Loafing in the 21st Century: Enhanced Opportunities--and Remedies--for Withholding Job Effort in the New Workplace SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Leadership & Managing People
Strategy / MBA Resources
Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of Loafing in the 21st Century: Enhanced Opportunities--and Remedies--for Withholding Job Effort in the New Workplace
The electronic workplace, a greater emphasis on knowledge work and teams, and the increased relevance of managing impressions of work performance are among factors that relate to higher levels of withholding effort among problem employees in the 21st century. This article considers these three factors in the context of dominant organizational forms-low-cost operators, global competitor corporations, and high-involvement firms-and how each can lead to lower on-the-job effort. Remedies are offered for new forms of withholding effort such as cyberloafing, as well as hiding lack of effort in virtual teams and through impression management. In addition, a different way of considering the problem of lower job effort is proposed through examination of how a work ethic and a leisure ethic can be synthesized to enhance organizational creativity, innovation, and performance.
Swot Analysis of "Loafing in the 21st Century: Enhanced Opportunities--and Remedies--for Withholding Job Effort in the New Workplace" written by Roland E. Kidwell includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Withholding Effort facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Loafing in the 21st Century: Enhanced Opportunities--and Remedies--for Withholding Job Effort in the New Workplace case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Leading teams and Leadership & Managing People.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Loafing in the 21st Century: Enhanced Opportunities--and Remedies--for Withholding Job Effort in the New Workplace casestudy better are - – customer relationship management is fast transforming because of increasing concerns over data privacy, digital marketing is dominated by two big players Facebook and Google, wage bills are increasing, there is increasing trade war between United States & China, there is backlash against globalization, central banks are concerned over increasing inflation, increasing commodity prices,
increasing government debt because of Covid-19 spendings, increasing energy prices, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Loafing in the 21st Century: Enhanced Opportunities--and Remedies--for Withholding Job Effort in the New Workplace
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Loafing in the 21st Century: Enhanced Opportunities--and Remedies--for Withholding Job Effort in the New Workplace case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Withholding Effort, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Withholding Effort 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 Loafing in the 21st Century: Enhanced Opportunities--and Remedies--for Withholding Job Effort in the New Workplace can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Loafing in the 21st Century: Enhanced Opportunities--and Remedies--for Withholding Job Effort in the New Workplace case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Withholding Effort
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 Withholding Effort
Strengths Loafing in the 21st Century: Enhanced Opportunities--and Remedies--for Withholding Job Effort in the New Workplace | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Withholding Effort in Loafing in the 21st Century: Enhanced Opportunities--and Remedies--for Withholding Job Effort in the New Workplace Harvard Business Review case study are -
Effective Research and Development (R&D)
– Withholding Effort 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 Loafing in the 21st Century: Enhanced Opportunities--and Remedies--for Withholding Job Effort in the New Workplace - staying ahead in the industry in terms of – new product launches, superior customer experience, highly competitive pricing strategies, and great returns to the shareholders.
High brand equity
– Withholding Effort has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Withholding Effort to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Cross disciplinary teams
– Horizontal connected teams at the Withholding Effort 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.
Analytics focus
– Withholding Effort 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 Roland E. Kidwell 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.
Learning organization
- Withholding Effort 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 Withholding Effort is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders in Loafing in the 21st Century: Enhanced Opportunities--and Remedies--for Withholding Job Effort in the New Workplace Harvard Business Review case study emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
Superior customer experience
– The customer experience strategy of Withholding Effort in the segment is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.
Diverse revenue streams
– Withholding Effort is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided firm in Loafing in the 21st Century: Enhanced Opportunities--and Remedies--for Withholding Job Effort in the New Workplace 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.
Training and development
– Withholding Effort has one of the best training and development program in the industry. The effectiveness of the training programs can be measured in Loafing in the 21st Century: Enhanced Opportunities--and Remedies--for Withholding Job Effort in the New Workplace 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.
Ability to recruit top talent
– Withholding Effort is one of the leading recruiters in the industry. Managers in the Loafing in the 21st Century: Enhanced Opportunities--and Remedies--for Withholding Job Effort in the New Workplace are in a position to attract the best talent available. The firm has a robust talent identification program that helps in identifying the brightest.
Strong track record of project management
– Withholding Effort is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.
Successful track record of launching new products
– Withholding Effort has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Withholding Effort 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.
High switching costs
– The high switching costs that Withholding Effort 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.
Weaknesses Loafing in the 21st Century: Enhanced Opportunities--and Remedies--for Withholding Job Effort in the New Workplace | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Loafing in the 21st Century: Enhanced Opportunities--and Remedies--for Withholding Job Effort in the New Workplace are -
Employees’ incomplete understanding of strategy
– From the instances in the HBR case study Loafing in the 21st Century: Enhanced Opportunities--and Remedies--for Withholding Job Effort in the New Workplace, it seems that the employees of Withholding Effort 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.
