Nicholas Gray: The More Things Change (A) SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Leadership & Managing People
Strategy / MBA Resources
Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of Nicholas Gray: The More Things Change (A)
Can you really change your behavior at work? What if you believe your approach has served you well in the past and helped you succeed to where you are today? This series of cases features Nicholas Gray, a Norfolk Southern Railroad (NS) executive and his experiences in implementing change from a middle manager position. The A case (UVA-OB-0773) begins with Gray identifying a change effort to build a better relationship with colleagues in other departments at NS. As the story unfolds, Gray's management style and some challenges he faces take shape. In the B case, Gray works through his action plan and the implementation of his change initiative. These cases provide an insight into the challenges of being a change agent at both personal and organizational levels.
Authors :: James G. Clawson, Erika H. James, Gerry Yemen
Swot Analysis of "Nicholas Gray: The More Things Change (A)" written by James G. Clawson, Erika H. James, Gerry Yemen includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Gray Ns facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Nicholas Gray: The More Things Change (A) case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, and Leadership & Managing People.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Nicholas Gray: The More Things Change (A) casestudy better are - – supply chains are disrupted by pandemic , banking and financial system is disrupted by Bitcoin and other crypto currencies, challanges to central banks by blockchain based private currencies, central banks are concerned over increasing inflation, customer relationship management is fast transforming because of increasing concerns over data privacy, technology disruption, digital marketing is dominated by two big players Facebook and Google,
increasing commodity prices, competitive advantages are harder to sustain because of technology dispersion, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Nicholas Gray: The More Things Change (A)
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Nicholas Gray: The More Things Change (A) case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Gray Ns, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Gray Ns 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 Nicholas Gray: The More Things Change (A) can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Nicholas Gray: The More Things Change (A) case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Gray Ns
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 Gray Ns
Strengths Nicholas Gray: The More Things Change (A) | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Gray Ns in Nicholas Gray: The More Things Change (A) Harvard Business Review case study are -
Diverse revenue streams
– Gray Ns is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided firm in Nicholas Gray: The More Things Change (A) 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.
Strong track record of project management
– Gray Ns is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.
Learning organization
- Gray Ns 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 Gray Ns is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders in Nicholas Gray: The More Things Change (A) Harvard Business Review case study emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
Training and development
– Gray Ns has one of the best training and development program in the industry. The effectiveness of the training programs can be measured in Nicholas Gray: The More Things Change (A) 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.
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Leadership & Managing People industry
– Nicholas Gray: The More Things Change (A) firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Gray Ns to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Leadership & Managing People industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Gray Ns to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Ability to recruit top talent
– Gray Ns is one of the leading recruiters in the industry. Managers in the Nicholas Gray: The More Things Change (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.
High brand equity
– Gray Ns has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Gray Ns to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Highly skilled collaborators
– Gray Ns 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 Nicholas Gray: The More Things Change (A) HBR case study have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
Superior customer experience
– The customer experience strategy of Gray Ns in the segment is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.
Analytics focus
– Gray Ns 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 James G. Clawson, Erika H. James, Gerry Yemen 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.
High switching costs
– The high switching costs that Gray Ns 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.
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of Gray Ns in the sector have low bargaining power. Nicholas Gray: The More Things Change (A) has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Gray Ns to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
Weaknesses Nicholas Gray: The More Things Change (A) | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Nicholas Gray: The More Things Change (A) are -
Ability to respond to the competition
– As the decision making is very deliberative, highlighted in the case study Nicholas Gray: The More Things Change (A), in the dynamic environment Gray Ns has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. Gray Ns 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 Nicholas Gray: The More Things Change (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 Gray Ns has relatively successful track record of launching new products.
Low market penetration in new markets
– Outside its home market of Gray Ns, firm in the HBR case study Nicholas Gray: The More Things Change (A) needs to spend more promotional, marketing, and advertising efforts to penetrate international markets.
High operating costs
– Compare to the competitors, firm in the HBR case study Nicholas Gray: The More Things Change (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 Gray Ns 's lucrative customers.
Products dominated business model
– Even though Gray Ns 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 - Nicholas Gray: The More Things Change (A) should strive to include more intangible value offerings along with its core products and services.
Capital Spending Reduction
– Even during the low interest decade, Gray Ns 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.
Employees’ incomplete understanding of strategy
– From the instances in the HBR case study Nicholas Gray: The More Things Change (A), it seems that the employees of Gray Ns 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.
Workers concerns about automation
– As automation is fast increasing in the segment, Gray Ns needs to come up with a strategy to reduce the workers concern regarding automation. Without a clear strategy, it could lead to disruption and uncertainty within the organization.
High cash cycle compare to competitors
Gray Ns 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.
Increasing silos among functional specialists
– The organizational structure of Gray Ns is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Leadership & Managing People segment. Gray Ns needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Gray Ns to focus more on services rather than just following the product oriented approach.
Slow to strategic competitive environment developments
– As Nicholas Gray: The More Things Change (A) HBR case study mentions - Gray Ns 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.
Opportunities Nicholas Gray: The More Things Change (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 Nicholas Gray: The More Things Change (A) are -
Lowering marketing communication costs
– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Gray Ns 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.
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 Gray Ns in the consumer business. Now Gray Ns can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.
Buying journey improvements
– Gray Ns can improve the customer journey of consumers in the industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. Nicholas Gray: The More Things Change (A) suggest that firm can provide automated chats to help consumers solve their own problems, provide online suggestions to get maximum out of the products and services, and help consumers to build a community where they can interact with each other to develop new features and uses.
Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains
– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Gray Ns 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, Nicholas Gray: The More Things Change (A), 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 Gray Ns 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.
Developing new processes and practices
– Gray Ns 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.
Learning at scale
– Online learning technologies has now opened space for Gray Ns 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.
Better consumer reach
– The expansion of the 5G network will help Gray Ns to increase its market reach. Gray Ns 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.
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 Gray Ns 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.
Loyalty marketing
– Gray Ns 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.
Manufacturing automation
– Gray Ns 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.
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Gray Ns has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Gray Ns to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the Nicholas Gray: The More Things Change (A) case study. Gray Ns can build new products and services such as - data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
Reforming the budgeting process
- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects Gray Ns can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.
Threats Nicholas Gray: The More Things Change (A) External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Nicholas Gray: The More Things Change (A) 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 Gray Ns.
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Gray Ns 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 Nicholas Gray: The More Things Change (A), Gray Ns 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 .
Environmental challenges
– Gray Ns 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. Gray Ns can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Leadership & Managing People industry.
Increasing wage structure of Gray Ns
– 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 Gray Ns.
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. Gray Ns needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Leadership & Managing People industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Gray Ns has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Leadership & Managing People industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Gray Ns 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.
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 Gray Ns business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Gray Ns 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 Nicholas Gray: The More Things Change (A) .
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 Gray Ns 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. Gray Ns can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
Regulatory challenges
– Gray Ns 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.
Consumer confidence and its impact on Gray Ns 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.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Nicholas Gray: The More Things Change (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 Nicholas Gray: The More Things Change (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 Nicholas Gray: The More Things Change (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 Nicholas Gray: The More Things Change (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 Nicholas Gray: The More Things Change (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 Gray Ns needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.
