TECHNOLOGY EQUIPMENT PARTNERS - Confidential Instructions for the V.P. of Business Development at TEP SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Strategy & Execution
Strategy / MBA Resources
Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of TECHNOLOGY EQUIPMENT PARTNERS - Confidential Instructions for the V.P. of Business Development at TEP
Confidential Instructions for the V.P. of Business Development at TEP for product #PON453.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 - Confidential Instructions for the V.P. of Business Development at TEP" written by Tracey Brenner, Lawrence Susskind includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Tep Ast facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in TECHNOLOGY EQUIPMENT PARTNERS - Confidential Instructions for the V.P. of Business Development at TEP 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 - Confidential Instructions for the V.P. of Business Development at TEP casestudy better are - – increasing household debt because of falling income levels, cloud computing is disrupting traditional business models, there is increasing trade war between United States & China, talent flight as more people leaving formal jobs, geopolitical disruptions, central banks are concerned over increasing inflation, banking and financial system is disrupted by Bitcoin and other crypto currencies,
increasing energy prices, increasing inequality as vast percentage of new income is going to the top 1%, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of TECHNOLOGY EQUIPMENT PARTNERS - Confidential Instructions for the V.P. of Business Development at TEP
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in TECHNOLOGY EQUIPMENT PARTNERS - Confidential Instructions for the V.P. of Business Development at TEP case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Tep Ast, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Tep Ast 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 - Confidential Instructions for the V.P. of Business Development at TEP can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in TECHNOLOGY EQUIPMENT PARTNERS - Confidential Instructions for the V.P. of Business Development at TEP case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Tep Ast
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 Tep Ast
Strengths TECHNOLOGY EQUIPMENT PARTNERS - Confidential Instructions for the V.P. of Business Development at TEP | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Tep Ast in TECHNOLOGY EQUIPMENT PARTNERS - Confidential Instructions for the V.P. of Business Development at TEP Harvard Business Review case study are -
Ability to lead change in Strategy & Execution field
– Tep Ast 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 Tep Ast in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.
Learning organization
- Tep Ast 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 Tep Ast is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders in TECHNOLOGY EQUIPMENT PARTNERS - Confidential Instructions for the V.P. of Business Development at TEP Harvard Business Review case study emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
Operational resilience
– The operational resilience strategy in the TECHNOLOGY EQUIPMENT PARTNERS - Confidential Instructions for the V.P. of Business Development at TEP 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
– Tep Ast 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 - Confidential Instructions for the V.P. of Business Development at TEP HBR case study have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
Organizational Resilience of Tep Ast
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing that Tep Ast does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
Superior customer experience
– The customer experience strategy of Tep Ast in the segment is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.
Digital Transformation in Strategy & Execution segment
- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For Tep Ast digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Tep Ast 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.
Diverse revenue streams
– Tep Ast is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided firm in TECHNOLOGY EQUIPMENT PARTNERS - Confidential Instructions for the V.P. of Business Development at TEP 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.
Ability to recruit top talent
– Tep Ast is one of the leading recruiters in the industry. Managers in the TECHNOLOGY EQUIPMENT PARTNERS - Confidential Instructions for the V.P. of Business Development at TEP are in a position to attract the best talent available. The firm has a robust talent identification program that helps in identifying the brightest.
Successful track record of launching new products
– Tep Ast has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Tep Ast 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 Tep Ast 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.
Innovation driven organization
– Tep Ast is one of the most innovative firm in sector. Manager in TECHNOLOGY EQUIPMENT PARTNERS - Confidential Instructions for the V.P. of Business Development at TEP Harvard Business Review case study can use Clayton Christensen Disruptive Innovation strategies to further increase the scale of innovtions in the organization.
Weaknesses TECHNOLOGY EQUIPMENT PARTNERS - Confidential Instructions for the V.P. of Business Development at TEP | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of TECHNOLOGY EQUIPMENT PARTNERS - Confidential Instructions for the V.P. of Business Development at TEP are -
Lack of clear differentiation of Tep Ast products
– To increase the profitability and margins on the products, Tep Ast needs to provide more differentiated products than what it is currently offering in the marketplace.
High dependence on star products
– The top 2 products and services of the firm as mentioned in the TECHNOLOGY EQUIPMENT PARTNERS - Confidential Instructions for the V.P. of Business Development at TEP 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 Tep Ast has relatively successful track record of launching new products.
Increasing silos among functional specialists
– The organizational structure of Tep Ast is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Strategy & Execution segment. Tep Ast needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Tep Ast to focus more on services rather than just following the product oriented approach.
