The Kinetics and Michael J. Fox Foundations (B): New Directions SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Strategy & Execution
Strategy / MBA Resources
Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of The Kinetics and Michael J. Fox Foundations (B): New Directions
This case describes the strategies and interaction of the Kinetics Foundation and the Michael J. Fox Foundation. In particular, it shows how these two organizations, although quite different from each other, collaborate toward a common mission of supporting research into treatments and cures for Parkinson's disease. The case also illustrates how the foundations are able to work together and work apart as the research landscape in which they operate shifts.
Swot Analysis of "The Kinetics and Michael J. Fox Foundations (B): New Directions" written by Robert A. Burgelman, Philip E. Meza includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Kinetics Fox facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in The Kinetics and Michael J. Fox Foundations (B): New Directions case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Social enterprise, Strategy and Strategy & Execution.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the The Kinetics and Michael J. Fox Foundations (B): New Directions casestudy better are - – cloud computing is disrupting traditional business models, increasing household debt because of falling income levels, increasing government debt because of Covid-19 spendings, talent flight as more people leaving formal jobs, increasing inequality as vast percentage of new income is going to the top 1%, digital marketing is dominated by two big players Facebook and Google, supply chains are disrupted by pandemic ,
increasing energy prices, there is increasing trade war between United States & China, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of The Kinetics and Michael J. Fox Foundations (B): New Directions
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in The Kinetics and Michael J. Fox Foundations (B): New Directions case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Kinetics Fox, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Kinetics Fox 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 The Kinetics and Michael J. Fox Foundations (B): New Directions can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in The Kinetics and Michael J. Fox Foundations (B): New Directions case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Kinetics Fox
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 Kinetics Fox
Strengths The Kinetics and Michael J. Fox Foundations (B): New Directions | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Kinetics Fox in The Kinetics and Michael J. Fox Foundations (B): New Directions Harvard Business Review case study are -
Training and development
– Kinetics Fox has one of the best training and development program in the industry. The effectiveness of the training programs can be measured in The Kinetics and Michael J. Fox Foundations (B): New Directions 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.
Diverse revenue streams
– Kinetics Fox is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided firm in The Kinetics and Michael J. Fox Foundations (B): New Directions 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.
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of Kinetics Fox in the sector have low bargaining power. The Kinetics and Michael J. Fox Foundations (B): New Directions has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Kinetics Fox to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
Organizational Resilience of Kinetics Fox
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing that Kinetics Fox does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
Effective Research and Development (R&D)
– Kinetics Fox 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 The Kinetics and Michael J. Fox Foundations (B): New Directions - staying ahead in the industry in terms of – new product launches, superior customer experience, highly competitive pricing strategies, and great returns to the shareholders.
Innovation driven organization
– Kinetics Fox is one of the most innovative firm in sector. Manager in The Kinetics and Michael J. Fox Foundations (B): New Directions Harvard Business Review case study can use Clayton Christensen Disruptive Innovation strategies to further increase the scale of innovtions in the organization.
Learning organization
- Kinetics Fox 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 Kinetics Fox is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders in The Kinetics and Michael J. Fox Foundations (B): New Directions Harvard Business Review case study emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
Ability to recruit top talent
– Kinetics Fox is one of the leading recruiters in the industry. Managers in the The Kinetics and Michael J. Fox Foundations (B): New Directions are in a position to attract the best talent available. The firm has a robust talent identification program that helps in identifying the brightest.
Cross disciplinary teams
– Horizontal connected teams at the Kinetics Fox 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.
High brand equity
– Kinetics Fox has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Kinetics Fox to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Highly skilled collaborators
– Kinetics Fox 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 The Kinetics and Michael J. Fox Foundations (B): New Directions HBR case study have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
Operational resilience
– The operational resilience strategy in the The Kinetics and Michael J. Fox Foundations (B): New Directions 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.
Weaknesses The Kinetics and Michael J. Fox Foundations (B): New Directions | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of The Kinetics and Michael J. Fox Foundations (B): New Directions are -
Need for greater diversity
– Kinetics Fox 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.
Workers concerns about automation
– As automation is fast increasing in the segment, Kinetics Fox 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.
