Meeting Ontario's Goals in the Restructuring of General Motors of Canada Limited SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Leadership & Managing People
Strategy / MBA Resources
Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of Meeting Ontario's Goals in the Restructuring of General Motors of Canada Limited
On December 20, 2008, Ontario's premier, Dalton McGuinty, and Canada's prime minister, Stephen Harper, announced their decision to provide $3 billion in interim loans to General Motors of Canada Limited. Due to the 2008 economic downturn and declining auto sales, the company had drawn from its cash reserves in an effort to maintain operations and, as a result, was facing insolvency. The automaker accounted for approximately 19,000 direct jobs in Ontario, and its collapse would mean a great economic loss for Canada. The provincial and federal governments needed to work together to support the company and, in doing so, also support Canada's economy during this financial downturn. Ontario's assistant deputy minister of Finance needed to determine the best way to proceed with the proposed financial plan, while also working with multiple governments and appeasing public opinion.
Swot Analysis of "Meeting Ontario's Goals in the Restructuring of General Motors of Canada Limited" written by Paul Boothe, Connor Lyons, David Zhang includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Ontario's Canada facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Meeting Ontario's Goals in the Restructuring of General Motors of Canada Limited case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Labor, Manufacturing, Negotiations, Public relations, Recession, Reorganization and Leadership & Managing People.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Meeting Ontario's Goals in the Restructuring of General Motors of Canada Limited casestudy better are - – there is backlash against globalization, wage bills are increasing, technology disruption, central banks are concerned over increasing inflation, cloud computing is disrupting traditional business models, banking and financial system is disrupted by Bitcoin and other crypto currencies, increasing household debt because of falling income levels,
increasing commodity prices, supply chains are disrupted by pandemic , etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Meeting Ontario's Goals in the Restructuring of General Motors of Canada Limited
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Meeting Ontario's Goals in the Restructuring of General Motors of Canada Limited case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Ontario's Canada, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Ontario's Canada 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 Meeting Ontario's Goals in the Restructuring of General Motors of Canada Limited can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Meeting Ontario's Goals in the Restructuring of General Motors of Canada Limited case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Ontario's Canada
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 Ontario's Canada
Strengths Meeting Ontario's Goals in the Restructuring of General Motors of Canada Limited | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Ontario's Canada in Meeting Ontario's Goals in the Restructuring of General Motors of Canada Limited Harvard Business Review case study are -
Successful track record of launching new products
– Ontario's Canada has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Ontario's Canada 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.
Organizational Resilience of Ontario's Canada
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing that Ontario's Canada does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
Analytics focus
– Ontario's Canada 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 Paul Boothe, Connor Lyons, David Zhang 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.
Highly skilled collaborators
– Ontario's Canada 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 Meeting Ontario's Goals in the Restructuring of General Motors of Canada Limited HBR case study have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
Cross disciplinary teams
– Horizontal connected teams at the Ontario's Canada 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.
Diverse revenue streams
– Ontario's Canada is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided firm in Meeting Ontario's Goals in the Restructuring of General Motors of Canada Limited 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.
Ability to recruit top talent
– Ontario's Canada is one of the leading recruiters in the industry. Managers in the Meeting Ontario's Goals in the Restructuring of General Motors of Canada Limited are in a position to attract the best talent available. The firm has a robust talent identification program that helps in identifying the brightest.
Learning organization
- Ontario's Canada 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 Ontario's Canada is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders in Meeting Ontario's Goals in the Restructuring of General Motors of Canada Limited Harvard Business Review case study emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
Training and development
– Ontario's Canada has one of the best training and development program in the industry. The effectiveness of the training programs can be measured in Meeting Ontario's Goals in the Restructuring of General Motors of Canada Limited 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.
High brand equity
– Ontario's Canada has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Ontario's Canada to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
High switching costs
– The high switching costs that Ontario's Canada 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.
Innovation driven organization
– Ontario's Canada is one of the most innovative firm in sector. Manager in Meeting Ontario's Goals in the Restructuring of General Motors of Canada Limited Harvard Business Review case study can use Clayton Christensen Disruptive Innovation strategies to further increase the scale of innovtions in the organization.
Weaknesses Meeting Ontario's Goals in the Restructuring of General Motors of Canada Limited | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Meeting Ontario's Goals in the Restructuring of General Motors of Canada Limited are -
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 Ontario's Canada supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes mentioned in the HBR case study - Meeting Ontario's Goals in the Restructuring of General Motors of Canada Limited, it is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left Ontario's Canada vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.
