Interventions for Effectively Leading in a Virtual Setting SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Leadership & Managing People
Strategy / MBA Resources
Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of Interventions for Effectively Leading in a Virtual Setting
At least a decade ago, researchers recognized the importance of leaders being able to effectively execute interventions in teams. Now, advances in collaboration technologies have changed the way teams work together in addition to the challenges they face with regard to technology and collaboration. Due to these changes, it is important to take a look at interventions and how they can be technology driven or administered. Advances in technology-driven interventions can have a substantial impact on virtual project management and online education. In this article, we explore the role of interventions in improving technology choice in a virtual setting. We argue that both proactive and reactive interventions can be used to address virtual team challenges when it comes to technology choice. We identify six interventions (proactive and reactive) that were used to lead seven global offshore development teams, as well as the findings from their use. We also advise managers and online educators on ways to effectively identify and use interventions in virtual settings
Swot Analysis of "Interventions for Effectively Leading in a Virtual Setting" written by Alanah Mitchell includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Interventions Virtual facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Interventions for Effectively Leading in a Virtual Setting case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Technology and Leadership & Managing People.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Interventions for Effectively Leading in a Virtual Setting casestudy better are - – customer relationship management is fast transforming because of increasing concerns over data privacy, geopolitical disruptions, increasing inequality as vast percentage of new income is going to the top 1%, wage bills are increasing, technology disruption, talent flight as more people leaving formal jobs, increasing commodity prices,
digital marketing is dominated by two big players Facebook and Google, increasing household debt because of falling income levels, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Interventions for Effectively Leading in a Virtual Setting
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Interventions for Effectively Leading in a Virtual Setting case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Interventions Virtual, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Interventions Virtual 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 Interventions for Effectively Leading in a Virtual Setting can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Interventions for Effectively Leading in a Virtual Setting case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Interventions Virtual
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 Interventions Virtual
Strengths Interventions for Effectively Leading in a Virtual Setting | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Interventions Virtual in Interventions for Effectively Leading in a Virtual Setting Harvard Business Review case study are -
Effective Research and Development (R&D)
– Interventions Virtual 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 Interventions for Effectively Leading in a Virtual Setting - staying ahead in the industry in terms of – new product launches, superior customer experience, highly competitive pricing strategies, and great returns to the shareholders.
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of Interventions Virtual in the sector have low bargaining power. Interventions for Effectively Leading in a Virtual Setting has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Interventions Virtual 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
– Interventions for Effectively Leading in a Virtual Setting firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Interventions Virtual to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Leadership & Managing People industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Interventions Virtual to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Training and development
– Interventions Virtual has one of the best training and development program in the industry. The effectiveness of the training programs can be measured in Interventions for Effectively Leading in a Virtual Setting 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.
Organizational Resilience of Interventions Virtual
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing that Interventions Virtual does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
Cross disciplinary teams
– Horizontal connected teams at the Interventions Virtual 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 Interventions for Effectively Leading in a Virtual Setting 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.
Highly skilled collaborators
– Interventions Virtual 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 Interventions for Effectively Leading in a Virtual Setting HBR case study have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
Innovation driven organization
– Interventions Virtual is one of the most innovative firm in sector. Manager in Interventions for Effectively Leading in a Virtual Setting Harvard Business Review case study can use Clayton Christensen Disruptive Innovation strategies to further increase the scale of innovtions in the organization.
Diverse revenue streams
– Interventions Virtual is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided firm in Interventions for Effectively Leading in a Virtual Setting 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.
High brand equity
– Interventions Virtual has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Interventions Virtual 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 Interventions Virtual digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Interventions Virtual 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 Interventions for Effectively Leading in a Virtual Setting | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Interventions for Effectively Leading in a Virtual Setting are -
Need for greater diversity
– Interventions Virtual 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.
Compensation and incentives
– The revenue per employee as mentioned in the HBR case study Interventions for Effectively Leading in a Virtual Setting, is just above the industry average. Interventions Virtual 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.
