IBM India: Localizing a Global Model of Corporate Citizenship SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Leadership & Managing People
Strategy / MBA Resources
Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of IBM India: Localizing a Global Model of Corporate Citizenship
In 1999, IBM India became a wholly owned subsidiary of IBM Corporation and established a presence in 14 cities across the country. True to its integrated philosophy of corporate citizenship, as the parent company expanded business operations to growth markets around the world, it rolled out citizenship initiatives in those markets. In 2011, IBM International Foundation awarded a grant of US$100,000 to IBM India for Smarter Villages, an India-specific project whose goal was to bring rural Indian villages to technological parity with cities by setting up supply chains and introducing micro financing and other services to create opportunities for an increase in farmer incomes. IBM India management hoped that, if successful, the project could be embedded in the organizational fabric of the global company and thus would reflect its own responsible leadership. The question was whether it would be possible to inculcate a spirit of stakeholder engagement and inspire volunteerism among the company's young workforce.
Swot Analysis of "IBM India: Localizing a Global Model of Corporate Citizenship" written by Vidhi Chaudhri, Asha Kaul includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Ibm Citizenship facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in IBM India: Localizing a Global Model of Corporate Citizenship case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Leadership, Organizational culture, Social responsibility and Leadership & Managing People.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the IBM India: Localizing a Global Model of Corporate Citizenship casestudy better are - – increasing inequality as vast percentage of new income is going to the top 1%, cloud computing is disrupting traditional business models, increasing commodity prices, banking and financial system is disrupted by Bitcoin and other crypto currencies, geopolitical disruptions, increasing energy prices, competitive advantages are harder to sustain because of technology dispersion,
customer relationship management is fast transforming because of increasing concerns over data privacy, talent flight as more people leaving formal jobs, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of IBM India: Localizing a Global Model of Corporate Citizenship
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in IBM India: Localizing a Global Model of Corporate Citizenship case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Ibm Citizenship, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Ibm Citizenship 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 IBM India: Localizing a Global Model of Corporate Citizenship can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in IBM India: Localizing a Global Model of Corporate Citizenship case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Ibm Citizenship
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 Ibm Citizenship
Strengths IBM India: Localizing a Global Model of Corporate Citizenship | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Ibm Citizenship in IBM India: Localizing a Global Model of Corporate Citizenship Harvard Business Review case study are -
Highly skilled collaborators
– Ibm Citizenship 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 IBM India: Localizing a Global Model of Corporate Citizenship HBR case study have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
Organizational Resilience of Ibm Citizenship
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing that Ibm Citizenship does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
Ability to recruit top talent
– Ibm Citizenship is one of the leading recruiters in the industry. Managers in the IBM India: Localizing a Global Model of Corporate Citizenship are in a position to attract the best talent available. The firm has a robust talent identification program that helps in identifying the brightest.
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of Ibm Citizenship in the sector have low bargaining power. IBM India: Localizing a Global Model of Corporate Citizenship has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Ibm Citizenship to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Leadership & Managing People industry
– IBM India: Localizing a Global Model of Corporate Citizenship firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Ibm Citizenship to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Leadership & Managing People industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Ibm Citizenship to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Analytics focus
– Ibm Citizenship 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 Vidhi Chaudhri, Asha Kaul 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.
Strong track record of project management
– Ibm Citizenship is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.
High brand equity
– Ibm Citizenship has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Ibm Citizenship to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Digital Transformation in Leadership & Managing People segment
- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For Ibm Citizenship digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Ibm Citizenship 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.
Ability to lead change in Leadership & Managing People field
– Ibm Citizenship 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 Ibm Citizenship in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.
Operational resilience
– The operational resilience strategy in the IBM India: Localizing a Global Model of Corporate Citizenship 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.
Effective Research and Development (R&D)
– Ibm Citizenship 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 IBM India: Localizing a Global Model of Corporate Citizenship - staying ahead in the industry in terms of – new product launches, superior customer experience, highly competitive pricing strategies, and great returns to the shareholders.
Weaknesses IBM India: Localizing a Global Model of Corporate Citizenship | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of IBM India: Localizing a Global Model of Corporate Citizenship are -
Need for greater diversity
– Ibm Citizenship 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.
