Understanding and Breaking the Rules of Business: Toward a Systematic Four-Step Process SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Strategy & Execution
Strategy / MBA Resources
Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of Understanding and Breaking the Rules of Business: Toward a Systematic Four-Step Process
Knowing the rules of a business is a prerequisite of being successful. On the other hand, carefully and selectively breaking the rules of management is often the way to exceed the low margins of intensively competitive arenas, especially at a time when technological innovation is limited and industries are tending to consolidate. Drawing on their own practical know-how and intensive research into future business models, the authors call for more dialectic in management thinking. Their "rule-breaking strategy creator" process is a combination of tested consulting and venture capital tools, and provides an entirely new approach to systematic rule-breaking and, thus, competitive advantages.
Authors :: Dodo Zu Knyphausen-Aufsess, Nils Bickhoff, Thomas Bieger
Swot Analysis of "Understanding and Breaking the Rules of Business: Toward a Systematic Four-Step Process" written by Dodo Zu Knyphausen-Aufsess, Nils Bickhoff, Thomas Bieger includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Breaking Rules facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Understanding and Breaking the Rules of Business: Toward a Systematic Four-Step Process case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Venture capital and Strategy & Execution.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Understanding and Breaking the Rules of Business: Toward a Systematic Four-Step Process casestudy better are - – geopolitical disruptions, central banks are concerned over increasing inflation, increasing household debt because of falling income levels, there is backlash against globalization, wage bills are increasing, cloud computing is disrupting traditional business models, digital marketing is dominated by two big players Facebook and Google,
increasing energy prices, increasing government debt because of Covid-19 spendings, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Understanding and Breaking the Rules of Business: Toward a Systematic Four-Step Process
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Understanding and Breaking the Rules of Business: Toward a Systematic Four-Step Process case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Breaking Rules, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Breaking Rules 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 Understanding and Breaking the Rules of Business: Toward a Systematic Four-Step Process can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Understanding and Breaking the Rules of Business: Toward a Systematic Four-Step Process case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Breaking Rules
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 Breaking Rules
Strengths Understanding and Breaking the Rules of Business: Toward a Systematic Four-Step Process | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Breaking Rules in Understanding and Breaking the Rules of Business: Toward a Systematic Four-Step Process Harvard Business Review case study are -
Training and development
– Breaking Rules has one of the best training and development program in the industry. The effectiveness of the training programs can be measured in Understanding and Breaking the Rules of Business: Toward a Systematic Four-Step Process 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
– Breaking Rules is one of the leading recruiters in the industry. Managers in the Understanding and Breaking the Rules of Business: Toward a Systematic Four-Step Process are in a position to attract the best talent available. The firm has a robust talent identification program that helps in identifying the brightest.
Highly skilled collaborators
– Breaking Rules 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 Understanding and Breaking the Rules of Business: Toward a Systematic Four-Step Process HBR case study have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
Successful track record of launching new products
– Breaking Rules has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Breaking Rules 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.
Ability to lead change in Strategy & Execution field
– Breaking Rules 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 Breaking Rules in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of Breaking Rules in the sector have low bargaining power. Understanding and Breaking the Rules of Business: Toward a Systematic Four-Step Process has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Breaking Rules to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
Operational resilience
– The operational resilience strategy in the Understanding and Breaking the Rules of Business: Toward a Systematic Four-Step Process 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.
Strong track record of project management
– Breaking Rules 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
– Breaking Rules 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 Dodo Zu Knyphausen-Aufsess, Nils Bickhoff, Thomas Bieger 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.
Organizational Resilience of Breaking Rules
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing that Breaking Rules does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Strategy & Execution industry
– Understanding and Breaking the Rules of Business: Toward a Systematic Four-Step Process firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Breaking Rules to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Strategy & Execution industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Breaking Rules to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Learning organization
- Breaking Rules 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 Breaking Rules is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders in Understanding and Breaking the Rules of Business: Toward a Systematic Four-Step Process Harvard Business Review case study emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
Weaknesses Understanding and Breaking the Rules of Business: Toward a Systematic Four-Step Process | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Understanding and Breaking the Rules of Business: Toward a Systematic Four-Step Process are -
Compensation and incentives
– The revenue per employee as mentioned in the HBR case study Understanding and Breaking the Rules of Business: Toward a Systematic Four-Step Process, is just above the industry average. Breaking Rules 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.
