Google Glass: Development, Marketing and User Acceptance SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Strategy & Execution
Strategy / MBA Resources
Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of Google Glass: Development, Marketing and User Acceptance
This case introduces the key features of Google's wearable technology product "Glass" and illustrates the tensions that Google faced over the development and marketing of this product. The case goes on to highlight the growing backlash that Google experienced when promoting Glass. Thompson S.H. Teo is affiliated with National University of Singapore. Kian Teck Chua is affiliated with NUS Business School. Zhiyi Yong is affiliated with NUS Business School. Timothy Dao Sheng Lim is affiliated with NUS Business School. Jonathan Jun Jie Boon is affiliated with NUS Business School.
Authors :: Thompson SH Teo, Kian Teck Chua, Zhiyi Yong, Timothy Dao Sheng Lim
Swot Analysis of "Google Glass: Development, Marketing and User Acceptance" written by Thompson SH Teo, Kian Teck Chua, Zhiyi Yong, Timothy Dao Sheng Lim includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Nus Glass facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Google Glass: Development, Marketing and User Acceptance case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, IT, Risk management and Strategy & Execution.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Google Glass: Development, Marketing and User Acceptance casestudy better are - – increasing commodity prices, increasing energy prices, wage bills are increasing, cloud computing is disrupting traditional business models, technology disruption, increasing government debt because of Covid-19 spendings, geopolitical disruptions,
there is increasing trade war between United States & China, increasing household debt because of falling income levels, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Google Glass: Development, Marketing and User Acceptance
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Google Glass: Development, Marketing and User Acceptance case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Nus Glass, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Nus Glass 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 Google Glass: Development, Marketing and User Acceptance can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Google Glass: Development, Marketing and User Acceptance case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Nus Glass
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 Nus Glass
Strengths Google Glass: Development, Marketing and User Acceptance | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Nus Glass in Google Glass: Development, Marketing and User Acceptance Harvard Business Review case study are -
Organizational Resilience of Nus Glass
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing that Nus Glass 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 Google Glass: Development, Marketing and User Acceptance Harvard Business Review case study comprises – understanding the underlying the factors in the industry, building diversified operations across different geographies so that disruption in one part of the world doesn’t impact the overall performance of the firm, and integrating the various business operations and processes through its digital transformation drive.
Cross disciplinary teams
– Horizontal connected teams at the Nus Glass 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.
Analytics focus
– Nus Glass 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 Thompson SH Teo, Kian Teck Chua, Zhiyi Yong, Timothy Dao Sheng Lim 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.
Highly skilled collaborators
– Nus Glass 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 Google Glass: Development, Marketing and User Acceptance HBR case study have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
High brand equity
– Nus Glass has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Nus Glass to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Ability to lead change in Strategy & Execution field
– Nus Glass 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 Nus Glass 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 Nus Glass in the sector have low bargaining power. Google Glass: Development, Marketing and User Acceptance has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Nus Glass to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
Strong track record of project management
– Nus Glass is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.
Effective Research and Development (R&D)
– Nus Glass 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 Google Glass: Development, Marketing and User Acceptance - staying ahead in the industry in terms of – new product launches, superior customer experience, highly competitive pricing strategies, and great returns to the shareholders.
Learning organization
- Nus Glass 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 Nus Glass is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders in Google Glass: Development, Marketing and User Acceptance Harvard Business Review case study emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Strategy & Execution industry
– Google Glass: Development, Marketing and User Acceptance firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Nus Glass to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Strategy & Execution industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Nus Glass to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Weaknesses Google Glass: Development, Marketing and User Acceptance | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Google Glass: Development, Marketing and User Acceptance are -
Need for greater diversity
– Nus Glass 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, Nus Glass 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.
Interest costs
– Compare to the competition, Nus Glass 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 Google Glass: Development, Marketing and User Acceptance 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 Nus Glass 's lucrative customers.