Skills based hiring
– The stress on hiring functional specialists at Tep Ast 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.
Slow to harness new channels of communication
– Even though competitors are using new communication channels such as Instagram, Tiktok, and Snap, Tep Ast is slow explore the new channels of communication. These new channels of communication mentioned in marketing section of case study TECHNOLOGY EQUIPMENT PARTNERS - Confidential Instructions for the V.P. of Business Development at TEP can help to provide better information regarding products and services. It can also build an online community to further reach out to potential customers.
Slow decision making process
– As mentioned earlier in the report, Tep Ast 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. Tep Ast 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.
Capital Spending Reduction
– Even during the low interest decade, Tep Ast 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.
Employees’ incomplete understanding of strategy
– From the instances in the HBR case study TECHNOLOGY EQUIPMENT PARTNERS - Confidential Instructions for the V.P. of Business Development at TEP, it seems that the employees of Tep Ast 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.
High operating costs
– Compare to the competitors, firm in the HBR case study TECHNOLOGY EQUIPMENT PARTNERS - Confidential Instructions for the V.P. of Business Development at TEP 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 Tep Ast 's lucrative customers.
Need for greater diversity
– Tep Ast 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.
Interest costs
– Compare to the competition, Tep Ast has borrowed money from the capital market at higher rates. It needs to restructure the interest payment and costs so that it can compete better and improve profitability.
Opportunities TECHNOLOGY EQUIPMENT PARTNERS - Confidential Instructions for the V.P. of Business Development at TEP | 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 - Confidential Instructions for the V.P. of Business Development at TEP are -
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. Tep Ast can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.
Learning at scale
– Online learning technologies has now opened space for Tep Ast 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.
Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities
– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Tep Ast 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 Tep Ast to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
Loyalty marketing
– Tep Ast 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 Tep Ast in the field of marketing communication. It will bring down the cost of doing business, provide technology platform to build new products in the Strategy & Execution segment, and it will provide faster access to the consumers.
Building a culture of innovation
– managers at Tep Ast 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.
Developing new processes and practices
– Tep Ast can develop new processes and procedures in Strategy & Execution 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.
Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains
– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Tep Ast 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 - Confidential Instructions for the V.P. of Business Development at TEP, to buy more products closer to the markets, and it can leverage its size and influence to get better deal from the local markets.
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. Tep Ast 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 Tep Ast has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Tep Ast to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the TECHNOLOGY EQUIPMENT PARTNERS - Confidential Instructions for the V.P. of Business Development at TEP case study. Tep Ast 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 Tep Ast to increase its market reach. Tep Ast 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.
Low interest rates
– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Tep Ast can still utilize the low interest rates to borrow money for capital investment. Secondly it can also use the increase of government spending in infrastructure projects to get new business.
Increase in government spending
– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Tep Ast can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Tep Ast operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Strategy & Execution sector.
Threats TECHNOLOGY EQUIPMENT PARTNERS - Confidential Instructions for the V.P. of Business Development at TEP 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 - Confidential Instructions for the V.P. of Business Development at TEP are -
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Tep Ast 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 - Confidential Instructions for the V.P. of Business Development at TEP .
Consumer confidence and its impact on Tep Ast 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.
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, as highlighted in case study TECHNOLOGY EQUIPMENT PARTNERS - Confidential Instructions for the V.P. of Business Development at TEP, Tep Ast may face longer learning curve for training and development of existing employees. This can open space for more nimble competitors in the field of Strategy & Execution .
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. Tep Ast can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
Regulatory challenges
– Tep Ast 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 Strategy & Execution industry regulations.
Environmental challenges
– Tep Ast 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. Tep Ast can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Strategy & Execution 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 Tep Ast in the Strategy & Execution sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
Increasing wage structure of Tep Ast
– 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 Tep Ast.
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.
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. Tep Ast 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 Tep Ast with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the sector.
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Tep Ast has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Strategy & Execution industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Tep Ast needs to keep up with the evolution of technology in the Strategy & Execution 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.
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 - Confidential Instructions for the V.P. of Business Development at TEP 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 - Confidential Instructions for the V.P. of Business Development at TEP 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 - Confidential Instructions for the V.P. of Business Development at TEP 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 - Confidential Instructions for the V.P. of Business Development at TEP 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 - Confidential Instructions for the V.P. of Business Development at TEP 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 Tep Ast needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.
Feel free to connect with us if you need business research.
You can download Excel Template of Case Study Solution & Analysis of TECHNOLOGY EQUIPMENT PARTNERS - Confidential Instructions for the V.P. of Business Development at TEP