Innovating by the Book: The Introduction of Innovation Teams in Memphis and New Orleans SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Strategy & Execution
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Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of Innovating by the Book: The Introduction of Innovation Teams in Memphis and New Orleans
Can an innovation model be used to solve seemingly intractable problems consistently, reliably and effectively? In 2011, Bloomberg Philanthropies founder and former New York City mayor Michael Bloomberg, announced a $24 million initiative to fund innovation teams in five U.S. cities. The innovation team program was created to advance government innovation by increasing innovation capacity within municipal government-by helping mayors design and implement solutions to their most urgent problems. Bloomberg Philanthropies developed 4-prong Innovation Model that drew on cutting-edge innovation practices from the public and private sectors and selected five large cities to use the model to solve problems ranging from high murder rates to blighted neighborhoods. This case illustrates the use of Bloomberg's innovation model in two of these cities-Memphis and New Orleans-allowing students to compare and contrast each city's use and application of the model. Students will consider the challenge of creating sustainable capacity for problem-centric innovation. Case number 2053.0
Swot Analysis of "Innovating by the Book: The Introduction of Innovation Teams in Memphis and New Orleans" written by Jorrit de Jong, Laura Winig includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Innovation Bloomberg facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Innovating by the Book: The Introduction of Innovation Teams in Memphis and New Orleans case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Government, Innovation and Strategy & Execution.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Innovating by the Book: The Introduction of Innovation Teams in Memphis and New Orleans casestudy better are - – challanges to central banks by blockchain based private currencies, there is increasing trade war between United States & China, cloud computing is disrupting traditional business models, central banks are concerned over increasing inflation, increasing transportation and logistics costs, increasing household debt because of falling income levels, supply chains are disrupted by pandemic ,
competitive advantages are harder to sustain because of technology dispersion, customer relationship management is fast transforming because of increasing concerns over data privacy, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Innovating by the Book: The Introduction of Innovation Teams in Memphis and New Orleans
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Innovating by the Book: The Introduction of Innovation Teams in Memphis and New Orleans case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Innovation Bloomberg, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Innovation Bloomberg 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 Innovating by the Book: The Introduction of Innovation Teams in Memphis and New Orleans can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Innovating by the Book: The Introduction of Innovation Teams in Memphis and New Orleans case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Innovation Bloomberg
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 Innovation Bloomberg
Strengths Innovating by the Book: The Introduction of Innovation Teams in Memphis and New Orleans | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Innovation Bloomberg in Innovating by the Book: The Introduction of Innovation Teams in Memphis and New Orleans Harvard Business Review case study are -
Ability to recruit top talent
– Innovation Bloomberg is one of the leading recruiters in the industry. Managers in the Innovating by the Book: The Introduction of Innovation Teams in Memphis and New Orleans 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
– Innovating by the Book: The Introduction of Innovation Teams in Memphis and New Orleans firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Innovation Bloomberg to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Strategy & Execution industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Innovation Bloomberg to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Diverse revenue streams
– Innovation Bloomberg is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided firm in Innovating by the Book: The Introduction of Innovation Teams in Memphis and New Orleans 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.
Organizational Resilience of Innovation Bloomberg
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing that Innovation Bloomberg does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
Operational resilience
– The operational resilience strategy in the Innovating by the Book: The Introduction of Innovation Teams in Memphis and New Orleans 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.
Training and development
– Innovation Bloomberg has one of the best training and development program in the industry. The effectiveness of the training programs can be measured in Innovating by the Book: The Introduction of Innovation Teams in Memphis and New Orleans 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.
High brand equity
– Innovation Bloomberg has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Innovation Bloomberg to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of Innovation Bloomberg in the sector have low bargaining power. Innovating by the Book: The Introduction of Innovation Teams in Memphis and New Orleans has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Innovation Bloomberg to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
High switching costs
– The high switching costs that Innovation Bloomberg 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.
Effective Research and Development (R&D)
– Innovation Bloomberg 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 Innovating by the Book: The Introduction of Innovation Teams in Memphis and New Orleans - staying ahead in the industry in terms of – new product launches, superior customer experience, highly competitive pricing strategies, and great returns to the shareholders.
Superior customer experience
– The customer experience strategy of Innovation Bloomberg in the segment is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.
Analytics focus
– Innovation Bloomberg 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 Jorrit de Jong, Laura Winig 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.
Weaknesses Innovating by the Book: The Introduction of Innovation Teams in Memphis and New Orleans | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Innovating by the Book: The Introduction of Innovation Teams in Memphis and New Orleans are -
High bargaining power of channel partners
– Because of the regulatory requirements, Jorrit de Jong, Laura Winig suggests that, Innovation Bloomberg 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.
Products dominated business model
– Even though Innovation Bloomberg 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 - Innovating by the Book: The Introduction of Innovation Teams in Memphis and New Orleans should strive to include more intangible value offerings along with its core products and services.
Capital Spending Reduction
– Even during the low interest decade, Innovation Bloomberg 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.