Ability to respond to the competition
– As the decision making is very deliberative, highlighted in the case study Understanding and Breaking the Rules of Business: Toward a Systematic Four-Step Process, in the dynamic environment Breaking Rules has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. Breaking Rules has reasonably good record with similar level competitors but it has struggled with new entrants taking away niches of its business.
Interest costs
– Compare to the competition, Breaking Rules 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.
High operating costs
– Compare to the competitors, firm in the HBR case study Understanding and Breaking the Rules of Business: Toward a Systematic Four-Step Process 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 Breaking Rules 's lucrative customers.
High cash cycle compare to competitors
Breaking Rules has a high cash cycle compare to other players in the industry. It needs to shorten the cash cycle by 12% to be more competitive in the marketplace, reduce inventory costs, and be more profitable.
Lack of clear differentiation of Breaking Rules products
– To increase the profitability and margins on the products, Breaking Rules needs to provide more differentiated products than what it is currently offering in the marketplace.
Slow to strategic competitive environment developments
– As Understanding and Breaking the Rules of Business: Toward a Systematic Four-Step Process HBR case study mentions - Breaking Rules 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.
Capital Spending Reduction
– Even during the low interest decade, Breaking Rules 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.
Increasing silos among functional specialists
– The organizational structure of Breaking Rules is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Strategy & Execution segment. Breaking Rules needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Breaking Rules to focus more on services rather than just following the product oriented approach.
Need for greater diversity
– Breaking Rules 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.
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 Breaking Rules supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes mentioned in the HBR case study - Understanding and Breaking the Rules of Business: Toward a Systematic Four-Step Process, it is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left Breaking Rules vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.
Opportunities Understanding and Breaking the Rules of Business: Toward a Systematic Four-Step Process | 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 Understanding and Breaking the Rules of Business: Toward a Systematic Four-Step Process are -
Lowering marketing communication costs
– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Breaking Rules 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.
Manufacturing automation
– Breaking Rules 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.
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 Breaking Rules 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.
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 Breaking Rules in the consumer business. Now Breaking Rules can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.
Leveraging digital technologies
– Breaking Rules 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.
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Breaking Rules has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Breaking Rules to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the Understanding and Breaking the Rules of Business: Toward a Systematic Four-Step Process case study. Breaking Rules 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 Breaking Rules 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.
Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains
– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Breaking Rules 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, Understanding and Breaking the Rules of Business: Toward a Systematic Four-Step Process, to buy more products closer to the markets, and it can leverage its size and influence to get better deal from the local markets.
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. Breaking Rules can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.
Better consumer reach
– The expansion of the 5G network will help Breaking Rules to increase its market reach. Breaking Rules 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.
Learning at scale
– Online learning technologies has now opened space for Breaking Rules 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.
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– Breaking Rules 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 Understanding and Breaking the Rules of Business: Toward a Systematic Four-Step Process - to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Breaking Rules to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
Low interest rates
– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Breaking Rules 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.
Threats Understanding and Breaking the Rules of Business: Toward a Systematic Four-Step Process External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Understanding and Breaking the Rules of Business: Toward a Systematic Four-Step Process are -
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 Breaking Rules in the Strategy & Execution sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
Increasing wage structure of Breaking Rules
– 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 Breaking Rules.
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. Breaking Rules can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
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 Breaking Rules.
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Breaking Rules 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 dependence on third party suppliers
– Breaking Rules 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.
Environmental challenges
– Breaking Rules 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. Breaking Rules can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Strategy & Execution industry.
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Breaking Rules 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 Understanding and Breaking the Rules of Business: Toward a Systematic Four-Step Process .
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. Breaking Rules needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Strategy & Execution industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
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.
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Breaking Rules is facing in Strategy & Execution sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Breaking Rules has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Strategy & Execution industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Breaking Rules 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.
Regulatory challenges
– Breaking Rules 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.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Understanding and Breaking the Rules of Business: Toward a Systematic Four-Step Process 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 Understanding and Breaking the Rules of Business: Toward a Systematic Four-Step Process 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 Understanding and Breaking the Rules of Business: Toward a Systematic Four-Step Process 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 Understanding and Breaking the Rules of Business: Toward a Systematic Four-Step Process 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 Understanding and Breaking the Rules of Business: Toward a Systematic Four-Step Process 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 Breaking Rules needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.
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