Case Study Description of TECHNOLOGY EQUIPMENT PARTNERS - General Instructions
This case includes supplements.Two-team, six-party, four-issue negotiation between representatives of two corporations setting up a simultaneous high-tech joint venture and purchasing agreement. Advanced Sensor Technologies (AST) is a leading manufacturer of chemical sensors. Technology Equipment Partners (TEP) manufactures the type of equipment AST uses to produce its sensors. AST and TEP are meeting to set the terms of a potential joint development and purchasing agreement. Three senior executives from each company will negotiate. They will try to reach agreement on four issues: tool price, order schedule, payment schedule, and intellectual property. This is a role play case.
Swot Analysis of "TECHNOLOGY EQUIPMENT PARTNERS - General Instructions" written by Tracey Brenner, Lawrence Susskind includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Ast Tep facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in TECHNOLOGY EQUIPMENT PARTNERS - General Instructions case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Negotiations, Pricing, Technology, Time management and Strategy & Execution.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the TECHNOLOGY EQUIPMENT PARTNERS - General Instructions casestudy better are - – there is increasing trade war between United States & China, geopolitical disruptions, central banks are concerned over increasing inflation, competitive advantages are harder to sustain because of technology dispersion, supply chains are disrupted by pandemic , talent flight as more people leaving formal jobs, cloud computing is disrupting traditional business models,
increasing energy prices, customer relationship management is fast transforming because of increasing concerns over data privacy, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of TECHNOLOGY EQUIPMENT PARTNERS - General Instructions
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in TECHNOLOGY EQUIPMENT PARTNERS - General Instructions case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Ast Tep, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Ast Tep 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 TECHNOLOGY EQUIPMENT PARTNERS - General Instructions can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in TECHNOLOGY EQUIPMENT PARTNERS - General Instructions case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Ast Tep
3. Assessing feasibility of the new initiative in Strategy & Execution field.
4. Making a Strategy & Execution topic specific business decision
5. Set goals for the organization
6. Organizational restructuring of Ast Tep
Strengths TECHNOLOGY EQUIPMENT PARTNERS - General Instructions | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Ast Tep in TECHNOLOGY EQUIPMENT PARTNERS - General Instructions Harvard Business Review case study are -
Effective Research and Development (R&D)
– Ast Tep 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 TECHNOLOGY EQUIPMENT PARTNERS - General Instructions - staying ahead in the industry in terms of – new product launches, superior customer experience, highly competitive pricing strategies, and great returns to the shareholders.
Digital Transformation in Strategy & Execution segment
- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For Ast Tep digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Ast Tep 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.
Innovation driven organization
– Ast Tep is one of the most innovative firm in sector. Manager in TECHNOLOGY EQUIPMENT PARTNERS - General Instructions Harvard Business Review case study can use Clayton Christensen Disruptive Innovation strategies to further increase the scale of innovtions in the organization.
Cross disciplinary teams
– Horizontal connected teams at the Ast Tep 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.
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of Ast Tep in the sector have low bargaining power. TECHNOLOGY EQUIPMENT PARTNERS - General Instructions has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Ast Tep to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
Diverse revenue streams
– Ast Tep is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided firm in TECHNOLOGY EQUIPMENT PARTNERS - General Instructions 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
– Ast Tep is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.
Analytics focus
– Ast Tep 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 Tracey Brenner, Lawrence Susskind 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.
Operational resilience
– The operational resilience strategy in the TECHNOLOGY EQUIPMENT PARTNERS - General Instructions 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.
Highly skilled collaborators
– Ast Tep 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 TECHNOLOGY EQUIPMENT PARTNERS - General Instructions HBR case study have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
Training and development
– Ast Tep has one of the best training and development program in the industry. The effectiveness of the training programs can be measured in TECHNOLOGY EQUIPMENT PARTNERS - General Instructions 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.
Ability to recruit top talent
– Ast Tep is one of the leading recruiters in the industry. Managers in the TECHNOLOGY EQUIPMENT PARTNERS - General Instructions are in a position to attract the best talent available. The firm has a robust talent identification program that helps in identifying the brightest.
Weaknesses TECHNOLOGY EQUIPMENT PARTNERS - General Instructions | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of TECHNOLOGY EQUIPMENT PARTNERS - General Instructions are -
Slow decision making process
– As mentioned earlier in the report, Ast Tep 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. Ast Tep 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.
Slow to strategic competitive environment developments
– As TECHNOLOGY EQUIPMENT PARTNERS - General Instructions HBR case study mentions - Ast Tep 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.
Increasing silos among functional specialists
– The organizational structure of Ast Tep is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Strategy & Execution segment. Ast Tep needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Ast Tep to focus more on services rather than just following the product oriented approach.
