16/01/2022, 17:39 MBA HBR : Leadership Development at Goldman Sachs Case Study Solution & Analysis

Leadership Development at Goldman Sachs Case Study Solution &

Analysis / MBA Resources
Leadership Development at Goldman Sachs / Leadership & Managing People / MBA Resources

Introduction to case study solution

EMBA Pro case study solution for Leadership Development at Goldman Sachs
case study

At EMBA PRO, we provide corporate level professional case study solution. Leadership Development at Goldman Sachs case study is a
Harvard Business School (HBR) case study written by Boris Groysberg, Scott A. Snook, David Lane. The Leadership Development at
Goldman Sachs (referred as “Sachs Goldman” from here on) case study provides evaluation & decision scenario in field of Leadership &
Managing People. It also touches upon business topics such as - Value proposition, Influence, Leadership development, Organizational
structure.

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Case Description of Leadership Development at Goldman Sachs Case Study

In November 1999, 11 of Goldman Sachs' finest gathered to put the final touches on a revolutionary leadership development plan.
Following Goldman's explosive growth during the 1990s and its eventual IPO in 1999, a diverse group of leaders from across the firm
were selected to "assess the future training and development needs of Goldman Sachs, with a particular focus on the need for a more
systematic and effective approach to developing managing directors." After six months of brainstorming, holding discussions with
Goldman Sachs colleagues, interviewing experts, and benchmarking best practices, it was finally time to present their findings to the
management committee. The briefing contained an integrated leader development plan with concrete recommendations on how to
resolve several critical design issues, including: location, faculty, content, format, method, target audience, governance, and sponsorship.
No one sitting on the management committee had relied on a formal leadership program to reach the top. How skeptical might they
be? How do you convince hard-nosed bankers to leave their desks and invest precious time focusing on what many perceived as "soft"
issues?

Case Authors : Boris Groysberg, Scott A. Snook, David Lane

Topic : Leadership & Managing People

Related Areas : Influence, Leadership development, Organizational structure

What is the Case Study Method ? How can you use it to write case solution
for Leadership Development at Goldman Sachs case study?

Almost all of the case studies contain well defined situations. MBA and EMBA professional can take advantage of these situations to -
apply theoretical framework, recommend new processes, and use quantitative methods to suggest course of action.

Awareness of the common situations can help MBA & EMBA professionals read the case study more efficiently, discuss it more
effectively among the team members, narrow down the options, and write cogently.

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Case Study Solution Approaches

Three Step Approach to Leadership Development at Goldman Sachs Case

Study Solution
The three step case study solution approach comprises –

Conclusions – MBA & EMBA professionals should state their conclusions at the very start. It helps in communicating the points directly
and the direction one took.

Reasons – At the second stage provide the reasons for the conclusions. Why you choose one course of action over the other. For
example why the change effort failed in the case and what can be done to rectify it. Or how the marketing budget can be better spent
using social media rather than traditional media.

Evidences – Finally you should provide evidences to support your reasons. It has to come from the data provided within the case study
rather than data from outside world. Evidences should be both compelling and consistent. In case study method there is ‘no right’
answer, just how effectively you analyzed the situation based on incomplete information and multiple scenarios.

Case Study Solution of Leadership Development at Goldman Sachs

We write Leadership Development at Goldman Sachs case study solution using Harvard Business Review case writing framework & HBR
Leadership & Managing People learning notes. We try to cover all the bases in the field of Leadership & Managing People, Influence,
Leadership development, Organizational structure and other related areas.

Objectives of using various frameworks in Leadership Development at

Goldman Sachs case study solution

By using the above frameworks for Leadership Development at Goldman Sachs case study solutions, you can clearly draw conclusions
on the following areas –

What are the strength and weaknesses of Sachs Goldman (SWOT Analysis)

What are external factors that are impacting the business environment (PESTEL Analysis)

Should Sachs Goldman enter new market or launch new product (Opportunities & Threats from SWOT Analysis)

What will be the expected profitability of the new products or services (Porter Five Forces Analysis)

How it can improve the profitability in a given industry (Porter Value Chain Analysis)

What are the resources needed to increase profitability (VRIO Analysis)

Finally which business to continue, where to invest further and from which to get out (BCG Growth Share Analysis)

SWOT Analysis of Leadership Development at Goldman Sachs

SWOT analysis stands for – Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats. Strengths and Weaknesses are result of Sachs Goldman
internal factors, while opportunities and threats arise from developments in external environment in which Sachs Goldman operates.
SWOT analysis will help us in not only getting a better insight into Sachs Goldman present competitive advantage but also help us in
how things have to evolve to maintain and consolidate the competitive advantage.

