Case Study Description of SMA: Micro-Electronic Products Division (B)
Focuses on the recommendations and implementation strategy suggested by the organizational development group for the division's problems. A rewritten version of an earlier case.
Swot Analysis of "SMA: Micro-Electronic Products Division (B)" written by Michael Beer, Michael L. Tushman includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Sma Division's facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in SMA: Micro-Electronic Products Division (B) case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Motivating people, Organizational culture, Organizational structure, Strategy execution and Organizational Development.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the SMA: Micro-Electronic Products Division (B) casestudy better are - – increasing energy prices, increasing household debt because of falling income levels, cloud computing is disrupting traditional business models, increasing commodity prices, there is backlash against globalization, digital marketing is dominated by two big players Facebook and Google, supply chains are disrupted by pandemic ,
geopolitical disruptions, customer relationship management is fast transforming because of increasing concerns over data privacy, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of SMA: Micro-Electronic Products Division (B)
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in SMA: Micro-Electronic Products Division (B) case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Sma Division's, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Sma Division's 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 SMA: Micro-Electronic Products Division (B) can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in SMA: Micro-Electronic Products Division (B) case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Sma Division's
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 Sma Division's
Strengths SMA: Micro-Electronic Products Division (B) | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Sma Division's in SMA: Micro-Electronic Products Division (B) Harvard Business Review case study are -
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Organizational Development industry
– SMA: Micro-Electronic Products Division (B) firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Sma Division's to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Organizational Development industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Sma Division's to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
High switching costs
– The high switching costs that Sma Division's 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.
Learning organization
- Sma Division's 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 Sma Division's is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders in SMA: Micro-Electronic Products Division (B) Harvard Business Review case study emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
Innovation driven organization
– Sma Division's is one of the most innovative firm in sector. Manager in SMA: Micro-Electronic Products Division (B) Harvard Business Review case study can use Clayton Christensen Disruptive Innovation strategies to further increase the scale of innovtions in the organization.
Effective Research and Development (R&D)
– Sma Division's 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 SMA: Micro-Electronic Products Division (B) - staying ahead in the industry in terms of – new product launches, superior customer experience, highly competitive pricing strategies, and great returns to the shareholders.
Diverse revenue streams
– Sma Division's is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided firm in SMA: Micro-Electronic Products Division (B) 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.
Highly skilled collaborators
– Sma Division's 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 SMA: Micro-Electronic Products Division (B) HBR case study have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
Strong track record of project management
– Sma Division's is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.
Training and development
– Sma Division's has one of the best training and development program in the industry. The effectiveness of the training programs can be measured in SMA: Micro-Electronic Products Division (B) 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.
Successful track record of launching new products
– Sma Division's has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Sma Division's 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.
Cross disciplinary teams
– Horizontal connected teams at the Sma Division's 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.
Organizational Resilience of Sma Division's
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing that Sma Division's does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
Weaknesses SMA: Micro-Electronic Products Division (B) | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of SMA: Micro-Electronic Products Division (B) are -
Ability to respond to the competition
– As the decision making is very deliberative, highlighted in the case study SMA: Micro-Electronic Products Division (B), in the dynamic environment Sma Division's has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. Sma Division's has reasonably good record with similar level competitors but it has struggled with new entrants taking away niches of its business.
Employees’ incomplete understanding of strategy
– From the instances in the HBR case study SMA: Micro-Electronic Products Division (B), it seems that the employees of Sma Division's 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.
Aligning sales with marketing
– It come across in the case study SMA: Micro-Electronic Products Division (B) 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 SMA: Micro-Electronic Products Division (B) can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Sma Division's is planning to shift buying processes online.
No frontier risks strategy
– After analyzing the HBR case study SMA: Micro-Electronic Products Division (B), 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 harness new channels of communication
– Even though competitors are using new communication channels such as Instagram, Tiktok, and Snap, Sma Division's is slow explore the new channels of communication. These new channels of communication mentioned in marketing section of case study SMA: Micro-Electronic Products Division (B) 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 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 Sma Division's supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes mentioned in the HBR case study - SMA: Micro-Electronic Products Division (B), it is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left Sma Division's vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.
Low market penetration in new markets
– Outside its home market of Sma Division's, firm in the HBR case study SMA: Micro-Electronic Products Division (B) needs to spend more promotional, marketing, and advertising efforts to penetrate international markets.
Slow to strategic competitive environment developments
– As SMA: Micro-Electronic Products Division (B) HBR case study mentions - Sma Division's 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.
Slow decision making process
– As mentioned earlier in the report, Sma Division's 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. Sma Division's 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.
Increasing silos among functional specialists
– The organizational structure of Sma Division's is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Organizational Development segment. Sma Division's needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Sma Division's to focus more on services rather than just following the product oriented approach.
Lack of clear differentiation of Sma Division's products
– To increase the profitability and margins on the products, Sma Division's needs to provide more differentiated products than what it is currently offering in the marketplace.
Opportunities SMA: Micro-Electronic Products Division (B) | 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 SMA: Micro-Electronic Products Division (B) are -
Learning at scale
– Online learning technologies has now opened space for Sma Division's 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. Sma Division's 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. Sma Division's 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.
Loyalty marketing
– Sma Division's 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.
Increase in government spending
– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Sma Division's can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Sma Division's operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Organizational Development sector.
Better consumer reach
– The expansion of the 5G network will help Sma Division's to increase its market reach. Sma Division's 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.
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. Sma Division's can tie-up with other value chain partners to explore new opportunities regarding meeting customer demands and building a rewarding and engaging relationship.
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Sma Division's has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Sma Division's to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the SMA: Micro-Electronic Products Division (B) case study. Sma Division's can build new products and services such as - data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
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 Sma Division's in the consumer business. Now Sma Division's 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 Sma Division's in the field of marketing communication. It will bring down the cost of doing business, provide technology platform to build new products in the Organizational Development segment, and it will provide faster access to the consumers.
Developing new processes and practices
– Sma Division's can develop new processes and procedures in Organizational Development 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 Sma Division's 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 Sma Division's to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
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 Sma Division's 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.
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. Sma Division's can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.
Threats SMA: Micro-Electronic Products Division (B) External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study SMA: Micro-Electronic Products Division (B) are -
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Sma Division's 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 SMA: Micro-Electronic Products Division (B) .
Environmental challenges
– Sma Division's 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. Sma Division's can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Organizational Development industry.
New competition
– After the dotcom bust of 2001, financial crisis of 2008-09, the business formation in US economy had declined. But in 2020 alone, there are more than 1.5 million new business applications in United States. This can lead to greater competition for Sma Division's in the Organizational Development sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
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. Sma Division's needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Organizational Development industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, as highlighted in case study SMA: Micro-Electronic Products Division (B), Sma Division's 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 .
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Sma Division's in the Organizational Development industry. The Organizational Development 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.
Consumer confidence and its impact on Sma Division's 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 Sma Division's
– 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 Sma Division's.
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.
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Sma Division's has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Organizational Development industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Sma Division's needs to keep up with the evolution of technology in the Organizational Development 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.
High dependence on third party suppliers
– Sma Division's 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.
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry in the industry are lowering. It can presents Sma Division's with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the sector.
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. Sma Division's 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.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of SMA: Micro-Electronic Products Division (B) 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 SMA: Micro-Electronic Products Division (B) 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 SMA: Micro-Electronic Products Division (B) 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 SMA: Micro-Electronic Products Division (B) 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 SMA: Micro-Electronic Products Division (B) 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 Sma Division's needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.
