Role of Personal Relationships in Inter-Firm Alliances: Benefits, Dysfunctions, and Some Suggestions. SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Leadership & Managing People
Strategy / MBA Resources
Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of Role of Personal Relationships in Inter-Firm Alliances: Benefits, Dysfunctions, and Some Suggestions.
Strategic alliances have become an important means for developing and improving a firm's level of competitiveness. Although attractive, alliances are risky and difficult to manage. One crucial mechanism in managing and reducing alliance risk is reliance on personal relationships between managers in partnering firms. Personal ties are beneficial in that they can form the basis for developing trust between partners and aid joint decision-making and information sharing, thereby reducing some of the risks inherent in alliances. Despite their usefulness, however, personal relationships may have drawbacks. For example, strong interpersonal ties in alliances can sometimes prevent dissolution of faltering arrangements, as feelings may prevent the making of difficult, yet prudent, termination decisions. In order to combat this possibility, firms can reduce the downside of personal relationships by carefully managing the role of performance managers across the life of the relationship.
Swot Analysis of "Role of Personal Relationships in Inter-Firm Alliances: Benefits, Dysfunctions, and Some Suggestions." written by Henry Adobor includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Alliances Personal facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Role of Personal Relationships in Inter-Firm Alliances: Benefits, Dysfunctions, and Some Suggestions. case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Managing people, Sales and Leadership & Managing People.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Role of Personal Relationships in Inter-Firm Alliances: Benefits, Dysfunctions, and Some Suggestions. 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, cloud computing is disrupting traditional business models, customer relationship management is fast transforming because of increasing concerns over data privacy, there is backlash against globalization, there is increasing trade war between United States & China,
digital marketing is dominated by two big players Facebook and Google, increasing transportation and logistics costs, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Role of Personal Relationships in Inter-Firm Alliances: Benefits, Dysfunctions, and Some Suggestions.
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Role of Personal Relationships in Inter-Firm Alliances: Benefits, Dysfunctions, and Some Suggestions. case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Alliances Personal, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Alliances Personal 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 Role of Personal Relationships in Inter-Firm Alliances: Benefits, Dysfunctions, and Some Suggestions. can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Role of Personal Relationships in Inter-Firm Alliances: Benefits, Dysfunctions, and Some Suggestions. case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Alliances Personal
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 Alliances Personal
Strengths Role of Personal Relationships in Inter-Firm Alliances: Benefits, Dysfunctions, and Some Suggestions. | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Alliances Personal in Role of Personal Relationships in Inter-Firm Alliances: Benefits, Dysfunctions, and Some Suggestions. Harvard Business Review case study are -
Superior customer experience
– The customer experience strategy of Alliances Personal in the segment is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.
Operational resilience
– The operational resilience strategy in the Role of Personal Relationships in Inter-Firm Alliances: Benefits, Dysfunctions, and Some Suggestions. 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.
Diverse revenue streams
– Alliances Personal is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided firm in Role of Personal Relationships in Inter-Firm Alliances: Benefits, Dysfunctions, and Some Suggestions. 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.
Effective Research and Development (R&D)
– Alliances Personal 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 Role of Personal Relationships in Inter-Firm Alliances: Benefits, Dysfunctions, and Some Suggestions. - 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
– Alliances Personal 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 Role of Personal Relationships in Inter-Firm Alliances: Benefits, Dysfunctions, and Some Suggestions. HBR case study have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
Learning organization
- Alliances Personal 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 Alliances Personal is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders in Role of Personal Relationships in Inter-Firm Alliances: Benefits, Dysfunctions, and Some Suggestions. Harvard Business Review case study emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Leadership & Managing People industry
– Role of Personal Relationships in Inter-Firm Alliances: Benefits, Dysfunctions, and Some Suggestions. firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Alliances Personal to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Leadership & Managing People industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Alliances Personal to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Cross disciplinary teams
– Horizontal connected teams at the Alliances Personal 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.
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of Alliances Personal in the sector have low bargaining power. Role of Personal Relationships in Inter-Firm Alliances: Benefits, Dysfunctions, and Some Suggestions. has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Alliances Personal to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
Analytics focus
– Alliances Personal 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 Henry Adobor can also help it to harness the power of analytics for – marketing optimization, demand forecasting, customer relationship management, inventory management, information sharing across the value chain etc.
Organizational Resilience of Alliances Personal
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing that Alliances Personal does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
Ability to recruit top talent
– Alliances Personal is one of the leading recruiters in the industry. Managers in the Role of Personal Relationships in Inter-Firm Alliances: Benefits, Dysfunctions, and Some Suggestions. are in a position to attract the best talent available. The firm has a robust talent identification program that helps in identifying the brightest.
Weaknesses Role of Personal Relationships in Inter-Firm Alliances: Benefits, Dysfunctions, and Some Suggestions. | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Role of Personal Relationships in Inter-Firm Alliances: Benefits, Dysfunctions, and Some Suggestions. are -
High bargaining power of channel partners
– Because of the regulatory requirements, Henry Adobor suggests that, Alliances Personal 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.
Interest costs
– Compare to the competition, Alliances Personal 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.