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Strengths
- High customer loyalty & repeat purchase among existing customers – Sachs Goldman old customers are still loyal to the firm even
though it has limited success with millennial. I believe that Sachs Goldman can make a transition even by keeping these people on
board.

- Strong Balance Sheet – The financial statement of Sachs Goldman looks strong and will help the company going forward.

Weakness
- Low profitability which can hamper new project investment – Even though Sachs Goldman financial statement is stable, but going
forward Sachs Goldman 5-7% profitability can lead to shortage of funds to invest into new projects.

- Sachs Goldman business model can be easily replicated by competitors – According to Boris Groysberg, Scott A. Snook, David Lane ,
the business model of Sachs Goldman can be easily replicated by players in the industry.

Opportunities
- Developments in Artificial Intelligence – Sachs Goldman can use developments in artificial intelligence to better predict consumer
demand, cater to niche segments, and make better recommendation engines.

- E-Commerce and Social Media Oriented Business Models – E-commerce business model can help Sachs Goldman to tie up with local
suppliers and logistics provider in international market. Social media growth can help Sachs Goldman to reduce the cost of entering new
market and reaching to customers at a significantly lower marketing budget.

Threats
- Customers are moving toward mobile first environment which can hamper the growth as Sachs Goldman still hasn’t got a
comprehensive mobile strategy.

- Age and life-cycle segmentation of Sachs Goldman shows that the company still hasn’t able to penetrate the millennial market.

Once all the factors mentioned in the Leadership Development at Goldman Sachs case study are organized based on SWOT analysis, just
remove the non essential factors. This will help you in building a weighted SWOT analysis which reflects the real importance of factors
rather than just tabulation of all the factors mentioned in the case.

What is PESTEL Analysis

PESTEL /PEST / STEP Analysis of Leadership Development at Goldman Sachs

Case Study

PESTEL stands for – Political, Economic, Social, Technological, Environmental, and Legal factors that impact the macro environment in
which Sachs Goldman operates in. Boris Groysberg, Scott A. Snook, David Lane provides extensive information about PESTEL factors in
Leadership Development at Goldman Sachs case study.

Political Factors
- Little dangers of armed conflict – Based on the research done by international foreign policy institutions, it is safe to conclude that
there is very little probability of country entering into an armed conflict with another state.

- Political and Legal Structure – The political system seems stable and there is consistency in both economic policies and foreign policies.

Economic Factors
- According to Boris Groysberg, Scott A. Snook, David Lane . Sachs Goldman should closely monitor consumer disposable income level,
household debt level, and level of efficiency of local financial markets.

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- Foreign Exchange movement is also an indicator of economic stability. Sachs Goldman should closely consider the forex inflow and
outflow. A number of Sachs Goldman competitors have lost money in countries such as Brazil, Argentina, and Venezuela due to volatile
forex market.

Social Factors
- Consumer buying behavior and consumer buying process – Sachs Goldman should closely follow the dynamics of why and how the
consumers are buying the products both in existing categories and in segments that Sachs Goldman wants to enter.

- Leisure activities, social attitudes & power structures in society - are needed to be analyzed by Sachs Goldman before launching any
new products as they will impact the demand of the products.

Technological Factors
- Proliferation of mobile phones has created a generation whose primary tool of entertainment and information consumption is mobile
phone. Sachs Goldman needs to adjust its marketing strategy accordingly.

- 5G has potential to transform the business environment especially in terms of marketing and promotion for Sachs Goldman.

Environmental Factors
- Consumer activism is significantly impacting Sachs Goldman branding, marketing and corporate social responsibility (CSR) initiatives.

- Environmental regulations can impact the cost structure of Sachs Goldman. It can further impact the cost of doing business in certain
markets.

Legal Factors
- Intellectual property rights are one area where Sachs Goldman can face legal threats in some of the markets it is operating in.

- Health and safety norms in number of markets that Sachs Goldman operates in are lax thus impact the competition playing field.

