5 Keys to Being Positively Deviant in Trying Times SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Leadership & Managing People
Strategy / MBA Resources
Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of 5 Keys to Being Positively Deviant in Trying Times
Studies of organizations that have achieved unexpected and exceptional levels of success, in spite of the difficult economic situations they face, reveal a common denominator: They have adopted strategies based on positive organizational leadership competencies. This is an emerging field that focuses on "positively deviant" organizational performance -- in other words, successful performance that dramatically exceeds the norm in a positive direction. Positive competencies involve more than putting a happy face on disaster. They are life-giving attributes that can be learned, developed and improved, regardless of your personality. The author, a foremost scholar in the field, draws on two decades of his research to suggest five positive leadership practices that can serve as keys to flourishing and highly successful outcomes -- even among organizations that are downsizing, facing bankruptcy, experiencing loss of mission or encountering fiscal disasters. He shows how to detox your workplace and spread the light.
Swot Analysis of "5 Keys to Being Positively Deviant in Trying Times" written by Kim Cameron includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Positive Deviant facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in 5 Keys to Being Positively Deviant in Trying Times case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Leadership and Leadership & Managing People.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the 5 Keys to Being Positively Deviant in Trying Times casestudy better are - – increasing government debt because of Covid-19 spendings, talent flight as more people leaving formal jobs, central banks are concerned over increasing inflation, technology disruption, challanges to central banks by blockchain based private currencies, there is increasing trade war between United States & China, cloud computing is disrupting traditional business models,
digital marketing is dominated by two big players Facebook and Google, customer relationship management is fast transforming because of increasing concerns over data privacy, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of 5 Keys to Being Positively Deviant in Trying Times
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in 5 Keys to Being Positively Deviant in Trying Times case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Positive Deviant, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Positive Deviant 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 5 Keys to Being Positively Deviant in Trying Times can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in 5 Keys to Being Positively Deviant in Trying Times case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Positive Deviant
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 Positive Deviant
Strengths 5 Keys to Being Positively Deviant in Trying Times | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Positive Deviant in 5 Keys to Being Positively Deviant in Trying Times Harvard Business Review case study are -
Training and development
– Positive Deviant has one of the best training and development program in the industry. The effectiveness of the training programs can be measured in 5 Keys to Being Positively Deviant in Trying Times 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
– Positive Deviant is one of the leading recruiters in the industry. Managers in the 5 Keys to Being Positively Deviant in Trying Times are in a position to attract the best talent available. The firm has a robust talent identification program that helps in identifying the brightest.
Superior customer experience
– The customer experience strategy of Positive Deviant in the segment is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.
Innovation driven organization
– Positive Deviant is one of the most innovative firm in sector. Manager in 5 Keys to Being Positively Deviant in Trying Times Harvard Business Review case study can use Clayton Christensen Disruptive Innovation strategies to further increase the scale of innovtions in the organization.
Effective Research and Development (R&D)
– Positive Deviant 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 5 Keys to Being Positively Deviant in Trying Times - staying ahead in the industry in terms of – new product launches, superior customer experience, highly competitive pricing strategies, and great returns to the shareholders.
Learning organization
- Positive Deviant 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 Positive Deviant is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders in 5 Keys to Being Positively Deviant in Trying Times Harvard Business Review case study emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
Operational resilience
– The operational resilience strategy in the 5 Keys to Being Positively Deviant in Trying Times 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.
High switching costs
– The high switching costs that Positive Deviant 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.
Ability to lead change in Leadership & Managing People field
– Positive Deviant 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 Positive Deviant in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.
Highly skilled collaborators
– Positive Deviant 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 5 Keys to Being Positively Deviant in Trying Times HBR case study have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
Digital Transformation in Leadership & Managing People segment
- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For Positive Deviant digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Positive Deviant 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.
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Leadership & Managing People industry
– 5 Keys to Being Positively Deviant in Trying Times firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Positive Deviant to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Leadership & Managing People industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Positive Deviant to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Weaknesses 5 Keys to Being Positively Deviant in Trying Times | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of 5 Keys to Being Positively Deviant in Trying Times are -
Slow decision making process
– As mentioned earlier in the report, Positive Deviant 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. Positive Deviant 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 dependence on star products
– The top 2 products and services of the firm as mentioned in the 5 Keys to Being Positively Deviant in Trying Times 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 Positive Deviant has relatively successful track record of launching new products.
