Full Psycle: Getting Somewhere By Going Nowhere (A) SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Strategy & Execution
Strategy / MBA Resources
Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of Full Psycle: Getting Somewhere By Going Nowhere (A)
Paul Harmeling, an investment banker, pursues his passion for indoor cycling ("spinning") and launches the Full Psycle fitness studio. After the third location opens, it is clear that the early success can be attributed to exclusive technology rights and Harmeling's personality and enthusiasm. As Harmeling prepares to take the brand to a national level, the case explores the challenges of replicating this success across multiple locations. The case also examines the five expansion strategies available to Harmeling and the potential trade-offs each offers.
Swot Analysis of "Full Psycle: Getting Somewhere By Going Nowhere (A)" written by Elissa B Grossman, Susan S. Harmeling includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Harmeling Psycle facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Full Psycle: Getting Somewhere By Going Nowhere (A) case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, and Strategy & Execution.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Full Psycle: Getting Somewhere By Going Nowhere (A) casestudy better are - – technology disruption, there is increasing trade war between United States & China, talent flight as more people leaving formal jobs, wage bills are increasing, central banks are concerned over increasing inflation, increasing transportation and logistics costs, competitive advantages are harder to sustain because of technology dispersion,
digital marketing is dominated by two big players Facebook and Google, challanges to central banks by blockchain based private currencies, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Full Psycle: Getting Somewhere By Going Nowhere (A)
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Full Psycle: Getting Somewhere By Going Nowhere (A) case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Harmeling Psycle, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Harmeling Psycle 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 Full Psycle: Getting Somewhere By Going Nowhere (A) can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Full Psycle: Getting Somewhere By Going Nowhere (A) case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Harmeling Psycle
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 Harmeling Psycle
Strengths Full Psycle: Getting Somewhere By Going Nowhere (A) | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Harmeling Psycle in Full Psycle: Getting Somewhere By Going Nowhere (A) Harvard Business Review case study are -
Diverse revenue streams
– Harmeling Psycle is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided firm in Full Psycle: Getting Somewhere By Going Nowhere (A) 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.
Successful track record of launching new products
– Harmeling Psycle has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Harmeling Psycle 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.
Superior customer experience
– The customer experience strategy of Harmeling Psycle in the segment is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.
Innovation driven organization
– Harmeling Psycle is one of the most innovative firm in sector. Manager in Full Psycle: Getting Somewhere By Going Nowhere (A) Harvard Business Review case study can use Clayton Christensen Disruptive Innovation strategies to further increase the scale of innovtions in the organization.
Operational resilience
– The operational resilience strategy in the Full Psycle: Getting Somewhere By Going Nowhere (A) 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
– Harmeling Psycle 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 Full Psycle: Getting Somewhere By Going Nowhere (A) HBR case study have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
High switching costs
– The high switching costs that Harmeling Psycle has built up over years in its products and services combo offer has resulted in high retention of customers, lower marketing costs, and greater ability of the firm to focus on its customers.
Strong track record of project management
– Harmeling Psycle is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.
High brand equity
– Harmeling Psycle has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Harmeling Psycle to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Ability to recruit top talent
– Harmeling Psycle is one of the leading recruiters in the industry. Managers in the Full Psycle: Getting Somewhere By Going Nowhere (A) are in a position to attract the best talent available. The firm has a robust talent identification program that helps in identifying the brightest.
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Strategy & Execution industry
– Full Psycle: Getting Somewhere By Going Nowhere (A) firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Harmeling Psycle to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Strategy & Execution industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Harmeling Psycle to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Digital Transformation in Strategy & Execution segment
- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For Harmeling Psycle digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Harmeling Psycle 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.
Weaknesses Full Psycle: Getting Somewhere By Going Nowhere (A) | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Full Psycle: Getting Somewhere By Going Nowhere (A) are -
Slow to harness new channels of communication
– Even though competitors are using new communication channels such as Instagram, Tiktok, and Snap, Harmeling Psycle is slow explore the new channels of communication. These new channels of communication mentioned in marketing section of case study Full Psycle: Getting Somewhere By Going Nowhere (A) can help to provide better information regarding products and services. It can also build an online community to further reach out to potential customers.
