 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 Michael Boulos: A Career Derailed can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Michael Boulos: A Career Derailed case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Automotive Boulos
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 Automotive Boulos
Strengths Michael Boulos: A Career Derailed | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Automotive Boulos in Michael Boulos: A Career Derailed Harvard Business Review case study are -
Strong track record of project management
– Automotive Boulos is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.
Superior customer experience
– The customer experience strategy of Automotive Boulos in the segment is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.
Analytics focus
– Automotive Boulos 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 Gerard Seijts, Kanina Blanchard 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.
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of Automotive Boulos in the sector have low bargaining power. Michael Boulos: A Career Derailed has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Automotive Boulos to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
High brand equity
– Automotive Boulos has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Automotive Boulos to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Training and development
– Automotive Boulos has one of the best training and development program in the industry. The effectiveness of the training programs can be measured in Michael Boulos: A Career Derailed 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.
Ability to recruit top talent
– Automotive Boulos is one of the leading recruiters in the industry. Managers in the Michael Boulos: A Career Derailed are in a position to attract the best talent available. The firm has a robust talent identification program that helps in identifying the brightest.
Learning organization
- Automotive Boulos 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 Automotive Boulos is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders in Michael Boulos: A Career Derailed Harvard Business Review case study emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
Highly skilled collaborators
– Automotive Boulos 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 Michael Boulos: A Career Derailed 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 Automotive Boulos 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.
Operational resilience
– The operational resilience strategy in the Michael Boulos: A Career Derailed 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.
Innovation driven organization
– Automotive Boulos is one of the most innovative firm in sector. Manager in Michael Boulos: A Career Derailed Harvard Business Review case study can use Clayton Christensen Disruptive Innovation strategies to further increase the scale of innovtions in the organization.
Weaknesses Michael Boulos: A Career Derailed | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Michael Boulos: A Career Derailed are -
Ability to respond to the competition
– As the decision making is very deliberative, highlighted in the case study Michael Boulos: A Career Derailed, in the dynamic environment Automotive Boulos has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. Automotive Boulos has reasonably good record with similar level competitors but it has struggled with new entrants taking away niches of its business.
Slow decision making process
– As mentioned earlier in the report, Automotive Boulos 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. Automotive Boulos 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.
Compensation and incentives
– The revenue per employee as mentioned in the HBR case study Michael Boulos: A Career Derailed, is just above the industry average. Automotive Boulos 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 cash cycle compare to competitors
Automotive Boulos 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.
Workers concerns about automation
– As automation is fast increasing in the segment, Automotive Boulos 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 Michael Boulos: A Career Derailed, it seems that the employees of Automotive Boulos 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.
Slow to strategic competitive environment developments
– As Michael Boulos: A Career Derailed HBR case study mentions - Automotive Boulos 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 bargaining power of channel partners
– Because of the regulatory requirements, Gerard Seijts, Kanina Blanchard suggests that, Automotive Boulos is facing high bargaining power of the channel partners. So far it has not able to streamline the operations to reduce the bargaining power of the value chain partners in the industry.
Capital Spending Reduction
– Even during the low interest decade, Automotive Boulos 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.
Increasing silos among functional specialists
– The organizational structure of Automotive Boulos is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Leadership & Managing People segment. Automotive Boulos needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Automotive Boulos to focus more on services rather than just following the product oriented approach.
Slow to harness new channels of communication
– Even though competitors are using new communication channels such as Instagram, Tiktok, and Snap, Automotive Boulos is slow explore the new channels of communication. These new channels of communication mentioned in marketing section of case study Michael Boulos: A Career Derailed can help to provide better information regarding products and services. It can also build an online community to further reach out to potential customers.
Opportunities Michael Boulos: A Career Derailed | 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 Michael Boulos: A Career Derailed are -
Low interest rates
– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Automotive Boulos 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. Automotive Boulos can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.
Increase in government spending
– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Automotive Boulos can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Automotive Boulos operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Leadership & Managing People sector.
Buying journey improvements
– Automotive Boulos can improve the customer journey of consumers in the industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. Michael Boulos: A Career Derailed 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.
Reforming the budgeting process
- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects Automotive Boulos can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.
Lowering marketing communication costs
– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Automotive Boulos 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.
Developing new processes and practices
– Automotive Boulos 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.
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. Automotive Boulos can tie-up with other value chain partners to explore new opportunities regarding meeting customer demands and building a rewarding and engaging relationship.
Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains
– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Automotive Boulos 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, Michael Boulos: A Career Derailed, to buy more products closer to the markets, and it can leverage its size and influence to get better deal from the local markets.
Learning at scale
– Online learning technologies has now opened space for Automotive Boulos 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.
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 Automotive Boulos in the consumer business. Now Automotive Boulos can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.
Better consumer reach
– The expansion of the 5G network will help Automotive Boulos to increase its market reach. Automotive Boulos 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.
Building a culture of innovation
– managers at Automotive Boulos 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.
Threats Michael Boulos: A Career Derailed External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Michael Boulos: A Career Derailed are -
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. Automotive Boulos can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry in the industry are lowering. It can presents Automotive Boulos with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the sector.
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, as highlighted in case study Michael Boulos: A Career Derailed, Automotive Boulos 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 international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Automotive Boulos 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 Michael Boulos: A Career Derailed .
Regulatory challenges
– Automotive Boulos 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.
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Automotive Boulos is facing in Leadership & Managing People sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Automotive Boulos 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
– Automotive Boulos high dependence on third party suppliers can disrupt its processes and delivery mechanism. For example -the current troubles of car makers because of chip shortage is because the chip companies started producing chips for electronic companies rather than car manufacturers.
Technology disruption because of hacks, piracy etc
– The colonial pipeline illustrated, how vulnerable modern organization are to international hackers, miscreants, and disruptors. The cyber security interruption, data leaks, etc can seriously jeopardize the future growth of the organization.
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 Automotive Boulos in the Leadership & Managing People sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
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. Automotive Boulos will face different problems in different parts of Europe. For example it will face inflationary pressures in UK, France, and Germany, balance sheet expansion and demand challenges in Southern European countries, and geopolitical instability in the Eastern Europe.
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Automotive Boulos has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Leadership & Managing People industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Automotive Boulos 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.
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 Automotive Boulos business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Michael Boulos: A Career Derailed 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 Michael Boulos: A Career Derailed 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 Michael Boulos: A Career Derailed 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 Michael Boulos: A Career Derailed 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 Michael Boulos: A Career Derailed 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 Automotive Boulos needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.