Case Study Description of Lundberg Systems: 3 Vignettes
Examines three fictional vignettes concerning ethical dilemmas in the sales force, presenting the perspective of the CEO or VP of sales. Lundberg Systems is a fictional company that develops call center solutions, including call distribution systems, headsets, and call center software. The first vignette features a VP of sales who must decide whether to take advantage of a junior employee to win new business. The second vignette looks at the potential sexual harassment of a junior employee by a customer. The third vignette presents a potentially questionable accounting practice.
Swot Analysis of "Lundberg Systems: 3 Vignettes" written by Mark Leslie, James Lattin, Mike Harkey includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Vignette Lundberg facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Lundberg Systems: 3 Vignettes case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Crisis management, Customers, Decision making, Ethics, Personnel policies, Sales and Leadership & Managing People.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Lundberg Systems: 3 Vignettes casestudy better are - – geopolitical disruptions, challanges to central banks by blockchain based private currencies, increasing household debt because of falling income levels, there is increasing trade war between United States & China, competitive advantages are harder to sustain because of technology dispersion, customer relationship management is fast transforming because of increasing concerns over data privacy, talent flight as more people leaving formal jobs,
increasing energy prices, there is backlash against globalization, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Lundberg Systems: 3 Vignettes
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Lundberg Systems: 3 Vignettes case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Vignette Lundberg, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Vignette Lundberg 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 Lundberg Systems: 3 Vignettes can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Lundberg Systems: 3 Vignettes case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Vignette Lundberg
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 Vignette Lundberg
Strengths Lundberg Systems: 3 Vignettes | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Vignette Lundberg in Lundberg Systems: 3 Vignettes Harvard Business Review case study are -
Diverse revenue streams
– Vignette Lundberg is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided firm in Lundberg Systems: 3 Vignettes 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.
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of Vignette Lundberg in the sector have low bargaining power. Lundberg Systems: 3 Vignettes has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Vignette Lundberg to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
Superior customer experience
– The customer experience strategy of Vignette Lundberg in the segment is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.
Digital Transformation in Leadership & Managing People segment
- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For Vignette Lundberg digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Vignette Lundberg has successfully integrated the four key components of digital transformation – digital integration in processes, digital integration in marketing and customer relationship management, digital integration into the value chain, and using technology to explore new products and market opportunities.
Ability to lead change in Leadership & Managing People field
– Vignette Lundberg 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 Vignette Lundberg in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.
High brand equity
– Vignette Lundberg has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Vignette Lundberg to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Innovation driven organization
– Vignette Lundberg is one of the most innovative firm in sector. Manager in Lundberg Systems: 3 Vignettes Harvard Business Review case study can use Clayton Christensen Disruptive Innovation strategies to further increase the scale of innovtions in the organization.
High switching costs
– The high switching costs that Vignette Lundberg 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.
Effective Research and Development (R&D)
– Vignette Lundberg 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 Lundberg Systems: 3 Vignettes - staying ahead in the industry in terms of – new product launches, superior customer experience, highly competitive pricing strategies, and great returns to the shareholders.
Learning organization
- Vignette Lundberg 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 Vignette Lundberg is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders in Lundberg Systems: 3 Vignettes Harvard Business Review case study emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
Analytics focus
– Vignette Lundberg 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 Mark Leslie, James Lattin, Mike Harkey 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.
Ability to recruit top talent
– Vignette Lundberg is one of the leading recruiters in the industry. Managers in the Lundberg Systems: 3 Vignettes 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 Lundberg Systems: 3 Vignettes | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Lundberg Systems: 3 Vignettes are -
Employees’ incomplete understanding of strategy
– From the instances in the HBR case study Lundberg Systems: 3 Vignettes, it seems that the employees of Vignette Lundberg 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.