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 Withholding Effort supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes mentioned in the HBR case study - Loafing in the 21st Century: Enhanced Opportunities--and Remedies--for Withholding Job Effort in the New Workplace, it is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left Withholding Effort vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.
Products dominated business model
– Even though Withholding Effort 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 - Loafing in the 21st Century: Enhanced Opportunities--and Remedies--for Withholding Job Effort in the New Workplace should strive to include more intangible value offerings along with its core products and services.
Lack of clear differentiation of Withholding Effort products
– To increase the profitability and margins on the products, Withholding Effort needs to provide more differentiated products than what it is currently offering in the marketplace.
Slow to strategic competitive environment developments
– As Loafing in the 21st Century: Enhanced Opportunities--and Remedies--for Withholding Job Effort in the New Workplace HBR case study mentions - Withholding Effort 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.
Workers concerns about automation
– As automation is fast increasing in the segment, Withholding Effort 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.
Slow to harness new channels of communication
– Even though competitors are using new communication channels such as Instagram, Tiktok, and Snap, Withholding Effort is slow explore the new channels of communication. These new channels of communication mentioned in marketing section of case study Loafing in the 21st Century: Enhanced Opportunities--and Remedies--for Withholding Job Effort in the New Workplace can help to provide better information regarding products and services. It can also build an online community to further reach out to potential customers.
Capital Spending Reduction
– Even during the low interest decade, Withholding Effort 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.
High operating costs
– Compare to the competitors, firm in the HBR case study Loafing in the 21st Century: Enhanced Opportunities--and Remedies--for Withholding Job Effort in the New Workplace 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 Withholding Effort 's lucrative customers.
High cash cycle compare to competitors
Withholding Effort 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.
Interest costs
– Compare to the competition, Withholding Effort 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.
Opportunities Loafing in the 21st Century: Enhanced Opportunities--and Remedies--for Withholding Job Effort in the New Workplace | 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 Loafing in the 21st Century: Enhanced Opportunities--and Remedies--for Withholding Job Effort in the New Workplace are -
Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities
– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Withholding Effort 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 Withholding Effort to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
Increase in government spending
– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Withholding Effort can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Withholding Effort operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Leadership & Managing People sector.
Developing new processes and practices
– Withholding Effort 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.
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 Withholding Effort in the consumer business. Now Withholding Effort can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.
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 Withholding Effort 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.
Leveraging digital technologies
– Withholding Effort 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.
Lowering marketing communication costs
– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Withholding Effort 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.
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– Withholding Effort 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 Loafing in the 21st Century: Enhanced Opportunities--and Remedies--for Withholding Job Effort in the New Workplace - to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Withholding Effort to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
Manufacturing automation
– Withholding Effort 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.
Better consumer reach
– The expansion of the 5G network will help Withholding Effort to increase its market reach. Withholding Effort 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.
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. Withholding Effort 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. Withholding Effort 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.
Building a culture of innovation
– managers at Withholding Effort 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.
Redefining models of collaboration and team work
– As explained in the weaknesses section, Withholding Effort is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. Loafing in the 21st Century: Enhanced Opportunities--and Remedies--for Withholding Job Effort in the New Workplace 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.
Threats Loafing in the 21st Century: Enhanced Opportunities--and Remedies--for Withholding Job Effort in the New Workplace External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Loafing in the 21st Century: Enhanced Opportunities--and Remedies--for Withholding Job Effort in the New Workplace are -
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. Withholding Effort 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.
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. Withholding Effort can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
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 Withholding Effort in the Leadership & Managing People sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Withholding Effort is facing in Leadership & Managing People sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.
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.
Environmental challenges
– Withholding Effort 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. Withholding Effort can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Leadership & Managing People industry.
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry in the industry are lowering. It can presents Withholding Effort with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the sector.
Regulatory challenges
– Withholding Effort 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.
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Withholding Effort 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.
High dependence on third party suppliers
– Withholding Effort 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.
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 Withholding Effort business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
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.
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Withholding Effort 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 Loafing in the 21st Century: Enhanced Opportunities--and Remedies--for Withholding Job Effort in the New Workplace .
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Loafing in the 21st Century: Enhanced Opportunities--and Remedies--for Withholding Job Effort in the New Workplace 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 Loafing in the 21st Century: Enhanced Opportunities--and Remedies--for Withholding Job Effort in the New Workplace 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 Loafing in the 21st Century: Enhanced Opportunities--and Remedies--for Withholding Job Effort in the New Workplace 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 Loafing in the 21st Century: Enhanced Opportunities--and Remedies--for Withholding Job Effort in the New Workplace 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 Loafing in the 21st Century: Enhanced Opportunities--and Remedies--for Withholding Job Effort in the New Workplace 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 Withholding Effort needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.
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