Lack of clear differentiation of Alliances Personal products
– To increase the profitability and margins on the products, Alliances Personal needs to provide more differentiated products than what it is currently offering in the marketplace.
Products dominated business model
– Even though Alliances Personal 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 - Role of Personal Relationships in Inter-Firm Alliances: Benefits, Dysfunctions, and Some Suggestions. should strive to include more intangible value offerings along with its core products and services.
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 Alliances Personal supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes mentioned in the HBR case study - Role of Personal Relationships in Inter-Firm Alliances: Benefits, Dysfunctions, and Some Suggestions., it is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left Alliances Personal vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.
Capital Spending Reduction
– Even during the low interest decade, Alliances Personal 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.
Slow to harness new channels of communication
– Even though competitors are using new communication channels such as Instagram, Tiktok, and Snap, Alliances Personal is slow explore the new channels of communication. These new channels of communication mentioned in marketing section of case study Role of Personal Relationships in Inter-Firm Alliances: Benefits, Dysfunctions, and Some Suggestions. 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 to strategic competitive environment developments
– As Role of Personal Relationships in Inter-Firm Alliances: Benefits, Dysfunctions, and Some Suggestions. HBR case study mentions - Alliances Personal 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.
High cash cycle compare to competitors
Alliances Personal 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.
Aligning sales with marketing
– It come across in the case study Role of Personal Relationships in Inter-Firm Alliances: Benefits, Dysfunctions, and Some Suggestions. 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 Role of Personal Relationships in Inter-Firm Alliances: Benefits, Dysfunctions, and Some Suggestions. can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Alliances Personal is planning to shift buying processes online.
High dependence on star products
– The top 2 products and services of the firm as mentioned in the Role of Personal Relationships in Inter-Firm Alliances: Benefits, Dysfunctions, and Some Suggestions. 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 Alliances Personal has relatively successful track record of launching new products.
Opportunities Role of Personal Relationships in Inter-Firm Alliances: Benefits, Dysfunctions, and Some Suggestions. | 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 Role of Personal Relationships in Inter-Firm Alliances: Benefits, Dysfunctions, and Some Suggestions. are -
Lowering marketing communication costs
– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Alliances Personal 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.
Loyalty marketing
– Alliances Personal 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.
Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities
– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Alliances Personal 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 Alliances Personal to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
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 Alliances Personal in the consumer business. Now Alliances Personal 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 Alliances Personal 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.
Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains
– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Alliances Personal 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, Role of Personal Relationships in Inter-Firm Alliances: Benefits, Dysfunctions, and Some Suggestions., to buy more products closer to the markets, and it can leverage its size and influence to get better deal from the local markets.
Redefining models of collaboration and team work
– As explained in the weaknesses section, Alliances Personal is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. Role of Personal Relationships in Inter-Firm Alliances: Benefits, Dysfunctions, and Some Suggestions. 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 Alliances Personal can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.
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. Alliances Personal can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.
Manufacturing automation
– Alliances Personal 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 Alliances Personal has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Alliances Personal to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the Role of Personal Relationships in Inter-Firm Alliances: Benefits, Dysfunctions, and Some Suggestions. case study. Alliances Personal can build new products and services such as - data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
Buying journey improvements
– Alliances Personal can improve the customer journey of consumers in the industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. Role of Personal Relationships in Inter-Firm Alliances: Benefits, Dysfunctions, and Some Suggestions. 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.
Leveraging digital technologies
– Alliances Personal 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.
Threats Role of Personal Relationships in Inter-Firm Alliances: Benefits, Dysfunctions, and Some Suggestions. External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Role of Personal Relationships in Inter-Firm Alliances: Benefits, Dysfunctions, and Some Suggestions. are -
Increasing wage structure of Alliances Personal
– 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 Alliances Personal.
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Alliances Personal has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Leadership & Managing People industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Alliances Personal 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.
Regulatory challenges
– Alliances Personal 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.
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. Alliances Personal needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Leadership & Managing People industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
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. Alliances Personal can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
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. Alliances Personal 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.
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Alliances Personal 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 Role of Personal Relationships in Inter-Firm Alliances: Benefits, Dysfunctions, and Some Suggestions. .
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.
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry in the industry are lowering. It can presents Alliances Personal with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the sector.
High dependence on third party suppliers
– Alliances Personal 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 Alliances Personal business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Alliances Personal 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.
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, as highlighted in case study Role of Personal Relationships in Inter-Firm Alliances: Benefits, Dysfunctions, and Some Suggestions., Alliances Personal 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 .
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Role of Personal Relationships in Inter-Firm Alliances: Benefits, Dysfunctions, and Some Suggestions. 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 Role of Personal Relationships in Inter-Firm Alliances: Benefits, Dysfunctions, and Some Suggestions. 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 Role of Personal Relationships in Inter-Firm Alliances: Benefits, Dysfunctions, and Some Suggestions. 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 Role of Personal Relationships in Inter-Firm Alliances: Benefits, Dysfunctions, and Some Suggestions. 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 Role of Personal Relationships in Inter-Firm Alliances: Benefits, Dysfunctions, and Some Suggestions. 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 Alliances Personal needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.
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