Compensation and incentives
– The revenue per employee as mentioned in the HBR case study Full Psycle: Getting Somewhere By Going Nowhere (A), is just above the industry average. Harmeling Psycle 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 bargaining power of channel partners
– Because of the regulatory requirements, Elissa B Grossman, Susan S. Harmeling suggests that, Harmeling Psycle 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.
Skills based hiring
– The stress on hiring functional specialists at Harmeling Psycle 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.
Employees’ incomplete understanding of strategy
– From the instances in the HBR case study Full Psycle: Getting Somewhere By Going Nowhere (A), it seems that the employees of Harmeling Psycle 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.
Capital Spending Reduction
– Even during the low interest decade, Harmeling Psycle 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.
Workers concerns about automation
– As automation is fast increasing in the segment, Harmeling Psycle 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.
Products dominated business model
– Even though Harmeling Psycle 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 - Full Psycle: Getting Somewhere By Going Nowhere (A) should strive to include more intangible value offerings along with its core products and services.
High cash cycle compare to competitors
Harmeling Psycle 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.
Low market penetration in new markets
– Outside its home market of Harmeling Psycle, firm in the HBR case study Full Psycle: Getting Somewhere By Going Nowhere (A) needs to spend more promotional, marketing, and advertising efforts to penetrate international markets.
Aligning sales with marketing
– It come across in the case study Full Psycle: Getting Somewhere By Going Nowhere (A) 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 Full Psycle: Getting Somewhere By Going Nowhere (A) can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Harmeling Psycle is planning to shift buying processes online.
Opportunities Full Psycle: Getting Somewhere By Going Nowhere (A) | 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 Full Psycle: Getting Somewhere By Going Nowhere (A) are -
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 Harmeling Psycle in the consumer business. Now Harmeling Psycle can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.
Better consumer reach
– The expansion of the 5G network will help Harmeling Psycle to increase its market reach. Harmeling Psycle 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.
Redefining models of collaboration and team work
– As explained in the weaknesses section, Harmeling Psycle is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. Full Psycle: Getting Somewhere By Going Nowhere (A) 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.
Reforming the budgeting process
- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects Harmeling Psycle can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.
Leveraging digital technologies
– Harmeling Psycle 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.
Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities
– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Harmeling Psycle 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 Harmeling Psycle to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
Learning at scale
– Online learning technologies has now opened space for Harmeling Psycle 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.
Increase in government spending
– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Harmeling Psycle can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Harmeling Psycle operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Strategy & Execution sector.
Buying journey improvements
– Harmeling Psycle can improve the customer journey of consumers in the industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. Full Psycle: Getting Somewhere By Going Nowhere (A) 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.
Low interest rates
– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Harmeling Psycle 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.
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Harmeling Psycle has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Harmeling Psycle to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the Full Psycle: Getting Somewhere By Going Nowhere (A) case study. Harmeling Psycle can build new products and services such as - data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
Lowering marketing communication costs
– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Harmeling Psycle 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 Harmeling Psycle 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.
Threats Full Psycle: Getting Somewhere By Going Nowhere (A) External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Full Psycle: Getting Somewhere By Going Nowhere (A) are -
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 Harmeling Psycle business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
Regulatory challenges
– Harmeling Psycle 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.
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Harmeling Psycle 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.
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.
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Harmeling Psycle 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 Full Psycle: Getting Somewhere By Going Nowhere (A) .
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 Harmeling Psycle.
Consumer confidence and its impact on Harmeling Psycle 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.
High dependence on third party suppliers
– Harmeling Psycle 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
– Harmeling Psycle 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. Harmeling Psycle can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Strategy & Execution industry.
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Harmeling Psycle is facing in Strategy & Execution sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry in the industry are lowering. It can presents Harmeling Psycle with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the sector.
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. Harmeling Psycle needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Strategy & Execution industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
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 Harmeling Psycle in the Strategy & Execution sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Full Psycle: Getting Somewhere By Going Nowhere (A) 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 Full Psycle: Getting Somewhere By Going Nowhere (A) 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 Full Psycle: Getting Somewhere By Going Nowhere (A) 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 Full Psycle: Getting Somewhere By Going Nowhere (A) 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 Full Psycle: Getting Somewhere By Going Nowhere (A) 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 Harmeling Psycle needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.