What are Porter Five Forces

Porter Five Forces Analysis of Leadership Development at Goldman Sachs

You can use Porter Five Forces to analyze the industry in which Sachs Goldman operates in and what are the levers of profitability in
those segments – differentiation, Influence, Leadership development, Organizational structure. Michael Porter Five Forces of Strategy are
–

Competition among existing players,

Bargaining power of suppliers,

Bargaining power of buyers,

Threat of new entrants, and

Threat of substitutes

Porter Five Forces can help in answering following questions for writing case study solution for Leadership Development at Goldman
Sachs -

How attractive is the industry described in the Leadership Development at Goldman Sachs?

Are some segments more attractive than others? Why? Identify, analyze, and evaluate the strategy of the Sachs Goldman featured in the
Leadership Development at Goldman Sachs case study.

What are the pros and Cons of each strategy? What impact Sachs Goldman actions will have on industry and economy on whole?

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What is VRIO Analysis

VRIO Analysis of Leadership Development at Goldman Sachs

VRIO stands for – Value of the resource that Sachs Goldman possess, Rareness of those resource, Imitation Risk that competitors pose,
and Organizational Competence of Sachs Goldman. VRIO and VRIN analysis can help the firm.

Competitive
Resources Value Rare Imitation Organization Advantage

Customer Yes, as Yes, the firm has able to It is very difficult to Going by the Providing
Community customers are build a special imitate the culture and data, there is Strong
co-creating relationship with its community dedication still a lot of Competitive
products customers upside Advantage

Track Record of Yes Yes Can't be imitated by Yes Providing

Leadership Team competitors Strong
at companyname Competitive
Advantage

Distribution and Yes, as it helps No Can be imitated by Yes Medium to

Logistics Costs in delivering competitors but it is Long Term
Competitiveness lower costs difficult Competitive
Advantage

What is Porter Value Chain

Porter Value Chain Analysis of Leadership Development at Goldman Sachs

As the name suggests Value Chain framework is developed by Michael Porter in 1980’s and it is primarily used for analyzing Sachs
Goldman relative cost and value structure. Managers can use Porter Value Chain framework to disaggregate various processes and their
relative costs in the Sachs Goldman.

This will help in answering – the related costs and various sources of competitive advantages of Sachs Goldman in the markets it
operates in. The process can also be done to competitors to understand their competitive advantages and competitive strategies.

According to Michael Porter – Competitive Advantage is a relative term and has to be understood in the context of rivalry within an
industry. So Value Chain competitive benchmarking should be done based on industry structure and bottlenecks.

What is BCG Growth Share Matrix

BCG Growth Share Matrix of Leadership Development at Goldman Sachs

BCG Growth Share Matrix is very valuable tool to analyze Sachs Goldman strategic positioning in various sectors that it operates in and
strategic options that are available to it.

Product Market segmentation in BCG Growth Share matrix should be done with great care as there can be a scenario where Sachs
Goldman can be market leader in the industry without being a dominant player or segment leader in any of the segment.

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BCG analysis should comprise not only growth share of industry & Sachs Goldman business unit but also Sachs Goldman - overall
profitability, level of debt, debt paying capacity, growth potential, expansion expertise, dividend requirements from shareholders, and
overall competitive strength.

Two key considerations while using BCG Growth Share Matrix for Leadership Development at Goldman Sachs case study solution -

How to calculate Weighted Average Market Share using BCG Growth Share Matrix

Relative Weighted Average Market Share Vs Largest Competitor

5C Marketing Analysis of Leadership Development at Goldman Sachs

4P Marketing Analysis of Leadership Development at Goldman Sachs

Porter Five Forces Analysis and Solution of Leadership Development at Goldman Sachs

Porter Value Chain Analysis and Solution of Leadership Development at Goldman Sachs

Case Memo & Recommendation Memo of Leadership Development at Goldman Sachs

Blue Ocean Analysis and Solution of Leadership Development at Goldman Sachs

Marketing Strategy and Analysis Leadership Development at Goldman Sachs

VRIO /VRIN Analysis & Solution of Leadership Development at Goldman Sachs

PESTEL / STEP / PEST Analysis of Leadership Development at Goldman Sachs

Case Study Solution of Leadership Development at Goldman Sachs

SWOT Analysis and Solution of Leadership Development at Goldman Sachs

References & Further Readings

Boris Groysberg, Scott A. Snook, David Lane (2018), "Leadership Development at Goldman Sachs Harvard Business Review Case
Study. Published by HBR Publications.

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