Philip McCrea: Once an Entrepreneur... (A) SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Organizational Development
Strategy / MBA Resources
Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of Philip McCrea: Once an Entrepreneur... (A)
In the spring of 2005, an exhausted Philip McCrea, president and CEO of software development company VitesseLearning, reflects on the demands of his successful start-up and his desire to be closer to his growing family. Profiles the youth, career, family life, aspirations, and motivations of the founder and CEO. Provides information about the business' comparative advantages and strategic opportunities. Raises questions regarding work-life balance and the entrepreneurial satisfaction of running a successful service industry, IT-based start-up.
Swot Analysis of "Philip McCrea: Once an Entrepreneur... (A)" written by William W. George, Andrew N. McLean includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Mccrea Philip facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Philip McCrea: Once an Entrepreneur... (A) case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Entrepreneurship, IT, Leadership, Work-life balance and Organizational Development.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Philip McCrea: Once an Entrepreneur... (A) casestudy better are - – competitive advantages are harder to sustain because of technology dispersion, technology disruption, challanges to central banks by blockchain based private currencies, increasing commodity prices, banking and financial system is disrupted by Bitcoin and other crypto currencies, increasing government debt because of Covid-19 spendings, customer relationship management is fast transforming because of increasing concerns over data privacy,
increasing transportation and logistics costs, talent flight as more people leaving formal jobs, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Philip McCrea: Once an Entrepreneur... (A)
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Philip McCrea: Once an Entrepreneur... (A) case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Mccrea Philip, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Mccrea Philip 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 Philip McCrea: Once an Entrepreneur... (A) can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Philip McCrea: Once an Entrepreneur... (A) case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Mccrea Philip
3. Assessing feasibility of the new initiative in Organizational Development field.
4. Making a Organizational Development topic specific business decision
5. Set goals for the organization
6. Organizational restructuring of Mccrea Philip
Strengths Philip McCrea: Once an Entrepreneur... (A) | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Mccrea Philip in Philip McCrea: Once an Entrepreneur... (A) Harvard Business Review case study are -
Successful track record of launching new products
– Mccrea Philip has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Mccrea Philip 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.
Effective Research and Development (R&D)
– Mccrea Philip 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 Philip McCrea: Once an Entrepreneur... (A) - staying ahead in the industry in terms of – new product launches, superior customer experience, highly competitive pricing strategies, and great returns to the shareholders.
Ability to lead change in Organizational Development field
– Mccrea Philip 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 Mccrea Philip in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.
Diverse revenue streams
– Mccrea Philip is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided firm in Philip McCrea: Once an Entrepreneur... (A) case study a diverse revenue stream that has helped it to survive disruptions such as global pandemic in Covid-19, financial disruption of 2008, and supply chain disruption of 2021.
Strong track record of project management
– Mccrea Philip is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.
Ability to recruit top talent
– Mccrea Philip is one of the leading recruiters in the industry. Managers in the Philip McCrea: Once an Entrepreneur... (A) are in a position to attract the best talent available. The firm has a robust talent identification program that helps in identifying the brightest.
Organizational Resilience of Mccrea Philip
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing that Mccrea Philip does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of Mccrea Philip in the sector have low bargaining power. Philip McCrea: Once an Entrepreneur... (A) has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Mccrea Philip to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
Cross disciplinary teams
– Horizontal connected teams at the Mccrea Philip 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.
Digital Transformation in Organizational Development segment
- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For Mccrea Philip digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Mccrea Philip 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.
High switching costs
– The high switching costs that Mccrea Philip 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.
Analytics focus
– Mccrea Philip 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 William W. George, Andrew N. McLean 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.
Weaknesses Philip McCrea: Once an Entrepreneur... (A) | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Philip McCrea: Once an Entrepreneur... (A) are -
High operating costs
– Compare to the competitors, firm in the HBR case study Philip McCrea: Once an Entrepreneur... (A) has high operating costs in the. This can be harder to sustain given the new emerging competition from nimble players who are using technology to attract Mccrea Philip 's lucrative customers.
Ability to respond to the competition
– As the decision making is very deliberative, highlighted in the case study Philip McCrea: Once an Entrepreneur... (A), in the dynamic environment Mccrea Philip has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. Mccrea Philip has reasonably good record with similar level competitors but it has struggled with new entrants taking away niches of its business.
Aligning sales with marketing
– It come across in the case study Philip McCrea: Once an Entrepreneur... (A) 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 Philip McCrea: Once an Entrepreneur... (A) can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Mccrea Philip is planning to shift buying processes online.
High bargaining power of channel partners
– Because of the regulatory requirements, William W. George, Andrew N. McLean suggests that, Mccrea Philip 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.
Increasing silos among functional specialists
– The organizational structure of Mccrea Philip is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Organizational Development segment. Mccrea Philip needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Mccrea Philip to focus more on services rather than just following the product oriented approach.
Slow decision making process
– As mentioned earlier in the report, Mccrea Philip has a very deliberative decision making approach. This approach has resulted in prudent decisions, but it has also resulted in missing opportunities in the industry over the last five years. Mccrea Philip even though has strong showing on digital transformation primary two stages, it has struggled to capitalize the power of digital transformation in marketing efforts and new venture efforts.
No frontier risks strategy
– After analyzing the HBR case study Philip McCrea: Once an Entrepreneur... (A), it seems that company is thinking about the frontier risks that can impact Organizational Development 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.