Lack of clear differentiation of Ontario's Canada products
– To increase the profitability and margins on the products, Ontario's Canada needs to provide more differentiated products than what it is currently offering in the marketplace.
Products dominated business model
– Even though Ontario's Canada 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 - Meeting Ontario's Goals in the Restructuring of General Motors of Canada Limited should strive to include more intangible value offerings along with its core products and services.
Capital Spending Reduction
– Even during the low interest decade, Ontario's Canada 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.
Aligning sales with marketing
– It come across in the case study Meeting Ontario's Goals in the Restructuring of General Motors of Canada Limited 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 Meeting Ontario's Goals in the Restructuring of General Motors of Canada Limited can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Ontario's Canada is planning to shift buying processes online.
Slow to harness new channels of communication
– Even though competitors are using new communication channels such as Instagram, Tiktok, and Snap, Ontario's Canada is slow explore the new channels of communication. These new channels of communication mentioned in marketing section of case study Meeting Ontario's Goals in the Restructuring of General Motors of Canada Limited can help to provide better information regarding products and services. It can also build an online community to further reach out to potential customers.
High cash cycle compare to competitors
Ontario's Canada 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.
Slow to strategic competitive environment developments
– As Meeting Ontario's Goals in the Restructuring of General Motors of Canada Limited HBR case study mentions - Ontario's Canada 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.
No frontier risks strategy
– After analyzing the HBR case study Meeting Ontario's Goals in the Restructuring of General Motors of Canada Limited, 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.
Increasing silos among functional specialists
– The organizational structure of Ontario's Canada is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Leadership & Managing People segment. Ontario's Canada needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Ontario's Canada to focus more on services rather than just following the product oriented approach.
Need for greater diversity
– Ontario's Canada 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.
Opportunities Meeting Ontario's Goals in the Restructuring of General Motors of Canada Limited | 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 Meeting Ontario's Goals in the Restructuring of General Motors of Canada Limited are -
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 Ontario's Canada in the consumer business. Now Ontario's Canada can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.
Lowering marketing communication costs
– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Ontario's Canada 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.
Buying journey improvements
– Ontario's Canada can improve the customer journey of consumers in the industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. Meeting Ontario's Goals in the Restructuring of General Motors of Canada Limited 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, Ontario's Canada 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, Meeting Ontario's Goals in the Restructuring of General Motors of Canada Limited, 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 Ontario's Canada 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.
Finding new ways to collaborate
– Covid-19 has not only transformed business models of companies in Leadership & Managing People industry, but it has also influenced the consumer preferences. Ontario's Canada can tie-up with other value chain partners to explore new opportunities regarding meeting customer demands and building a rewarding and engaging relationship.
Reforming the budgeting process
- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects Ontario's Canada can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.
Manufacturing automation
– Ontario's Canada 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.
Learning at scale
– Online learning technologies has now opened space for Ontario's Canada 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.
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. Ontario's Canada can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.
Loyalty marketing
– Ontario's Canada 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.
Leveraging digital technologies
– Ontario's Canada 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.
Redefining models of collaboration and team work
– As explained in the weaknesses section, Ontario's Canada is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. Meeting Ontario's Goals in the Restructuring of General Motors of Canada Limited 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 Meeting Ontario's Goals in the Restructuring of General Motors of Canada Limited External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Meeting Ontario's Goals in the Restructuring of General Motors of Canada Limited are -
Regulatory challenges
– Ontario's Canada 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.
Environmental challenges
– Ontario's Canada 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. Ontario's Canada can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Leadership & Managing People industry.
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, as highlighted in case study Meeting Ontario's Goals in the Restructuring of General Motors of Canada Limited, Ontario's Canada 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 .
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Ontario's Canada 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.
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.
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 Ontario's Canada.
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry in the industry are lowering. It can presents Ontario's Canada with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the sector.
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Ontario's Canada is facing in Leadership & Managing People sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, 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.
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Ontario's Canada has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Leadership & Managing People industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Ontario's Canada 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.
Increasing wage structure of Ontario's Canada
– 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 Ontario's Canada.
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. Ontario's Canada needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Leadership & Managing People industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
High dependence on third party suppliers
– Ontario's Canada 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.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Meeting Ontario's Goals in the Restructuring of General Motors of Canada Limited 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 Meeting Ontario's Goals in the Restructuring of General Motors of Canada Limited 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 Meeting Ontario's Goals in the Restructuring of General Motors of Canada Limited 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 Meeting Ontario's Goals in the Restructuring of General Motors of Canada Limited 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 Meeting Ontario's Goals in the Restructuring of General Motors of Canada Limited 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 Ontario's Canada needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.