Aligning sales with marketing
– It come across in the case study 5 Keys to Being Positively Deviant in Trying Times 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 5 Keys to Being Positively Deviant in Trying Times can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Positive Deviant is planning to shift buying processes online.
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 Positive Deviant supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes mentioned in the HBR case study - 5 Keys to Being Positively Deviant in Trying Times, it is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left Positive Deviant vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.
Employees’ incomplete understanding of strategy
– From the instances in the HBR case study 5 Keys to Being Positively Deviant in Trying Times, it seems that the employees of Positive Deviant 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.
Products dominated business model
– Even though Positive Deviant 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 - 5 Keys to Being Positively Deviant in Trying Times should strive to include more intangible value offerings along with its core products and services.
Ability to respond to the competition
– As the decision making is very deliberative, highlighted in the case study 5 Keys to Being Positively Deviant in Trying Times, in the dynamic environment Positive Deviant has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. Positive Deviant has reasonably good record with similar level competitors but it has struggled with new entrants taking away niches of its business.
Slow to harness new channels of communication
– Even though competitors are using new communication channels such as Instagram, Tiktok, and Snap, Positive Deviant is slow explore the new channels of communication. These new channels of communication mentioned in marketing section of case study 5 Keys to Being Positively Deviant in Trying Times 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 Positive Deviant products
– To increase the profitability and margins on the products, Positive Deviant needs to provide more differentiated products than what it is currently offering in the marketplace.
High operating costs
– Compare to the competitors, firm in the HBR case study 5 Keys to Being Positively Deviant in Trying Times 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 Positive Deviant 's lucrative customers.
Need for greater diversity
– Positive Deviant 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.
Opportunities 5 Keys to Being Positively Deviant in Trying Times | 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 5 Keys to Being Positively Deviant in Trying Times are -
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– Positive Deviant 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 5 Keys to Being Positively Deviant in Trying Times - to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Positive Deviant to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
Manufacturing automation
– Positive Deviant 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.
Loyalty marketing
– Positive Deviant 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.
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 Positive Deviant 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.
Building a culture of innovation
– managers at Positive Deviant 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.
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. Positive Deviant 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. Positive Deviant 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.
Low interest rates
– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Positive Deviant 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. Positive Deviant can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.
Better consumer reach
– The expansion of the 5G network will help Positive Deviant to increase its market reach. Positive Deviant 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 Positive Deviant 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 Positive Deviant to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
Lowering marketing communication costs
– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Positive Deviant 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.
Reforming the budgeting process
- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects Positive Deviant can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.
Leveraging digital technologies
– Positive Deviant 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.
Threats 5 Keys to Being Positively Deviant in Trying Times External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study 5 Keys to Being Positively Deviant in Trying Times are -
Increasing wage structure of Positive Deviant
– 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 Positive Deviant.
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, as highlighted in case study 5 Keys to Being Positively Deviant in Trying Times, Positive Deviant 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 .
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry in the industry are lowering. It can presents Positive Deviant with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the sector.
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 dependence on third party suppliers
– Positive Deviant 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.
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 Positive Deviant in the Leadership & Managing People sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Positive Deviant can face lack of demand in the market place because of Fed actions to reduce inflation. This can lead to sluggish growth in the economy, lower demands, lower investments, higher borrowing costs, and consolidation in the field.
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Positive Deviant has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Leadership & Managing People industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Positive Deviant 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.
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Positive Deviant 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 5 Keys to Being Positively Deviant in Trying Times .
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 Positive Deviant business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
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.
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. Positive Deviant can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
Environmental challenges
– Positive Deviant 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. Positive Deviant can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Leadership & Managing People industry.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of 5 Keys to Being Positively Deviant in Trying Times 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 5 Keys to Being Positively Deviant in Trying Times 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 5 Keys to Being Positively Deviant in Trying Times 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 5 Keys to Being Positively Deviant in Trying Times 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 5 Keys to Being Positively Deviant in Trying Times 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 Positive Deviant needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.