Slow to strategic competitive environment developments
– As Interventions for Effectively Leading in a Virtual Setting HBR case study mentions - Interventions Virtual 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.
Lack of clear differentiation of Interventions Virtual products
– To increase the profitability and margins on the products, Interventions Virtual needs to provide more differentiated products than what it is currently offering in the marketplace.
Workers concerns about automation
– As automation is fast increasing in the segment, Interventions Virtual 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.
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 Interventions Virtual supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes mentioned in the HBR case study - Interventions for Effectively Leading in a Virtual Setting, it is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left Interventions Virtual vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.
Skills based hiring
– The stress on hiring functional specialists at Interventions Virtual 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.
Slow to harness new channels of communication
– Even though competitors are using new communication channels such as Instagram, Tiktok, and Snap, Interventions Virtual is slow explore the new channels of communication. These new channels of communication mentioned in marketing section of case study Interventions for Effectively Leading in a Virtual Setting can help to provide better information regarding products and services. It can also build an online community to further reach out to potential customers.
Interest costs
– Compare to the competition, Interventions Virtual 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.
Products dominated business model
– Even though Interventions Virtual 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 - Interventions for Effectively Leading in a Virtual Setting should strive to include more intangible value offerings along with its core products and services.
High dependence on star products
– The top 2 products and services of the firm as mentioned in the Interventions for Effectively Leading in a Virtual Setting 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 Interventions Virtual has relatively successful track record of launching new products.
Opportunities Interventions for Effectively Leading in a Virtual Setting | 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 Interventions for Effectively Leading in a Virtual Setting are -
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. Interventions Virtual can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.
Leveraging digital technologies
– Interventions Virtual 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.
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. Interventions Virtual can tie-up with other value chain partners to explore new opportunities regarding meeting customer demands and building a rewarding and engaging relationship.
Building a culture of innovation
– managers at Interventions Virtual 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.
Better consumer reach
– The expansion of the 5G network will help Interventions Virtual to increase its market reach. Interventions Virtual 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 Interventions Virtual 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 Interventions Virtual to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
Redefining models of collaboration and team work
– As explained in the weaknesses section, Interventions Virtual is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. Interventions for Effectively Leading in a Virtual Setting 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.
Learning at scale
– Online learning technologies has now opened space for Interventions Virtual 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.
Manufacturing automation
– Interventions Virtual 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.
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. Interventions Virtual 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. Interventions Virtual 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.
Increase in government spending
– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Interventions Virtual can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Interventions Virtual operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Leadership & Managing People sector.
Lowering marketing communication costs
– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Interventions Virtual 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 Interventions Virtual can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.
Threats Interventions for Effectively Leading in a Virtual Setting External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Interventions for Effectively Leading in a Virtual Setting are -
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 Interventions Virtual in the Leadership & Managing People sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry in the industry are lowering. It can presents Interventions Virtual with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the sector.
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. Interventions Virtual 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.
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Interventions Virtual 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 Interventions for Effectively Leading in a Virtual Setting .
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 Interventions Virtual business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
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 Interventions Virtual.
Environmental challenges
– Interventions Virtual 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. Interventions Virtual can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Leadership & Managing People industry.
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. Interventions Virtual can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
Regulatory challenges
– Interventions Virtual 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.
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Interventions Virtual has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Leadership & Managing People industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Interventions Virtual 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.
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Interventions Virtual 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.
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, as highlighted in case study Interventions for Effectively Leading in a Virtual Setting, Interventions Virtual 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 wage structure of Interventions Virtual
– 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 Interventions Virtual.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Interventions for Effectively Leading in a Virtual Setting 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 Interventions for Effectively Leading in a Virtual Setting 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 Interventions for Effectively Leading in a Virtual Setting 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 Interventions for Effectively Leading in a Virtual Setting 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 Interventions for Effectively Leading in a Virtual Setting 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 Interventions Virtual needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.