Primer on Social Identity: Understanding Group Membership SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Leadership & Managing People
Strategy / MBA Resources
Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of Primer on Social Identity: Understanding Group Membership
This is a Darden case study.This technical note explains how group membership affects who a person thinks she or he is and how that person behaves in organizations. Hofstedes's levels of identity model are introduced and a simple description of Social Identity Theory is laid out. This note is a helpful tool for discussions about group differences because it argues that identification as a group member is not inconsistent with also being a unique individual. The note was written for use in Interpersonal Behavior and can be useful in a range of organizational behavior courses.
Swot Analysis of "Primer on Social Identity: Understanding Group Membership" written by Martin N. Davidson includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Identity Membership facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Primer on Social Identity: Understanding Group Membership case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Communication, Diversity, Leadership, Leading teams, Motivating people and Leadership & Managing People.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Primer on Social Identity: Understanding Group Membership casestudy better are - – digital marketing is dominated by two big players Facebook and Google, increasing government debt because of Covid-19 spendings, central banks are concerned over increasing inflation, competitive advantages are harder to sustain because of technology dispersion, customer relationship management is fast transforming because of increasing concerns over data privacy, increasing energy prices, increasing inequality as vast percentage of new income is going to the top 1%,
increasing household debt because of falling income levels, increasing transportation and logistics costs, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Primer on Social Identity: Understanding Group Membership
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Primer on Social Identity: Understanding Group Membership case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Identity Membership, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Identity Membership 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 Primer on Social Identity: Understanding Group Membership can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Primer on Social Identity: Understanding Group Membership case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Identity Membership
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 Identity Membership
Strengths Primer on Social Identity: Understanding Group Membership | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Identity Membership in Primer on Social Identity: Understanding Group Membership Harvard Business Review case study are -
High brand equity
– Identity Membership has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Identity Membership to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of Identity Membership in the sector have low bargaining power. Primer on Social Identity: Understanding Group Membership has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Identity Membership to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
Successful track record of launching new products
– Identity Membership has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Identity Membership 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.
Operational resilience
– The operational resilience strategy in the Primer on Social Identity: Understanding Group Membership 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.
Analytics focus
– Identity Membership 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 Martin N. Davidson 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.
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Leadership & Managing People industry
– Primer on Social Identity: Understanding Group Membership firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Identity Membership to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Leadership & Managing People industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Identity Membership to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Effective Research and Development (R&D)
– Identity Membership 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 Primer on Social Identity: Understanding Group Membership - staying ahead in the industry in terms of – new product launches, superior customer experience, highly competitive pricing strategies, and great returns to the shareholders.
Highly skilled collaborators
– Identity Membership 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 Primer on Social Identity: Understanding Group Membership HBR case study have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
Learning organization
- Identity Membership 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 Identity Membership is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders in Primer on Social Identity: Understanding Group Membership Harvard Business Review case study emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
High switching costs
– The high switching costs that Identity Membership 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.
Strong track record of project management
– Identity Membership is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.
Ability to lead change in Leadership & Managing People field
– Identity Membership 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 Identity Membership in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.
Weaknesses Primer on Social Identity: Understanding Group Membership | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Primer on Social Identity: Understanding Group Membership are -
Lack of clear differentiation of Identity Membership products
– To increase the profitability and margins on the products, Identity Membership needs to provide more differentiated products than what it is currently offering in the marketplace.
High dependence on star products
– The top 2 products and services of the firm as mentioned in the Primer on Social Identity: Understanding Group Membership 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 Identity Membership has relatively successful track record of launching new products.
Ability to respond to the competition
– As the decision making is very deliberative, highlighted in the case study Primer on Social Identity: Understanding Group Membership, in the dynamic environment Identity Membership has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. Identity Membership has reasonably good record with similar level competitors but it has struggled with new entrants taking away niches of its business.
High cash cycle compare to competitors
Identity Membership 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.
Skills based hiring
– The stress on hiring functional specialists at Identity Membership 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.
Products dominated business model
– Even though Identity Membership 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 - Primer on Social Identity: Understanding Group Membership should strive to include more intangible value offerings along with its core products and services.
Need for greater diversity
– Identity Membership 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 Identity Membership supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes mentioned in the HBR case study - Primer on Social Identity: Understanding Group Membership, it is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left Identity Membership vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.
Slow to strategic competitive environment developments
– As Primer on Social Identity: Understanding Group Membership HBR case study mentions - Identity Membership 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.
Increasing silos among functional specialists
– The organizational structure of Identity Membership is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Leadership & Managing People segment. Identity Membership needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Identity Membership to focus more on services rather than just following the product oriented approach.
Aligning sales with marketing
– It come across in the case study Primer on Social Identity: Understanding Group Membership 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 Primer on Social Identity: Understanding Group Membership can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Identity Membership is planning to shift buying processes online.
Opportunities Primer on Social Identity: Understanding Group Membership | 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 Primer on Social Identity: Understanding Group Membership are -
Redefining models of collaboration and team work
– As explained in the weaknesses section, Identity Membership is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. Primer on Social Identity: Understanding Group Membership 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.
Reforming the budgeting process
- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects Identity Membership can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.
Learning at scale
– Online learning technologies has now opened space for Identity Membership 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.
Low interest rates
– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Identity Membership 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.
Developing new processes and practices
– Identity Membership 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.
Leveraging digital technologies
– Identity Membership 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.
Loyalty marketing
– Identity Membership 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.
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– Identity Membership 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 Primer on Social Identity: Understanding Group Membership - to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Identity Membership to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
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. Identity Membership can tie-up with other value chain partners to explore new opportunities regarding meeting customer demands and building a rewarding and engaging relationship.
Increase in government spending
– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Identity Membership can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Identity Membership operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Leadership & Managing People sector.
Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains
– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Identity Membership 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, Primer on Social Identity: Understanding Group Membership, to buy more products closer to the markets, and it can leverage its size and influence to get better deal from the local markets.
Manufacturing automation
– Identity Membership 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.
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 Identity Membership 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 Primer on Social Identity: Understanding Group Membership External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Primer on Social Identity: Understanding Group Membership are -
Increasing wage structure of Identity Membership
– 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 Identity Membership.
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. Identity Membership needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Leadership & Managing People industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
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 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.
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Identity Membership 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.
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. Identity Membership 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 Identity Membership 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.
Regulatory challenges
– Identity Membership 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.
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 Identity Membership business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
High dependence on third party suppliers
– Identity Membership 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 Identity Membership in the Leadership & Managing People sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Identity Membership 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 Primer on Social Identity: Understanding Group Membership .
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. Identity Membership 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.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Primer on Social Identity: Understanding Group Membership 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 Primer on Social Identity: Understanding Group Membership 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 Primer on Social Identity: Understanding Group Membership 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 Primer on Social Identity: Understanding Group Membership 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 Primer on Social Identity: Understanding Group Membership 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 Identity Membership needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.