Slow to harness new channels of communication
– Even though competitors are using new communication channels such as Instagram, Tiktok, and Snap, Vignette Lundberg is slow explore the new channels of communication. These new channels of communication mentioned in marketing section of case study Lundberg Systems: 3 Vignettes can help to provide better information regarding products and services. It can also build an online community to further reach out to potential customers.
Products dominated business model
– Even though Vignette Lundberg 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 - Lundberg Systems: 3 Vignettes should strive to include more intangible value offerings along with its core products and services.
High operating costs
– Compare to the competitors, firm in the HBR case study Lundberg Systems: 3 Vignettes 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 Vignette Lundberg 's lucrative customers.
High dependence on star products
– The top 2 products and services of the firm as mentioned in the Lundberg Systems: 3 Vignettes 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 Vignette Lundberg has relatively successful track record of launching new products.
High cash cycle compare to competitors
Vignette Lundberg 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.
No frontier risks strategy
– After analyzing the HBR case study Lundberg Systems: 3 Vignettes, it seems that company is thinking about the frontier risks that can impact Leadership & Managing People strategy. But it has very little resources allocation to manage the risks emerging from events such as natural disasters, climate change, melting of permafrost, tacking the rise of artificial intelligence, opportunities and threats emerging from commercialization of space etc.
Low market penetration in new markets
– Outside its home market of Vignette Lundberg, firm in the HBR case study Lundberg Systems: 3 Vignettes needs to spend more promotional, marketing, and advertising efforts to penetrate international markets.
Interest costs
– Compare to the competition, Vignette Lundberg 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.
Need for greater diversity
– Vignette Lundberg 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.
Lack of clear differentiation of Vignette Lundberg products
– To increase the profitability and margins on the products, Vignette Lundberg needs to provide more differentiated products than what it is currently offering in the marketplace.
Opportunities Lundberg Systems: 3 Vignettes | 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 Lundberg Systems: 3 Vignettes are -
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Vignette Lundberg has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Vignette Lundberg to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the Lundberg Systems: 3 Vignettes case study. Vignette Lundberg can build new products and services such as - data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
Building a culture of innovation
– managers at Vignette Lundberg 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.
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. Vignette Lundberg can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.
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 Vignette Lundberg 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
– Vignette Lundberg 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.
Buying journey improvements
– Vignette Lundberg can improve the customer journey of consumers in the industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. Lundberg Systems: 3 Vignettes 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.
Redefining models of collaboration and team work
– As explained in the weaknesses section, Vignette Lundberg is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. Lundberg Systems: 3 Vignettes 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.
Developing new processes and practices
– Vignette Lundberg 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.
Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities
– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Vignette Lundberg 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 Vignette Lundberg to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
Reforming the budgeting process
- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects Vignette Lundberg can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.
Loyalty marketing
– Vignette Lundberg 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
– Vignette Lundberg 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 Lundberg Systems: 3 Vignettes - to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Vignette Lundberg to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
Manufacturing automation
– Vignette Lundberg 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.
Threats Lundberg Systems: 3 Vignettes External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Lundberg Systems: 3 Vignettes 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 Vignette Lundberg.
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Vignette Lundberg 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.
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.
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Vignette Lundberg has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Leadership & Managing People industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Vignette Lundberg 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.
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.
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, as highlighted in case study Lundberg Systems: 3 Vignettes, Vignette Lundberg 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 .
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 Vignette Lundberg business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
Regulatory challenges
– Vignette Lundberg 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 Vignette Lundberg 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.
Increasing wage structure of Vignette Lundberg
– 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 Vignette Lundberg.
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. Vignette Lundberg can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Vignette Lundberg 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.
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. Vignette Lundberg needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Leadership & Managing People industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Lundberg Systems: 3 Vignettes 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 Lundberg Systems: 3 Vignettes 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 Lundberg Systems: 3 Vignettes 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 Lundberg Systems: 3 Vignettes 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 Lundberg Systems: 3 Vignettes 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 Vignette Lundberg needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.