High operating costs
– Compare to the competitors, firm in the HBR case study TECHNOLOGY EQUIPMENT PARTNERS - General Instructions 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 Ast Tep 's lucrative customers.
High dependence on star products
– The top 2 products and services of the firm as mentioned in the TECHNOLOGY EQUIPMENT PARTNERS - General Instructions 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 Ast Tep has relatively successful track record of launching new products.
Products dominated business model
– Even though Ast Tep 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 - TECHNOLOGY EQUIPMENT PARTNERS - General Instructions should strive to include more intangible value offerings along with its core products and services.
Compensation and incentives
– The revenue per employee as mentioned in the HBR case study TECHNOLOGY EQUIPMENT PARTNERS - General Instructions, is just above the industry average. Ast Tep 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.
Aligning sales with marketing
– It come across in the case study TECHNOLOGY EQUIPMENT PARTNERS - General Instructions 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 TECHNOLOGY EQUIPMENT PARTNERS - General Instructions can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Ast Tep is planning to shift buying processes online.
Lack of clear differentiation of Ast Tep products
– To increase the profitability and margins on the products, Ast Tep needs to provide more differentiated products than what it is currently offering in the marketplace.
Slow to harness new channels of communication
– Even though competitors are using new communication channels such as Instagram, Tiktok, and Snap, Ast Tep is slow explore the new channels of communication. These new channels of communication mentioned in marketing section of case study TECHNOLOGY EQUIPMENT PARTNERS - General Instructions can help to provide better information regarding products and services. It can also build an online community to further reach out to potential customers.
Workers concerns about automation
– As automation is fast increasing in the segment, Ast Tep 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.
Opportunities TECHNOLOGY EQUIPMENT PARTNERS - General Instructions | 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 TECHNOLOGY EQUIPMENT PARTNERS - General Instructions are -
Increase in government spending
– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Ast Tep can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Ast Tep operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Strategy & Execution sector.
Finding new ways to collaborate
– Covid-19 has not only transformed business models of companies in Strategy & Execution industry, but it has also influenced the consumer preferences. Ast Tep 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, Ast Tep 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, TECHNOLOGY EQUIPMENT PARTNERS - General Instructions, 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 Strategy & Execution industry because of Covid-19 restrictions. Some of this behavior will stay once things get back to normal. Ast Tep 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. Ast Tep 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
– Ast Tep 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.
Manufacturing automation
– Ast Tep can use the latest technology developments to improve its manufacturing and designing process in Strategy & Execution 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.
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Ast Tep has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Ast Tep to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the TECHNOLOGY EQUIPMENT PARTNERS - General Instructions case study. Ast Tep can build new products and services such as - data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
Building a culture of innovation
– managers at Ast Tep can make experimentation a productive activity and build a culture of innovation using approaches such as – mining transaction data, A/B testing of websites and selling platforms, engaging potential customers over various needs, and building on small ideas in the Strategy & Execution segment.
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. Ast Tep can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.
Leveraging digital technologies
– Ast Tep 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.
Learning at scale
– Online learning technologies has now opened space for Ast Tep 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.
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 Ast Tep in the consumer business. Now Ast Tep can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.
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 Ast Tep 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 TECHNOLOGY EQUIPMENT PARTNERS - General Instructions External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study TECHNOLOGY EQUIPMENT PARTNERS - General Instructions are -
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. Ast Tep needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Strategy & Execution industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Ast Tep 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.
Easy access to finance
– Easy access to finance in Strategy & Execution field will also reduce the barriers to entry in the industry, thus putting downward pressure on the prices because of increasing competition. Ast Tep can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
Environmental challenges
– Ast Tep 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. Ast Tep can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Strategy & Execution industry.
Technology disruption because of hacks, piracy etc
– The colonial pipeline illustrated, how vulnerable modern organization are to international hackers, miscreants, and disruptors. The cyber security interruption, data leaks, etc can seriously jeopardize the future growth of the organization.
Consumer confidence and its impact on Ast Tep 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.
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. Ast Tep 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.
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Ast Tep 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 TECHNOLOGY EQUIPMENT PARTNERS - General Instructions .
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 Ast Tep in the Strategy & Execution sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
High dependence on third party suppliers
– Ast Tep 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.
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 Ast Tep business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry in the industry are lowering. It can presents Ast Tep with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the sector.
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.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of TECHNOLOGY EQUIPMENT PARTNERS - General Instructions 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 TECHNOLOGY EQUIPMENT PARTNERS - General Instructions 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 TECHNOLOGY EQUIPMENT PARTNERS - General Instructions 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 TECHNOLOGY EQUIPMENT PARTNERS - General Instructions 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 TECHNOLOGY EQUIPMENT PARTNERS - General Instructions 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 Ast Tep needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.
