Kaizen in Translation: Suggestion Systems Across Cultures SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Leadership & Managing People
Strategy / MBA Resources
Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of Kaizen in Translation: Suggestion Systems Across Cultures
Though the world has recently been described as "flat," we contend that it is also "lumpy." Some managerial practices may be universal (i.e., applicable across all cultures), while others may have to be customized for location. In this technical note, we discuss the application of kaizen principles across cultures. When managers analyze kaizen with cultural values in mind, they may find the key to its practical success, and where relevant values or predispositions do not come naturally, adjustments may benefit from a pragmatism based on cultural fluency.
Swot Analysis of "Kaizen in Translation: Suggestion Systems Across Cultures" written by Elliott N. Weiss, Donald Stevenson includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Kaizen Cultures facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Kaizen in Translation: Suggestion Systems Across Cultures case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, International business, Operations management and Leadership & Managing People.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Kaizen in Translation: Suggestion Systems Across Cultures casestudy better are - – increasing household debt because of falling income levels, talent flight as more people leaving formal jobs, challanges to central banks by blockchain based private currencies, supply chains are disrupted by pandemic , competitive advantages are harder to sustain because of technology dispersion, increasing transportation and logistics costs, technology disruption,
customer relationship management is fast transforming because of increasing concerns over data privacy, there is increasing trade war between United States & China, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Kaizen in Translation: Suggestion Systems Across Cultures
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Kaizen in Translation: Suggestion Systems Across Cultures case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Kaizen Cultures, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Kaizen Cultures 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 Kaizen in Translation: Suggestion Systems Across Cultures can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Kaizen in Translation: Suggestion Systems Across Cultures case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Kaizen Cultures
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 Kaizen Cultures
Strengths Kaizen in Translation: Suggestion Systems Across Cultures | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Kaizen Cultures in Kaizen in Translation: Suggestion Systems Across Cultures Harvard Business Review case study are -
Learning organization
- Kaizen Cultures 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 Kaizen Cultures is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders in Kaizen in Translation: Suggestion Systems Across Cultures Harvard Business Review case study emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
Successful track record of launching new products
– Kaizen Cultures has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Kaizen Cultures 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.
Digital Transformation in Leadership & Managing People segment
- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For Kaizen Cultures digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Kaizen Cultures 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.
High switching costs
– The high switching costs that Kaizen Cultures 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.
Diverse revenue streams
– Kaizen Cultures is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided firm in Kaizen in Translation: Suggestion Systems Across Cultures 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.
Ability to lead change in Leadership & Managing People field
– Kaizen Cultures 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 Kaizen Cultures in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.
Innovation driven organization
– Kaizen Cultures is one of the most innovative firm in sector. Manager in Kaizen in Translation: Suggestion Systems Across Cultures Harvard Business Review case study can use Clayton Christensen Disruptive Innovation strategies to further increase the scale of innovtions in the organization.
Analytics focus
– Kaizen Cultures 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 Elliott N. Weiss, Donald Stevenson 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
– Kaizen Cultures is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.
Effective Research and Development (R&D)
– Kaizen Cultures 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 Kaizen in Translation: Suggestion Systems Across Cultures - staying ahead in the industry in terms of – new product launches, superior customer experience, highly competitive pricing strategies, and great returns to the shareholders.
Organizational Resilience of Kaizen Cultures
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing that Kaizen Cultures does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of Kaizen Cultures in the sector have low bargaining power. Kaizen in Translation: Suggestion Systems Across Cultures has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Kaizen Cultures to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
Weaknesses Kaizen in Translation: Suggestion Systems Across Cultures | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Kaizen in Translation: Suggestion Systems Across Cultures are -
High bargaining power of channel partners
– Because of the regulatory requirements, Elliott N. Weiss, Donald Stevenson suggests that, Kaizen Cultures 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 harness new channels of communication
– Even though competitors are using new communication channels such as Instagram, Tiktok, and Snap, Kaizen Cultures is slow explore the new channels of communication. These new channels of communication mentioned in marketing section of case study Kaizen in Translation: Suggestion Systems Across Cultures can help to provide better information regarding products and services. It can also build an online community to further reach out to potential customers.
Slow decision making process
– As mentioned earlier in the report, Kaizen Cultures 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. Kaizen Cultures 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.
No frontier risks strategy
– After analyzing the HBR case study Kaizen in Translation: Suggestion Systems Across Cultures, 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.
