Swot Analysis of "eSurg (A): Negotiating the Start-Up" written by Jay O. Light, Anthony Massaro includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Esurg Supplies facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in eSurg (A): Negotiating the Start-Up case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Negotiations, Venture capital and Finance & Accounting.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the eSurg (A): Negotiating the Start-Up casestudy better are - – talent flight as more people leaving formal jobs, supply chains are disrupted by pandemic , there is backlash against globalization, competitive advantages are harder to sustain because of technology dispersion, increasing commodity prices, increasing energy prices, increasing inequality as vast percentage of new income is going to the top 1%,
challanges to central banks by blockchain based private currencies, customer relationship management is fast transforming because of increasing concerns over data privacy, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of eSurg (A): Negotiating the Start-Up
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in eSurg (A): Negotiating the Start-Up case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Esurg Supplies, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Esurg Supplies 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 eSurg (A): Negotiating the Start-Up can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in eSurg (A): Negotiating the Start-Up case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Esurg Supplies
3. Assessing feasibility of the new initiative in Finance & Accounting field.
4. Making a Finance & Accounting topic specific business decision
5. Set goals for the organization
6. Organizational restructuring of Esurg Supplies
Strengths eSurg (A): Negotiating the Start-Up | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Esurg Supplies in eSurg (A): Negotiating the Start-Up Harvard Business Review case study are -
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of Esurg Supplies in the sector have low bargaining power. eSurg (A): Negotiating the Start-Up has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Esurg Supplies to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
Strong track record of project management
– Esurg Supplies 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 lead change in Finance & Accounting field
– Esurg Supplies 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 Esurg Supplies in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.
Operational resilience
– The operational resilience strategy in the eSurg (A): Negotiating the Start-Up 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.
Ability to recruit top talent
– Esurg Supplies is one of the leading recruiters in the industry. Managers in the eSurg (A): Negotiating the Start-Up are in a position to attract the best talent available. The firm has a robust talent identification program that helps in identifying the brightest.
Training and development
– Esurg Supplies has one of the best training and development program in the industry. The effectiveness of the training programs can be measured in eSurg (A): Negotiating the Start-Up 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.
Cross disciplinary teams
– Horizontal connected teams at the Esurg Supplies 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 Esurg Supplies
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing that Esurg Supplies does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Finance & Accounting industry
– eSurg (A): Negotiating the Start-Up firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Esurg Supplies to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Finance & Accounting industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Esurg Supplies to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Analytics focus
– Esurg Supplies 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 Jay O. Light, Anthony Massaro 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.
Diverse revenue streams
– Esurg Supplies is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided firm in eSurg (A): Negotiating the Start-Up 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.
Successful track record of launching new products
– Esurg Supplies has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Esurg Supplies 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.
Weaknesses eSurg (A): Negotiating the Start-Up | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of eSurg (A): Negotiating the Start-Up are -
Aligning sales with marketing
– It come across in the case study eSurg (A): Negotiating the Start-Up 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 eSurg (A): Negotiating the Start-Up can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Esurg Supplies is planning to shift buying processes online.
Slow to harness new channels of communication
– Even though competitors are using new communication channels such as Instagram, Tiktok, and Snap, Esurg Supplies is slow explore the new channels of communication. These new channels of communication mentioned in marketing section of case study eSurg (A): Negotiating the Start-Up 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 Esurg Supplies supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes mentioned in the HBR case study - eSurg (A): Negotiating the Start-Up, it is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left Esurg Supplies vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.
High cash cycle compare to competitors
Esurg Supplies has a high cash cycle compare to other players in the industry. It needs to shorten the cash cycle by 12% to be more competitive in the marketplace, reduce inventory costs, and be more profitable.
No frontier risks strategy
– After analyzing the HBR case study eSurg (A): Negotiating the Start-Up, it seems that company is thinking about the frontier risks that can impact Finance & Accounting strategy. But it has very little resources allocation to manage the risks emerging from events such as natural disasters, climate change, melting of permafrost, tacking the rise of artificial intelligence, opportunities and threats emerging from commercialization of space etc.
Increasing silos among functional specialists
– The organizational structure of Esurg Supplies is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Finance & Accounting segment. Esurg Supplies needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Esurg Supplies to focus more on services rather than just following the product oriented approach.
Workers concerns about automation
– As automation is fast increasing in the segment, Esurg Supplies needs to come up with a strategy to reduce the workers concern regarding automation. Without a clear strategy, it could lead to disruption and uncertainty within the organization.
