Margaret Jefferson: Performance Issue at a Performing Arts Company A SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Leadership & Managing People
Strategy / MBA Resources
Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of Margaret Jefferson: Performance Issue at a Performing Arts Company A
This case series describes a general manager's decision of whether to fire an employee at a performing arts company. The scope of the case includes the organization of the company, the decision to hire the employee, his performance, and the decision to end the employment relationship. The general manager's selection practices are described, and two role-playing exercises are included.
Swot Analysis of "Margaret Jefferson: Performance Issue at a Performing Arts Company A" written by Lyn Purdy, James O Brien includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Arts Manager's facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Margaret Jefferson: Performance Issue at a Performing Arts Company A case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Organizational culture, Strategy and Leadership & Managing People.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Margaret Jefferson: Performance Issue at a Performing Arts Company A casestudy better are - – talent flight as more people leaving formal jobs, central banks are concerned over increasing inflation, banking and financial system is disrupted by Bitcoin and other crypto currencies, supply chains are disrupted by pandemic , increasing energy prices, wage bills are increasing, there is increasing trade war between United States & China,
increasing household debt because of falling income levels, cloud computing is disrupting traditional business models, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Margaret Jefferson: Performance Issue at a Performing Arts Company A
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Margaret Jefferson: Performance Issue at a Performing Arts Company A case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Arts Manager's, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Arts Manager's 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 Margaret Jefferson: Performance Issue at a Performing Arts Company A can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Margaret Jefferson: Performance Issue at a Performing Arts Company A case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Arts Manager's
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 Arts Manager's
Strengths Margaret Jefferson: Performance Issue at a Performing Arts Company A | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Arts Manager's in Margaret Jefferson: Performance Issue at a Performing Arts Company A Harvard Business Review case study are -
Strong track record of project management
– Arts Manager's is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.
Digital Transformation in Leadership & Managing People segment
- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For Arts Manager's digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Arts Manager's 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.
Innovation driven organization
– Arts Manager's is one of the most innovative firm in sector. Manager in Margaret Jefferson: Performance Issue at a Performing Arts Company A Harvard Business Review case study can use Clayton Christensen Disruptive Innovation strategies to further increase the scale of innovtions in the organization.
Successful track record of launching new products
– Arts Manager's has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Arts Manager's has effective processes in place that helps in exploring new product needs, doing quick pilot testing, and then launching the products quickly using its extensive distribution network.
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Leadership & Managing People industry
– Margaret Jefferson: Performance Issue at a Performing Arts Company A firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Arts Manager's to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Leadership & Managing People industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Arts Manager's to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Ability to recruit top talent
– Arts Manager's is one of the leading recruiters in the industry. Managers in the Margaret Jefferson: Performance Issue at a Performing Arts Company A 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 Arts Manager's in the sector have low bargaining power. Margaret Jefferson: Performance Issue at a Performing Arts Company A has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Arts Manager's to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
Analytics focus
– Arts Manager's 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 Lyn Purdy, James O Brien 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.
Organizational Resilience of Arts Manager's
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing that Arts Manager's does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
Ability to lead change in Leadership & Managing People field
– Arts Manager's 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 Arts Manager's 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 Margaret Jefferson: Performance Issue at a Performing Arts Company A 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)
– Arts Manager's 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 Margaret Jefferson: Performance Issue at a Performing Arts Company A - 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 Margaret Jefferson: Performance Issue at a Performing Arts Company A | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Margaret Jefferson: Performance Issue at a Performing Arts Company A are -
Slow to harness new channels of communication
– Even though competitors are using new communication channels such as Instagram, Tiktok, and Snap, Arts Manager's is slow explore the new channels of communication. These new channels of communication mentioned in marketing section of case study Margaret Jefferson: Performance Issue at a Performing Arts Company A 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 Margaret Jefferson: Performance Issue at a Performing Arts Company A 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 Arts Manager's 's lucrative customers.
Workers concerns about automation
– As automation is fast increasing in the segment, Arts Manager's 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.
