Urban Video Game Academy: Getting in the Game SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Organizational Development
Strategy / MBA Resources
Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of Urban Video Game Academy: Getting in the Game
Urban Video Game Academy was founded to enhance the academic and career prospects of urban youth. How will its founder grow it into a sustainable business? Provides an opportunity to discuss the challenges of social entrepreneurship and how to create a sustainable business model for a social venture.
Swot Analysis of "Urban Video Game Academy: Getting in the Game" written by Lynda M. Applegate, Susan Saltrick includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Urban Game facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Urban Video Game Academy: Getting in the Game case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Change management, Social enterprise and Organizational Development.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Urban Video Game Academy: Getting in the Game casestudy better are - – geopolitical disruptions, cloud computing is disrupting traditional business models, increasing government debt because of Covid-19 spendings, increasing household debt because of falling income levels, wage bills are increasing, increasing transportation and logistics costs, technology disruption,
talent flight as more people leaving formal jobs, central banks are concerned over increasing inflation, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Urban Video Game Academy: Getting in the Game
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Urban Video Game Academy: Getting in the Game case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Urban Game, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Urban Game 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 Urban Video Game Academy: Getting in the Game can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Urban Video Game Academy: Getting in the Game case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Urban Game
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 Urban Game
Strengths Urban Video Game Academy: Getting in the Game | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Urban Game in Urban Video Game Academy: Getting in the Game Harvard Business Review case study are -
Highly skilled collaborators
– Urban Game 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 Urban Video Game Academy: Getting in the Game HBR case study have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
Diverse revenue streams
– Urban Game is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided firm in Urban Video Game Academy: Getting in the Game 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.
Operational resilience
– The operational resilience strategy in the Urban Video Game Academy: Getting in the Game Harvard Business Review case study comprises – understanding the underlying the factors in the industry, building diversified operations across different geographies so that disruption in one part of the world doesn’t impact the overall performance of the firm, and integrating the various business operations and processes through its digital transformation drive.
Cross disciplinary teams
– Horizontal connected teams at the Urban Game 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.
Learning organization
- Urban Game 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 Urban Game is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders in Urban Video Game Academy: Getting in the Game Harvard Business Review case study emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
Ability to recruit top talent
– Urban Game is one of the leading recruiters in the industry. Managers in the Urban Video Game Academy: Getting in the Game are in a position to attract the best talent available. The firm has a robust talent identification program that helps in identifying the brightest.
High switching costs
– The high switching costs that Urban Game 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
– Urban Game is one of the most innovative firm in sector. Manager in Urban Video Game Academy: Getting in the Game Harvard Business Review case study can use Clayton Christensen Disruptive Innovation strategies to further increase the scale of innovtions in the organization.
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of Urban Game in the sector have low bargaining power. Urban Video Game Academy: Getting in the Game has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Urban Game to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
Analytics focus
– Urban Game 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 Lynda M. Applegate, Susan Saltrick 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.
Organizational Resilience of Urban Game
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing that Urban Game does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
Digital Transformation in Organizational Development segment
- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For Urban Game digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Urban Game 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.
Weaknesses Urban Video Game Academy: Getting in the Game | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Urban Video Game Academy: Getting in the Game are -
Products dominated business model
– Even though Urban Game 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 - Urban Video Game Academy: Getting in the Game should strive to include more intangible value offerings along with its core products and services.
Skills based hiring
– The stress on hiring functional specialists at Urban Game has created an environment where the organization is dominated by functional specialists rather than management generalist. This has resulted into product oriented approach rather than marketing oriented approach or consumers oriented approach.
Lack of clear differentiation of Urban Game products
– To increase the profitability and margins on the products, Urban Game needs to provide more differentiated products than what it is currently offering in the marketplace.
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 Urban Game supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes mentioned in the HBR case study - Urban Video Game Academy: Getting in the Game, it is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left Urban Game vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.
Need for greater diversity
– Urban Game 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.
Low market penetration in new markets
– Outside its home market of Urban Game, firm in the HBR case study Urban Video Game Academy: Getting in the Game needs to spend more promotional, marketing, and advertising efforts to penetrate international markets.
Increasing silos among functional specialists
– The organizational structure of Urban Game is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Organizational Development segment. Urban Game needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Urban Game to focus more on services rather than just following the product oriented approach.
Slow decision making process
– As mentioned earlier in the report, Urban Game 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. Urban Game 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.
High operating costs
– Compare to the competitors, firm in the HBR case study Urban Video Game Academy: Getting in the Game 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 Urban Game 's lucrative customers.
Slow to strategic competitive environment developments
– As Urban Video Game Academy: Getting in the Game HBR case study mentions - Urban Game 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.
Aligning sales with marketing
– It come across in the case study Urban Video Game Academy: Getting in the Game 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 Urban Video Game Academy: Getting in the Game can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Urban Game is planning to shift buying processes online.
Opportunities Urban Video Game Academy: Getting in the Game | 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 Urban Video Game Academy: Getting in the Game are -
Leveraging digital technologies
– Urban Game can leverage digital technologies such as artificial intelligence and machine learning to automate the production process, customer analytics to get better insights into consumer behavior, realtime digital dashboards to get better sales tracking, logistics and transportation, product tracking, etc.
Buying journey improvements
– Urban Game can improve the customer journey of consumers in the industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. Urban Video Game Academy: Getting in the Game 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.
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Urban Game has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Urban Game to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the Urban Video Game Academy: Getting in the Game case study. Urban Game can build new products and services such as - data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
Reforming the budgeting process
- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects Urban Game can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.
Loyalty marketing
– Urban Game 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.
Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities
– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Urban Game 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 Urban Game to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
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 Urban Game in the consumer business. Now Urban Game can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.
Better consumer reach
– The expansion of the 5G network will help Urban Game to increase its market reach. Urban Game 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. Urban Game can tie-up with other value chain partners to explore new opportunities regarding meeting customer demands and building a rewarding and engaging relationship.
Manufacturing automation
– Urban Game 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.
Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains
– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Urban Game 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, Urban Video Game Academy: Getting in the Game, to buy more products closer to the markets, and it can leverage its size and influence to get better deal from the local markets.
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. Urban Game 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. Urban Game 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.
Increase in government spending
– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Urban Game can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Urban Game operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Organizational Development sector.
Threats Urban Video Game Academy: Getting in the Game External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Urban Video Game Academy: Getting in the Game are -
Consumer confidence and its impact on Urban Game 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.
Regulatory challenges
– Urban Game 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.
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. Urban Game 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.
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry in the industry are lowering. It can presents Urban Game with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the sector.
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. Urban Game needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Organizational Development industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
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. Urban Game can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Urban Game 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.
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 Urban Game.
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Urban Game has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Organizational Development industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Urban Game 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.
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Urban Game 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 Urban Video Game Academy: Getting in the Game .
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Urban Game is facing in Organizational Development sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.
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 Urban Game in the Organizational Development sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
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 Urban Game business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Urban Video Game Academy: Getting in the Game 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 Urban Video Game Academy: Getting in the Game 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 Urban Video Game Academy: Getting in the Game 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 Urban Video Game Academy: Getting in the Game 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 Urban Video Game Academy: Getting in the Game 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 Urban Game needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.