Capital Spending Reduction
– Even during the low interest decade, Esurg Supplies has not been able to do capital spending to the tune of the competition. This has resulted into fewer innovations and company facing stiff competition from both existing competitors and new entrants who are disrupting the industry using digital technology.
Lack of clear differentiation of Esurg Supplies products
– To increase the profitability and margins on the products, Esurg Supplies needs to provide more differentiated products than what it is currently offering in the marketplace.
Low market penetration in new markets
– Outside its home market of Esurg Supplies, firm in the HBR case study eSurg (A): Negotiating the Start-Up needs to spend more promotional, marketing, and advertising efforts to penetrate international markets.
High dependence on star products
– The top 2 products and services of the firm as mentioned in the eSurg (A): Negotiating the Start-Up HBR case study still accounts for major business revenue. This dependence on star products in has resulted into insufficient focus on developing new products, even though Esurg Supplies has relatively successful track record of launching new products.
Opportunities eSurg (A): Negotiating the Start-Up | 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 eSurg (A): Negotiating the Start-Up are -
Manufacturing automation
– Esurg Supplies can use the latest technology developments to improve its manufacturing and designing process in Finance & Accounting 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.
Finding new ways to collaborate
– Covid-19 has not only transformed business models of companies in Finance & Accounting industry, but it has also influenced the consumer preferences. Esurg Supplies can tie-up with other value chain partners to explore new opportunities regarding meeting customer demands and building a rewarding and engaging relationship.
Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains
– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Esurg Supplies 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, eSurg (A): Negotiating the Start-Up, to buy more products closer to the markets, and it can leverage its size and influence to get better deal from the local markets.
Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities
– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Esurg Supplies 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 Esurg Supplies to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
Redefining models of collaboration and team work
– As explained in the weaknesses section, Esurg Supplies is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. eSurg (A): Negotiating the Start-Up 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.
Buying journey improvements
– Esurg Supplies can improve the customer journey of consumers in the industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. eSurg (A): Negotiating the Start-Up 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.
Loyalty marketing
– Esurg Supplies 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.
Lowering marketing communication costs
– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Esurg Supplies in the field of marketing communication. It will bring down the cost of doing business, provide technology platform to build new products in the Finance & Accounting segment, and it will provide faster access to the consumers.
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– Esurg Supplies 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 eSurg (A): Negotiating the Start-Up - to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Esurg Supplies to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Esurg Supplies has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Esurg Supplies to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the eSurg (A): Negotiating the Start-Up case study. Esurg Supplies can build new products and services such as - data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
Better consumer reach
– The expansion of the 5G network will help Esurg Supplies to increase its market reach. Esurg Supplies 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.
Reforming the budgeting process
- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects Esurg Supplies can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.
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 Esurg Supplies 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.
Threats eSurg (A): Negotiating the Start-Up External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study eSurg (A): Negotiating the Start-Up are -
High dependence on third party suppliers
– Esurg Supplies 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 Esurg Supplies with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the sector.
Regulatory challenges
– Esurg Supplies 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 Finance & Accounting industry regulations.
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Esurg Supplies can face lack of demand in the market place because of Fed actions to reduce inflation. This can lead to sluggish growth in the economy, lower demands, lower investments, higher borrowing costs, and consolidation in the field.
Environmental challenges
– Esurg Supplies 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. Esurg Supplies can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Finance & Accounting industry.
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Esurg Supplies 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 eSurg (A): Negotiating the Start-Up .
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 Esurg Supplies in the Finance & Accounting sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, as highlighted in case study eSurg (A): Negotiating the Start-Up, Esurg Supplies may face longer learning curve for training and development of existing employees. This can open space for more nimble competitors in the field of Finance & Accounting .
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. Esurg Supplies needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Finance & Accounting industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Esurg Supplies is facing in Finance & Accounting sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Esurg Supplies in the Finance & Accounting industry. The Finance & Accounting 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 Esurg Supplies.
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Esurg Supplies has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Finance & Accounting industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Esurg Supplies needs to keep up with the evolution of technology in the Finance & Accounting 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.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of eSurg (A): Negotiating the Start-Up 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 eSurg (A): Negotiating the Start-Up 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 eSurg (A): Negotiating the Start-Up 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 eSurg (A): Negotiating the Start-Up 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 eSurg (A): Negotiating the Start-Up 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 Esurg Supplies needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.