Low market penetration in new markets
– Outside its home market of Nus Glass, firm in the HBR case study Google Glass: Development, Marketing and User Acceptance needs to spend more promotional, marketing, and advertising efforts to penetrate international markets.
Ability to respond to the competition
– As the decision making is very deliberative, highlighted in the case study Google Glass: Development, Marketing and User Acceptance, in the dynamic environment Nus Glass has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. Nus Glass has reasonably good record with similar level competitors but it has struggled with new entrants taking away niches of its business.
Compensation and incentives
– The revenue per employee as mentioned in the HBR case study Google Glass: Development, Marketing and User Acceptance, is just above the industry average. Nus Glass 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.
Employees’ incomplete understanding of strategy
– From the instances in the HBR case study Google Glass: Development, Marketing and User Acceptance, it seems that the employees of Nus Glass 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 Nus Glass supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes mentioned in the HBR case study - Google Glass: Development, Marketing and User Acceptance, it is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left Nus Glass vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.
No frontier risks strategy
– After analyzing the HBR case study Google Glass: Development, Marketing and User Acceptance, it seems that company is thinking about the frontier risks that can impact Strategy & Execution strategy. But it has very little resources allocation to manage the risks emerging from events such as natural disasters, climate change, melting of permafrost, tacking the rise of artificial intelligence, opportunities and threats emerging from commercialization of space etc.
Slow to strategic competitive environment developments
– As Google Glass: Development, Marketing and User Acceptance HBR case study mentions - Nus Glass 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 Google Glass: Development, Marketing and User Acceptance | 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 Google Glass: Development, Marketing and User Acceptance are -
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. Nus Glass can tie-up with other value chain partners to explore new opportunities regarding meeting customer demands and building a rewarding and engaging relationship.
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 Nus Glass 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 Nus Glass 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.
Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains
– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Nus Glass 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, Google Glass: Development, Marketing and User Acceptance, to buy more products closer to the markets, and it can leverage its size and influence to get better deal from the local markets.
Leveraging digital technologies
– Nus Glass 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.
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 Nus Glass in the consumer business. Now Nus Glass can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.
Developing new processes and practices
– Nus Glass can develop new processes and procedures in Strategy & Execution industry using technology such as automation using artificial intelligence, real time transportation and products tracking, 3D modeling for concept development and new products pilot testing etc.
Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities
– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Nus Glass 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 Nus Glass to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Nus Glass has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Nus Glass to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the Google Glass: Development, Marketing and User Acceptance case study. Nus Glass can build new products and services such as - data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
Increase in government spending
– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Nus Glass can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Nus Glass operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Strategy & Execution sector.
Loyalty marketing
– Nus Glass 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.
Reforming the budgeting process
- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects Nus Glass can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– Nus Glass 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 Google Glass: Development, Marketing and User Acceptance - to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Nus Glass to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
Threats Google Glass: Development, Marketing and User Acceptance External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Google Glass: Development, Marketing and User Acceptance are -
Regulatory challenges
– Nus Glass 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
– Nus Glass 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.
Environmental challenges
– Nus Glass 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. Nus Glass can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Strategy & Execution industry.
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 Nus Glass in the Strategy & Execution sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry in the industry are lowering. It can presents Nus Glass with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the sector.
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. Nus Glass can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Nus Glass 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.
High dependence on third party suppliers
– Nus Glass 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 Nus Glass.
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. Nus Glass needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Strategy & Execution industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
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.
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, as highlighted in case study Google Glass: Development, Marketing and User Acceptance, Nus Glass 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 .
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Nus Glass 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 Google Glass: Development, Marketing and User Acceptance .
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Google Glass: Development, Marketing and User Acceptance 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 Google Glass: Development, Marketing and User Acceptance 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 Google Glass: Development, Marketing and User Acceptance 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 Google Glass: Development, Marketing and User Acceptance 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 Google Glass: Development, Marketing and User Acceptance 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 Nus Glass needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.
