Women Board Directors: Championing the Tough Issues SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Leadership & Managing People
Strategy / MBA Resources
Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of Women Board Directors: Championing the Tough Issues
In an environment of heightened shareholder activism in Canada, this case investigates the hypothesis that, compared with their male colleagues, women are the more likely champions of tough issues at the board. Interviews with five female directors provide insight into each of their board battles. Through the detailed enactment of their respective stories, the preconditions prompting their championing efforts and the process of how they engaged their fellow directors are presented, providing the opportunity to identify the commonalities and differences between them. Details of the final outcomes are not presented in the case to encourage the students to think through potential finales. Actual outcomes are provided in the teaching note.
Swot Analysis of "Women Board Directors: Championing the Tough Issues" written by Alison Konrad, Nancy Mclnerney-Lacombe includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Championing Directors facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Women Board Directors: Championing the Tough Issues case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, and Leadership & Managing People.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Women Board Directors: Championing the Tough Issues casestudy better are - – central banks are concerned over increasing inflation, wage bills are increasing, competitive advantages are harder to sustain because of technology dispersion, supply chains are disrupted by pandemic , there is increasing trade war between United States & China, geopolitical disruptions, there is backlash against globalization,
increasing commodity prices, challanges to central banks by blockchain based private currencies, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Women Board Directors: Championing the Tough Issues
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Women Board Directors: Championing the Tough Issues case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Championing Directors, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Championing Directors 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 Women Board Directors: Championing the Tough Issues can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Women Board Directors: Championing the Tough Issues case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Championing Directors
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 Championing Directors
Strengths Women Board Directors: Championing the Tough Issues | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Championing Directors in Women Board Directors: Championing the Tough Issues Harvard Business Review case study are -
High switching costs
– The high switching costs that Championing Directors 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.
Analytics focus
– Championing Directors 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 Alison Konrad, Nancy Mclnerney-Lacombe 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
– Championing Directors is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of Championing Directors in the sector have low bargaining power. Women Board Directors: Championing the Tough Issues has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Championing Directors to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
High brand equity
– Championing Directors has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Championing Directors to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Highly skilled collaborators
– Championing Directors 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 Women Board Directors: Championing the Tough Issues HBR case study have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
Diverse revenue streams
– Championing Directors is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided firm in Women Board Directors: Championing the Tough Issues 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.
Operational resilience
– The operational resilience strategy in the Women Board Directors: Championing the Tough Issues 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.
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Leadership & Managing People industry
– Women Board Directors: Championing the Tough Issues firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Championing Directors to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Leadership & Managing People industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Championing Directors to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Cross disciplinary teams
– Horizontal connected teams at the Championing Directors 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.
Training and development
– Championing Directors has one of the best training and development program in the industry. The effectiveness of the training programs can be measured in Women Board Directors: Championing the Tough Issues 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.
Digital Transformation in Leadership & Managing People segment
- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For Championing Directors digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Championing Directors 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.
Weaknesses Women Board Directors: Championing the Tough Issues | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Women Board Directors: Championing the Tough Issues are -
Lack of clear differentiation of Championing Directors products
– To increase the profitability and margins on the products, Championing Directors needs to provide more differentiated products than what it is currently offering in the marketplace.
Ability to respond to the competition
– As the decision making is very deliberative, highlighted in the case study Women Board Directors: Championing the Tough Issues, in the dynamic environment Championing Directors has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. Championing Directors has reasonably good record with similar level competitors but it has struggled with new entrants taking away niches of its business.
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 Championing Directors supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes mentioned in the HBR case study - Women Board Directors: Championing the Tough Issues, it is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left Championing Directors vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.
Employees’ incomplete understanding of strategy
– From the instances in the HBR case study Women Board Directors: Championing the Tough Issues, it seems that the employees of Championing Directors 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.
No frontier risks strategy
– After analyzing the HBR case study Women Board Directors: Championing the Tough Issues, 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.
High cash cycle compare to competitors
Championing Directors 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.
Products dominated business model
– Even though Championing Directors 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 - Women Board Directors: Championing the Tough Issues should strive to include more intangible value offerings along with its core products and services.
Increasing silos among functional specialists
– The organizational structure of Championing Directors is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Leadership & Managing People segment. Championing Directors needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Championing Directors to focus more on services rather than just following the product oriented approach.
High bargaining power of channel partners
– Because of the regulatory requirements, Alison Konrad, Nancy Mclnerney-Lacombe suggests that, Championing Directors 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.
Slow to strategic competitive environment developments
– As Women Board Directors: Championing the Tough Issues HBR case study mentions - Championing Directors 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.
Compensation and incentives
– The revenue per employee as mentioned in the HBR case study Women Board Directors: Championing the Tough Issues, is just above the industry average. Championing Directors 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.
Opportunities Women Board Directors: Championing the Tough Issues | 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 Women Board Directors: Championing the Tough Issues are -
Better consumer reach
– The expansion of the 5G network will help Championing Directors to increase its market reach. Championing Directors 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.
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Championing Directors has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Championing Directors to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the Women Board Directors: Championing the Tough Issues case study. Championing Directors can build new products and services such as - data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– Championing Directors 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 Women Board Directors: Championing the Tough Issues - to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Championing Directors to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
Lowering marketing communication costs
– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Championing Directors 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.
Redefining models of collaboration and team work
– As explained in the weaknesses section, Championing Directors is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. Women Board Directors: Championing the Tough Issues 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.
Leveraging digital technologies
– Championing Directors 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.
Increase in government spending
– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Championing Directors can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Championing Directors operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Leadership & Managing People sector.
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. Championing Directors 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. Championing Directors 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.
Loyalty marketing
– Championing Directors 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.
Building a culture of innovation
– managers at Championing Directors 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.
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. Championing Directors can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.
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. Championing Directors can tie-up with other value chain partners to explore new opportunities regarding meeting customer demands and building a rewarding and engaging relationship.
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 Championing Directors in the consumer business. Now Championing Directors can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.
Threats Women Board Directors: Championing the Tough Issues External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Women Board Directors: Championing the Tough Issues are -
Consumer confidence and its impact on Championing Directors 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.
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.
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. Championing Directors 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.
Environmental challenges
– Championing Directors 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. Championing Directors can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Leadership & Managing People industry.
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Championing Directors is facing in Leadership & Managing People sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.
Regulatory challenges
– Championing Directors 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.
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Championing Directors 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 wage structure of Championing Directors
– 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 Championing Directors.
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 Championing Directors business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
High dependence on third party suppliers
– Championing Directors 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 Championing Directors in the Leadership & Managing People sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, as highlighted in case study Women Board Directors: Championing the Tough Issues, Championing Directors 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 .
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. Championing Directors can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Women Board Directors: Championing the Tough Issues 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 Women Board Directors: Championing the Tough Issues 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 Women Board Directors: Championing the Tough Issues 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 Women Board Directors: Championing the Tough Issues 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 Women Board Directors: Championing the Tough Issues 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 Championing Directors needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.