Slow to strategic competitive environment developments
– As Kaizen in Translation: Suggestion Systems Across Cultures HBR case study mentions - Kaizen Cultures 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.
Skills based hiring
– The stress on hiring functional specialists at Kaizen Cultures 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.
Compensation and incentives
– The revenue per employee as mentioned in the HBR case study Kaizen in Translation: Suggestion Systems Across Cultures, is just above the industry average. Kaizen Cultures 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.
High dependence on star products
– The top 2 products and services of the firm as mentioned in the Kaizen in Translation: Suggestion Systems Across Cultures 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 Kaizen Cultures has relatively successful track record of launching new products.
Products dominated business model
– Even though Kaizen Cultures 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 - Kaizen in Translation: Suggestion Systems Across Cultures should strive to include more intangible value offerings along with its core products and services.
High operating costs
– Compare to the competitors, firm in the HBR case study Kaizen in Translation: Suggestion Systems Across Cultures 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 Kaizen Cultures 's lucrative customers.
Capital Spending Reduction
– Even during the low interest decade, Kaizen Cultures 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.
Opportunities Kaizen in Translation: Suggestion Systems Across Cultures | 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 Kaizen in Translation: Suggestion Systems Across Cultures are -
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. Kaizen Cultures can tie-up with other value chain partners to explore new opportunities regarding meeting customer demands and building a rewarding and engaging relationship.
Low interest rates
– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Kaizen Cultures 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. Kaizen Cultures can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.
Developing new processes and practices
– Kaizen Cultures can develop new processes and procedures in Leadership & Managing People industry using technology such as automation using artificial intelligence, real time transportation and products tracking, 3D modeling for concept development and new products pilot testing etc.
Better consumer reach
– The expansion of the 5G network will help Kaizen Cultures to increase its market reach. Kaizen Cultures 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 Kaizen Cultures has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Kaizen Cultures to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the Kaizen in Translation: Suggestion Systems Across Cultures case study. Kaizen Cultures can build new products and services such as - data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
Loyalty marketing
– Kaizen Cultures 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.
Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains
– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Kaizen Cultures can build a diversified supply chain model across various countries in - South East Asia, India, and other parts of the world. This reconfiguration of global supply chain can help, as suggested in case study, Kaizen in Translation: Suggestion Systems Across Cultures, to buy more products closer to the markets, and it can leverage its size and influence to get better deal from the local markets.
Building a culture of innovation
– managers at Kaizen Cultures 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
– Kaizen Cultures 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 Kaizen in Translation: Suggestion Systems Across Cultures - to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Kaizen Cultures to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
Redefining models of collaboration and team work
– As explained in the weaknesses section, Kaizen Cultures is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. Kaizen in Translation: Suggestion Systems Across Cultures 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.
Increase in government spending
– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Kaizen Cultures can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Kaizen Cultures operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Leadership & Managing People sector.
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 Kaizen Cultures 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.
Threats Kaizen in Translation: Suggestion Systems Across Cultures External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Kaizen in Translation: Suggestion Systems Across Cultures are -
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 Kaizen Cultures.
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.
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 Kaizen Cultures 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 Kaizen Cultures with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the sector.
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Kaizen Cultures in the Leadership & Managing People industry. The Leadership & Managing People industry is already at various protected from local competition in China, with the rise of trade war the protection levels may go up. This presents a clear threat of current business model in Chinese market.
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, as highlighted in case study Kaizen in Translation: Suggestion Systems Across Cultures, Kaizen Cultures 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. Kaizen Cultures 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
– Kaizen Cultures 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. Kaizen Cultures can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Leadership & Managing People industry.
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.
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Kaizen Cultures has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Leadership & Managing People industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Kaizen Cultures 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.
High level of anxiety and lack of motivation
– the Great Resignation in United States is the sign of broader dissatisfaction among the workforce in United States. Kaizen Cultures needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Leadership & Managing People industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Kaizen Cultures is facing in Leadership & Managing People sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.
High dependence on third party suppliers
– Kaizen Cultures 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.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Kaizen in Translation: Suggestion Systems Across Cultures 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 Kaizen in Translation: Suggestion Systems Across Cultures 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 Kaizen in Translation: Suggestion Systems Across Cultures 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 Kaizen in Translation: Suggestion Systems Across Cultures 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 Kaizen in Translation: Suggestion Systems Across Cultures 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 Kaizen Cultures needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.