Ability to respond to the competition
– As the decision making is very deliberative, highlighted in the case study Innovating by the Book: The Introduction of Innovation Teams in Memphis and New Orleans, in the dynamic environment Innovation Bloomberg has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. Innovation Bloomberg has reasonably good record with similar level competitors but it has struggled with new entrants taking away niches of its business.
Workers concerns about automation
– As automation is fast increasing in the segment, Innovation Bloomberg 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.
High dependence on star products
– The top 2 products and services of the firm as mentioned in the Innovating by the Book: The Introduction of Innovation Teams in Memphis and New Orleans 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 Innovation Bloomberg has relatively successful track record of launching new products.
High operating costs
– Compare to the competitors, firm in the HBR case study Innovating by the Book: The Introduction of Innovation Teams in Memphis and New Orleans 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 Innovation Bloomberg 's lucrative customers.
Employees’ incomplete understanding of strategy
– From the instances in the HBR case study Innovating by the Book: The Introduction of Innovation Teams in Memphis and New Orleans, it seems that the employees of Innovation Bloomberg don’t have comprehensive understanding of the firm’s strategy. This is reflected in number of promotional campaigns over the last few years that had mixed messaging and competing priorities. Some of the strategic activities and services promoted in the promotional campaigns were not consistent with the organization’s strategy.
High 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 Innovation Bloomberg supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes mentioned in the HBR case study - Innovating by the Book: The Introduction of Innovation Teams in Memphis and New Orleans, it is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left Innovation Bloomberg vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.
Compensation and incentives
– The revenue per employee as mentioned in the HBR case study Innovating by the Book: The Introduction of Innovation Teams in Memphis and New Orleans, is just above the industry average. Innovation Bloomberg 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.
Slow to strategic competitive environment developments
– As Innovating by the Book: The Introduction of Innovation Teams in Memphis and New Orleans HBR case study mentions - Innovation Bloomberg 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.
Opportunities Innovating by the Book: The Introduction of Innovation Teams in Memphis and New Orleans | 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 Innovating by the Book: The Introduction of Innovation Teams in Memphis and New Orleans are -
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Innovation Bloomberg has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Innovation Bloomberg to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the Innovating by the Book: The Introduction of Innovation Teams in Memphis and New Orleans case study. Innovation Bloomberg can build new products and services such as - data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
Reforming the budgeting process
- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects Innovation Bloomberg can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.
Increase in government spending
– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Innovation Bloomberg can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Innovation Bloomberg operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Strategy & Execution sector.
Manufacturing automation
– Innovation Bloomberg 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.
Leveraging digital technologies
– Innovation Bloomberg 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.
Developing new processes and practices
– Innovation Bloomberg 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.
Redefining models of collaboration and team work
– As explained in the weaknesses section, Innovation Bloomberg is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. Innovating by the Book: The Introduction of Innovation Teams in Memphis and New Orleans 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.
Loyalty marketing
– Innovation Bloomberg has focused on building a highly responsive customer relationship management platform. This platform is built on in-house data and driven by analytics and artificial intelligence. The customer analytics can help the organization to fine tune its loyalty marketing efforts, increase the wallet share of the organization, reduce wastage on mainstream advertising spending, build better pricing strategies using personalization, etc.
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. Innovation Bloomberg can tie-up with other value chain partners to explore new opportunities regarding meeting customer demands and building a rewarding and engaging relationship.
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. Innovation Bloomberg can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.
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 Innovation Bloomberg in the consumer business. Now Innovation Bloomberg can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.
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 Innovation Bloomberg 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.
Lowering marketing communication costs
– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Innovation Bloomberg 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.
Threats Innovating by the Book: The Introduction of Innovation Teams in Memphis and New Orleans External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Innovating by the Book: The Introduction of Innovation Teams in Memphis and New Orleans are -
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry in the industry are lowering. It can presents Innovation Bloomberg with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the sector.
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Innovation Bloomberg 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 wage structure of Innovation Bloomberg
– 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 Innovation Bloomberg.
High dependence on third party suppliers
– Innovation Bloomberg 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.
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Innovation Bloomberg is facing in Strategy & Execution sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.
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.
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 Innovation Bloomberg in the Strategy & Execution sector and impact the bottomline 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 Innovation Bloomberg.
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 Innovation Bloomberg business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
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. Innovation Bloomberg can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
Consumer confidence and its impact on Innovation Bloomberg 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.
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Innovation Bloomberg 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 Innovating by the Book: The Introduction of Innovation Teams in Memphis and New Orleans .
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Innovation Bloomberg has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Strategy & Execution industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Innovation Bloomberg 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.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Innovating by the Book: The Introduction of Innovation Teams in Memphis and New Orleans 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 Innovating by the Book: The Introduction of Innovation Teams in Memphis and New Orleans 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 Innovating by the Book: The Introduction of Innovation Teams in Memphis and New Orleans 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 Innovating by the Book: The Introduction of Innovation Teams in Memphis and New Orleans 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 Innovating by the Book: The Introduction of Innovation Teams in Memphis and New Orleans 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 Innovation Bloomberg needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.
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