Ability to respond to the competition
– As the decision making is very deliberative, highlighted in the case study IBM India: Localizing a Global Model of Corporate Citizenship, in the dynamic environment Ibm Citizenship has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. Ibm Citizenship has reasonably good record with similar level competitors but it has struggled with new entrants taking away niches of its business.
Workers concerns about automation
– As automation is fast increasing in the segment, Ibm Citizenship 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 IBM India: Localizing a Global Model of Corporate Citizenship, it seems that the employees of Ibm Citizenship 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 harness new channels of communication
– Even though competitors are using new communication channels such as Instagram, Tiktok, and Snap, Ibm Citizenship is slow explore the new channels of communication. These new channels of communication mentioned in marketing section of case study IBM India: Localizing a Global Model of Corporate Citizenship 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 operating costs
– Compare to the competitors, firm in the HBR case study IBM India: Localizing a Global Model of Corporate Citizenship 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 Ibm Citizenship 's lucrative customers.
No frontier risks strategy
– After analyzing the HBR case study IBM India: Localizing a Global Model of Corporate Citizenship, 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.
Skills based hiring
– The stress on hiring functional specialists at Ibm Citizenship 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.
Products dominated business model
– Even though Ibm Citizenship 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 - IBM India: Localizing a Global Model of Corporate Citizenship should strive to include more intangible value offerings along with its core products and services.
Interest costs
– Compare to the competition, Ibm Citizenship has borrowed money from the capital market at higher rates. It needs to restructure the interest payment and costs so that it can compete better and improve profitability.
Slow decision making process
– As mentioned earlier in the report, Ibm Citizenship 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. Ibm Citizenship 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.
Opportunities IBM India: Localizing a Global Model of Corporate Citizenship | 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 IBM India: Localizing a Global Model of Corporate Citizenship are -
Leveraging digital technologies
– Ibm Citizenship 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.
Developing new processes and practices
– Ibm Citizenship 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.
Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains
– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Ibm Citizenship 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, IBM India: Localizing a Global Model of Corporate Citizenship, to buy more products closer to the markets, and it can leverage its size and influence to get better deal from the local markets.
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 Ibm Citizenship in the consumer business. Now Ibm Citizenship can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– Ibm Citizenship 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 IBM India: Localizing a Global Model of Corporate Citizenship - to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Ibm Citizenship to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
Reforming the budgeting process
- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects Ibm Citizenship can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.
Low interest rates
– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Ibm Citizenship 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.
Better consumer reach
– The expansion of the 5G network will help Ibm Citizenship to increase its market reach. Ibm Citizenship 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.
Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities
– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Ibm Citizenship 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 Ibm Citizenship to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
Lowering marketing communication costs
– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Ibm Citizenship 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. Ibm Citizenship can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.
Buying journey improvements
– Ibm Citizenship can improve the customer journey of consumers in the industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. IBM India: Localizing a Global Model of Corporate Citizenship 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.
Redefining models of collaboration and team work
– As explained in the weaknesses section, Ibm Citizenship is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. IBM India: Localizing a Global Model of Corporate Citizenship 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.
Threats IBM India: Localizing a Global Model of Corporate Citizenship External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study IBM India: Localizing a Global Model of Corporate Citizenship are -
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.
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 Ibm Citizenship in the Leadership & Managing People sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
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. Ibm Citizenship needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Leadership & Managing People industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
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. Ibm Citizenship can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
Increasing wage structure of Ibm Citizenship
– 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 Ibm Citizenship.
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 Ibm Citizenship.
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Ibm Citizenship 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, Ibm Citizenship 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 IBM India: Localizing a Global Model of Corporate Citizenship .
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.
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Ibm Citizenship has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Leadership & Managing People industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Ibm Citizenship 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.
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, as highlighted in case study IBM India: Localizing a Global Model of Corporate Citizenship, Ibm Citizenship 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 .
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Ibm Citizenship is facing in Leadership & Managing People sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.
Environmental challenges
– Ibm Citizenship 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. Ibm Citizenship can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Leadership & Managing People industry.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of IBM India: Localizing a Global Model of Corporate Citizenship 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 IBM India: Localizing a Global Model of Corporate Citizenship 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 IBM India: Localizing a Global Model of Corporate Citizenship 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 IBM India: Localizing a Global Model of Corporate Citizenship 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 IBM India: Localizing a Global Model of Corporate Citizenship 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 Ibm Citizenship needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.