Slow to strategic competitive environment developments
– As Philip McCrea: Once an Entrepreneur... (A) HBR case study mentions - Mccrea Philip 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.
Compensation and incentives
– The revenue per employee as mentioned in the HBR case study Philip McCrea: Once an Entrepreneur... (A), is just above the industry average. Mccrea Philip needs to redesign the compensation structure and incentives to increase the revenue per employees. Some of the steps that it can take are – hiring more specialists on project basis, etc.
Employees’ incomplete understanding of strategy
– From the instances in the HBR case study Philip McCrea: Once an Entrepreneur... (A), it seems that the employees of Mccrea Philip 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.
Interest costs
– Compare to the competition, Mccrea Philip 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.
Opportunities Philip McCrea: Once an Entrepreneur... (A) | External Strategic Factors
What are Opportunities in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The opportunities highlighted in the Harvard Business Review case study Philip McCrea: Once an Entrepreneur... (A) are -
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Mccrea Philip has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Mccrea Philip to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the Philip McCrea: Once an Entrepreneur... (A) case study. Mccrea Philip can build new products and services such as - data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
Low interest rates
– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Mccrea Philip can still utilize the low interest rates to borrow money for capital investment. Secondly it can also use the increase of government spending in infrastructure projects to get new business.
Finding new ways to collaborate
– Covid-19 has not only transformed business models of companies in Organizational Development industry, but it has also influenced the consumer preferences. Mccrea Philip 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 Mccrea Philip can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.
Increase in government spending
– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Mccrea Philip can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Mccrea Philip operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Organizational Development sector.
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 Mccrea Philip 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
– Mccrea Philip 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, Mccrea Philip is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. Philip McCrea: Once an Entrepreneur... (A) 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.
Learning at scale
– Online learning technologies has now opened space for Mccrea Philip 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.
Changes in consumer behavior post Covid-19
– Consumer behavior has changed in the Organizational Development industry because of Covid-19 restrictions. Some of this behavior will stay once things get back to normal. Mccrea Philip can take advantage of these changes in consumer behavior to build a far more efficient business model. For example consumer regular ordering of products can reduce both last mile delivery costs and market penetration costs. Mccrea Philip can further use this consumer data to build better customer loyalty, provide better products and service collection, and improve the value proposition in inflationary times.
Manufacturing automation
– Mccrea Philip can use the latest technology developments to improve its manufacturing and designing process in Organizational Development 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.
Better consumer reach
– The expansion of the 5G network will help Mccrea Philip to increase its market reach. Mccrea Philip will be able to reach out to new customers. Secondly 5G will also provide technology framework to build new tools and products that can help more immersive consumer experience and faster consumer journey.
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– Mccrea Philip 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 Philip McCrea: Once an Entrepreneur... (A) - to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Mccrea Philip to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
Threats Philip McCrea: Once an Entrepreneur... (A) External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Philip McCrea: Once an Entrepreneur... (A) are -
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry in the industry are lowering. It can presents Mccrea Philip 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
– Mccrea Philip 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.
Increasing wage structure of Mccrea Philip
– 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 Mccrea Philip.
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Mccrea Philip 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 Philip McCrea: Once an Entrepreneur... (A) .
Easy access to finance
– Easy access to finance in Organizational Development field will also reduce the barriers to entry in the industry, thus putting downward pressure on the prices because of increasing competition. Mccrea Philip can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
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 Mccrea Philip business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
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. Mccrea Philip needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Organizational Development industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
Consumer confidence and its impact on Mccrea Philip 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.
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Mccrea Philip is facing in Organizational Development sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.
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. Mccrea Philip 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.
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, as highlighted in case study Philip McCrea: Once an Entrepreneur... (A), Mccrea Philip may face longer learning curve for training and development of existing employees. This can open space for more nimble competitors in the field of Organizational Development .
Regulatory challenges
– Mccrea Philip 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 Organizational Development industry regulations.
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 Mccrea Philip.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Philip McCrea: Once an Entrepreneur... (A) Template, Example
Not all factors mentioned under the Strengths, Weakness, Opportunities, and Threats quadrants in the SWOT Analysis are equal. Managers in the HBR case study Philip McCrea: Once an Entrepreneur... (A) needs to zero down on the relative importance of each factor mentioned in the Strengths, Weakness, Opportunities, and Threats quadrants.
We can provide the relative importance to each factor by assigning relative weights. Weighted SWOT analysis process is a three stage process –
First stage for doing weighted SWOT analysis of the case study Philip McCrea: Once an Entrepreneur... (A) is to rank the strengths and weaknesses of the organization. This will help you to assess the most important strengths and weaknesses of the firm and which one of the strengths and weaknesses mentioned in the initial lists are marginal and can be left out.
Second stage for conducting weighted SWOT analysis of the Harvard case study Philip McCrea: Once an Entrepreneur... (A) is to give probabilities to the external strategic factors thus better understanding the opportunities and threats arising out of macro environment changes and developments.
Third stage of constructing weighted SWOT analysis of Philip McCrea: Once an Entrepreneur... (A) is to provide strategic recommendations includes – joining likelihood of external strategic factors such as opportunities and threats to the internal strategic factors – strengths and weaknesses. You should start with external factors as they will provide the direction of the overall industry. Secondly by joining probabilities with internal strategic factors can help the company not only strategic fit but also the most probably strategic trade-off that Mccrea Philip needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.