Ability to respond to the competition
– As the decision making is very deliberative, highlighted in the case study Margaret Jefferson: Performance Issue at a Performing Arts Company A, in the dynamic environment Arts Manager's has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. Arts Manager's has reasonably good record with similar level competitors but it has struggled with new entrants taking away niches of its business.
High dependence on star products
– The top 2 products and services of the firm as mentioned in the Margaret Jefferson: Performance Issue at a Performing Arts Company A 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 Arts Manager's has relatively successful track record of launching new products.
Capital Spending Reduction
– Even during the low interest decade, Arts Manager's has not been able to do capital spending to the tune of the competition. This has resulted into fewer innovations and company facing stiff competition from both existing competitors and new entrants who are disrupting the industry using digital technology.
Need for greater diversity
– Arts Manager's 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.
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 Arts Manager's supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes mentioned in the HBR case study - Margaret Jefferson: Performance Issue at a Performing Arts Company A, it is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left Arts Manager's vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.
Aligning sales with marketing
– It come across in the case study Margaret Jefferson: Performance Issue at a Performing Arts Company A 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 Margaret Jefferson: Performance Issue at a Performing Arts Company A can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Arts Manager's is planning to shift buying processes online.
Products dominated business model
– Even though Arts Manager's 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 - Margaret Jefferson: Performance Issue at a Performing Arts Company A should strive to include more intangible value offerings along with its core products and services.
Employees’ incomplete understanding of strategy
– From the instances in the HBR case study Margaret Jefferson: Performance Issue at a Performing Arts Company A, it seems that the employees of Arts Manager's 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.
Opportunities Margaret Jefferson: Performance Issue at a Performing Arts Company A | 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 Margaret Jefferson: Performance Issue at a Performing Arts Company A are -
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. Arts Manager's 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. Arts Manager's 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.
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. Arts Manager's 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 Arts Manager's to increase its market reach. Arts Manager's will be able to reach out to new customers. Secondly 5G will also provide technology framework to build new tools and products that can help more immersive consumer experience and faster consumer journey.
Building a culture of innovation
– managers at Arts Manager's 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.
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– Arts Manager's 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 Margaret Jefferson: Performance Issue at a Performing Arts Company A - to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Arts Manager's to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
Increase in government spending
– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Arts Manager's can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Arts Manager's operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Leadership & Managing People sector.
Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities
– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Arts Manager's 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 Arts Manager's to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Arts Manager's has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Arts Manager's to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the Margaret Jefferson: Performance Issue at a Performing Arts Company A case study. Arts Manager's can build new products and services such as - data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
Lowering marketing communication costs
– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Arts Manager's 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, Arts Manager's is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. Margaret Jefferson: Performance Issue at a Performing Arts Company A 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.
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 Arts Manager's in the consumer business. Now Arts Manager's can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.
Learning at scale
– Online learning technologies has now opened space for Arts Manager's 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.
Reforming the budgeting process
- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects Arts Manager's can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.
Threats Margaret Jefferson: Performance Issue at a Performing Arts Company A External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Margaret Jefferson: Performance Issue at a Performing Arts Company A are -
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 Arts Manager's business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry in the industry are lowering. It can presents Arts Manager's 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. Arts Manager's 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
– Arts Manager's 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. Arts Manager's can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Leadership & Managing People industry.
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 Arts Manager's in the Leadership & Managing People sector and impact the bottomline 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. Arts Manager's can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
Consumer confidence and its impact on Arts Manager's 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.
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Arts Manager's 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.
High dependence on third party suppliers
– Arts Manager's 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.
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 Arts Manager's.
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Arts Manager's has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Leadership & Managing People industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Arts Manager's 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.
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.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Margaret Jefferson: Performance Issue at a Performing Arts Company A 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 Margaret Jefferson: Performance Issue at a Performing Arts Company A 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 Margaret Jefferson: Performance Issue at a Performing Arts Company A 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 Margaret Jefferson: Performance Issue at a Performing Arts Company A 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 Margaret Jefferson: Performance Issue at a Performing Arts Company A 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 Arts Manager's needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.