Employees’ incomplete understanding of strategy
– From the instances in the HBR case study The Kinetics and Michael J. Fox Foundations (B): New Directions, it seems that the employees of Kinetics Fox 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.
Skills based hiring
– The stress on hiring functional specialists at Kinetics Fox 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 The Kinetics and Michael J. Fox Foundations (B): New Directions HBR case study mentions - Kinetics Fox 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.
Products dominated business model
– Even though Kinetics Fox 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 - The Kinetics and Michael J. Fox Foundations (B): New Directions should strive to include more intangible value offerings along with its core products and services.
Aligning sales with marketing
– It come across in the case study The Kinetics and Michael J. Fox Foundations (B): New Directions 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 The Kinetics and Michael J. Fox Foundations (B): New Directions can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Kinetics Fox is planning to shift buying processes online.
Interest costs
– Compare to the competition, Kinetics Fox 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.
Lack of clear differentiation of Kinetics Fox products
– To increase the profitability and margins on the products, Kinetics Fox 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 Kinetics Fox, firm in the HBR case study The Kinetics and Michael J. Fox Foundations (B): New Directions needs to spend more promotional, marketing, and advertising efforts to penetrate international markets.
Increasing silos among functional specialists
– The organizational structure of Kinetics Fox is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Strategy & Execution segment. Kinetics Fox needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Kinetics Fox to focus more on services rather than just following the product oriented approach.
Opportunities The Kinetics and Michael J. Fox Foundations (B): New Directions | 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 The Kinetics and Michael J. Fox Foundations (B): New Directions are -
Learning at scale
– Online learning technologies has now opened space for Kinetics Fox 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.
Lowering marketing communication costs
– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Kinetics Fox 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.
Leveraging digital technologies
– Kinetics Fox can leverage digital technologies such as artificial intelligence and machine learning to automate the production process, customer analytics to get better insights into consumer behavior, realtime digital dashboards to get better sales tracking, logistics and transportation, product tracking, etc.
Buying journey improvements
– Kinetics Fox can improve the customer journey of consumers in the industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. The Kinetics and Michael J. Fox Foundations (B): New Directions 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.
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. Kinetics Fox 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. Kinetics Fox 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.
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– Kinetics Fox 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 The Kinetics and Michael J. Fox Foundations (B): New Directions - to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Kinetics Fox to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
Increase in government spending
– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Kinetics Fox can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Kinetics Fox operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Strategy & Execution sector.
Reforming the budgeting process
- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects Kinetics Fox can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.
Redefining models of collaboration and team work
– As explained in the weaknesses section, Kinetics Fox is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. The Kinetics and Michael J. Fox Foundations (B): New Directions 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.
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. Kinetics Fox can tie-up with other value chain partners to explore new opportunities regarding meeting customer demands and building a rewarding and engaging relationship.
Developing new processes and practices
– Kinetics Fox 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.
Low interest rates
– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Kinetics Fox 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.
Manufacturing automation
– Kinetics Fox 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.
Threats The Kinetics and Michael J. Fox Foundations (B): New Directions External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study The Kinetics and Michael J. Fox Foundations (B): New Directions are -
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry in the industry are lowering. It can presents Kinetics Fox with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the sector.
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, as highlighted in case study The Kinetics and Michael J. Fox Foundations (B): New Directions, Kinetics Fox 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 .
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 Kinetics Fox business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Kinetics Fox 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.
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. Kinetics Fox needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Strategy & Execution industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
Regulatory challenges
– Kinetics Fox 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.
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.
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Kinetics Fox is facing in Strategy & Execution sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.
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.
High dependence on third party suppliers
– Kinetics Fox 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.
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 Kinetics Fox.
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Kinetics Fox in the Strategy & Execution industry. The Strategy & Execution 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.
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Kinetics Fox 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 The Kinetics and Michael J. Fox Foundations (B): New Directions .
Weighted SWOT Analysis of The Kinetics and Michael J. Fox Foundations (B): New Directions 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 The Kinetics and Michael J. Fox Foundations (B): New Directions 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 The Kinetics and Michael J. Fox Foundations (B): New Directions 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 The Kinetics and Michael J. Fox Foundations (B): New Directions 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 The Kinetics and Michael J. Fox Foundations (B): New Directions 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 Kinetics Fox needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.
