TECHNOLOGY EQUIPMENT PARTNERS - Confidential Instructions for the V.P. of Engineering at AST SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
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Case Study Description of TECHNOLOGY EQUIPMENT PARTNERS - Confidential Instructions for the V.P. of Engineering at AST
Confidential Instructions for the V.P. of Engineering at AST 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 Engineering at AST" 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 - Confidential Instructions for the V.P. of Engineering at AST 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 Engineering at AST casestudy better are - – talent flight as more people leaving formal jobs, customer relationship management is fast transforming because of increasing concerns over data privacy, wage bills are increasing, increasing household debt because of falling income levels, increasing government debt because of Covid-19 spendings, central banks are concerned over increasing inflation, supply chains are disrupted by pandemic ,
technology disruption, competitive advantages are harder to sustain because of technology dispersion, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of TECHNOLOGY EQUIPMENT PARTNERS - Confidential Instructions for the V.P. of Engineering at AST
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 Engineering at AST 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 - Confidential Instructions for the V.P. of Engineering at AST can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in TECHNOLOGY EQUIPMENT PARTNERS - Confidential Instructions for the V.P. of Engineering at AST 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 - Confidential Instructions for the V.P. of Engineering at AST | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Ast Tep in TECHNOLOGY EQUIPMENT PARTNERS - Confidential Instructions for the V.P. of Engineering at AST Harvard Business Review case study are -
High brand equity
– Ast Tep has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Ast Tep to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
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 - Confidential Instructions for the V.P. of Engineering at AST 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.
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of Ast Tep in the sector have low bargaining power. TECHNOLOGY EQUIPMENT PARTNERS - Confidential Instructions for the V.P. of Engineering at AST 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.
Operational resilience
– The operational resilience strategy in the TECHNOLOGY EQUIPMENT PARTNERS - Confidential Instructions for the V.P. of Engineering at AST 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 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.
Learning organization
- Ast Tep 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 Ast Tep 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 Engineering at AST Harvard Business Review case study emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
Organizational Resilience of Ast Tep
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing that Ast Tep does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
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.
Diverse revenue streams
– Ast Tep 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 Engineering at AST 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.
Innovation driven organization
– Ast Tep is one of the most innovative firm in sector. Manager in TECHNOLOGY EQUIPMENT PARTNERS - Confidential Instructions for the V.P. of Engineering at AST Harvard Business Review case study can use Clayton Christensen Disruptive Innovation strategies to further increase the scale of innovtions in the organization.
Effective Research and Development (R&D)
– 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 - Confidential Instructions for the V.P. of Engineering at AST - staying ahead in the industry in terms of – new product launches, superior customer experience, highly competitive pricing strategies, and great returns to the shareholders.
Weaknesses TECHNOLOGY EQUIPMENT PARTNERS - Confidential Instructions for the V.P. of Engineering at AST | 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 Engineering at AST are -
High bargaining power of channel partners
– Because of the regulatory requirements, Tracey Brenner, Lawrence Susskind suggests that, Ast Tep is facing high bargaining power of the channel partners. So far it has not able to streamline the operations to reduce the bargaining power of the value chain partners in the industry.
Capital Spending Reduction
– Even during the low interest decade, Ast Tep 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.
Interest costs
– Compare to the competition, Ast Tep 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.
Skills based hiring
– The stress on hiring functional specialists at Ast Tep 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 strategic competitive environment developments
– As TECHNOLOGY EQUIPMENT PARTNERS - Confidential Instructions for the V.P. of Engineering at AST 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.
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 Ast Tep supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes mentioned in the HBR case study - TECHNOLOGY EQUIPMENT PARTNERS - Confidential Instructions for the V.P. of Engineering at AST, it is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left Ast Tep vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.
No frontier risks strategy
– After analyzing the HBR case study TECHNOLOGY EQUIPMENT PARTNERS - Confidential Instructions for the V.P. of Engineering at AST, it seems that company is thinking about the frontier risks that can impact Strategy & Execution strategy. But it has very little resources allocation to manage the risks emerging from events such as natural disasters, climate change, melting of permafrost, tacking the rise of artificial intelligence, opportunities and threats emerging from commercialization of space etc.
Slow to harness new channels of communication
– Even though competitors are using new communication channels such as Instagram, Tiktok, and Snap, 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 - Confidential Instructions for the V.P. of Engineering at AST can help to provide better information regarding products and services. It can also build an online community to further reach out to potential customers.
Employees’ incomplete understanding of strategy
– From the instances in the HBR case study TECHNOLOGY EQUIPMENT PARTNERS - Confidential Instructions for the V.P. of Engineering at AST, it seems that the employees of Ast Tep 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.
Compensation and incentives
– The revenue per employee as mentioned in the HBR case study TECHNOLOGY EQUIPMENT PARTNERS - Confidential Instructions for the V.P. of Engineering at AST, 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.
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 Engineering at AST 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.
Opportunities TECHNOLOGY EQUIPMENT PARTNERS - Confidential Instructions for the V.P. of Engineering at AST | 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 Engineering at AST are -
Developing new processes and practices
– Ast Tep 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.
Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities
– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Ast Tep 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 Ast Tep to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
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.
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.
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 - Confidential Instructions for the V.P. of Engineering at AST, to buy more products closer to the markets, and it can leverage its size and influence to get better deal from the local markets.
Low interest rates
– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Ast Tep 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.
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– Ast Tep 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 TECHNOLOGY EQUIPMENT PARTNERS - Confidential Instructions for the V.P. of Engineering at AST - to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Ast Tep to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
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.
Buying journey improvements
– Ast Tep can improve the customer journey of consumers in the industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. TECHNOLOGY EQUIPMENT PARTNERS - Confidential Instructions for the V.P. of Engineering at AST 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.
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.
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.
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.
Redefining models of collaboration and team work
– As explained in the weaknesses section, Ast Tep is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. TECHNOLOGY EQUIPMENT PARTNERS - Confidential Instructions for the V.P. of Engineering at AST 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.
Threats TECHNOLOGY EQUIPMENT PARTNERS - Confidential Instructions for the V.P. of Engineering at AST 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 Engineering at AST are -
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 - Confidential Instructions for the V.P. of Engineering at AST .
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.
Increasing wage structure of Ast Tep
– 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 Ast Tep.
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.
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 Ast Tep.
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 Engineering at AST, Ast Tep 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. 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.
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.
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.
Regulatory challenges
– Ast Tep 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.
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.
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.
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.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of TECHNOLOGY EQUIPMENT PARTNERS - Confidential Instructions for the V.P. of Engineering at AST 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 Engineering at AST 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 Engineering at AST 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 Engineering at AST 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 Engineering at AST 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.
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