Neechie Gear: Pivoting in an Aboriginal Start-up SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Strategy & Execution
Strategy / MBA Resources
Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of Neechie Gear: Pivoting in an Aboriginal Start-up
A young Aboriginal entrepreneur faces three major challenges to growing his lifestyle apparel business. First, he has been unable to find a trusted partner who is both competent and passionate about the venture. Second, he is spread thinly across the multiple roles involved with running and growing the business. Third, he has not yet fully tested any of the proposed business models to determine whether they will require considerable investment or abandonment. The entrepreneur lacks the time and space to think strategically about his best course of action. The case challenges students to evaluate his company's business model and performance and to chart a successful strategy for the future, considering the dual perspectives of being a solo entrepreneur and an Aboriginal businessperson.
Authors :: Peter Moroz, Simon Parker, Edward Gamble
Swot Analysis of "Neechie Gear: Pivoting in an Aboriginal Start-up" written by Peter Moroz, Simon Parker, Edward Gamble includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Aboriginal Entrepreneur facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Neechie Gear: Pivoting in an Aboriginal Start-up case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Marketing and Strategy & Execution.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Neechie Gear: Pivoting in an Aboriginal Start-up casestudy better are - – digital marketing is dominated by two big players Facebook and Google, talent flight as more people leaving formal jobs, banking and financial system is disrupted by Bitcoin and other crypto currencies, competitive advantages are harder to sustain because of technology dispersion, challanges to central banks by blockchain based private currencies, increasing commodity prices, technology disruption,
wage bills are increasing, customer relationship management is fast transforming because of increasing concerns over data privacy, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Neechie Gear: Pivoting in an Aboriginal Start-up
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Neechie Gear: Pivoting in an Aboriginal Start-up case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Aboriginal Entrepreneur, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Aboriginal Entrepreneur 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 Neechie Gear: Pivoting in an Aboriginal Start-up can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Neechie Gear: Pivoting in an Aboriginal Start-up case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Aboriginal Entrepreneur
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 Aboriginal Entrepreneur
Strengths Neechie Gear: Pivoting in an Aboriginal Start-up | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Aboriginal Entrepreneur in Neechie Gear: Pivoting in an Aboriginal Start-up Harvard Business Review case study are -
Diverse revenue streams
– Aboriginal Entrepreneur is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided firm in Neechie Gear: Pivoting in an Aboriginal Start-up 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.
Strong track record of project management
– Aboriginal Entrepreneur is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.
Operational resilience
– The operational resilience strategy in the Neechie Gear: Pivoting in an Aboriginal Start-up 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.
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of Aboriginal Entrepreneur in the sector have low bargaining power. Neechie Gear: Pivoting in an Aboriginal Start-up has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Aboriginal Entrepreneur to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
Organizational Resilience of Aboriginal Entrepreneur
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing that Aboriginal Entrepreneur does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
Effective Research and Development (R&D)
– Aboriginal Entrepreneur 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 Neechie Gear: Pivoting in an Aboriginal Start-up - staying ahead in the industry in terms of – new product launches, superior customer experience, highly competitive pricing strategies, and great returns to the shareholders.
Highly skilled collaborators
– Aboriginal Entrepreneur 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 Neechie Gear: Pivoting in an Aboriginal Start-up HBR case study have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
High brand equity
– Aboriginal Entrepreneur has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Aboriginal Entrepreneur to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
High switching costs
– The high switching costs that Aboriginal Entrepreneur 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.
Learning organization
- Aboriginal Entrepreneur 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 Aboriginal Entrepreneur is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders in Neechie Gear: Pivoting in an Aboriginal Start-up Harvard Business Review case study emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
Superior customer experience
– The customer experience strategy of Aboriginal Entrepreneur in the segment is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.
Digital Transformation in Strategy & Execution segment
- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For Aboriginal Entrepreneur digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Aboriginal Entrepreneur 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 Neechie Gear: Pivoting in an Aboriginal Start-up | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Neechie Gear: Pivoting in an Aboriginal Start-up are -
Increasing silos among functional specialists
– The organizational structure of Aboriginal Entrepreneur is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Strategy & Execution segment. Aboriginal Entrepreneur needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Aboriginal Entrepreneur to focus more on services rather than just following the product oriented approach.
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 Aboriginal Entrepreneur supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes mentioned in the HBR case study - Neechie Gear: Pivoting in an Aboriginal Start-up, it is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left Aboriginal Entrepreneur vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.
No frontier risks strategy
– After analyzing the HBR case study Neechie Gear: Pivoting in an Aboriginal Start-up, 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.
Lack of clear differentiation of Aboriginal Entrepreneur products
– To increase the profitability and margins on the products, Aboriginal Entrepreneur needs to provide more differentiated products than what it is currently offering in the marketplace.
Need for greater diversity
– Aboriginal Entrepreneur 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, Aboriginal Entrepreneur 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.
Capital Spending Reduction
– Even during the low interest decade, Aboriginal Entrepreneur 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.
High operating costs
– Compare to the competitors, firm in the HBR case study Neechie Gear: Pivoting in an Aboriginal Start-up 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 Aboriginal Entrepreneur 's lucrative customers.
Compensation and incentives
– The revenue per employee as mentioned in the HBR case study Neechie Gear: Pivoting in an Aboriginal Start-up, is just above the industry average. Aboriginal Entrepreneur 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.
Skills based hiring
– The stress on hiring functional specialists at Aboriginal Entrepreneur 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.
Aligning sales with marketing
– It come across in the case study Neechie Gear: Pivoting in an Aboriginal Start-up 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 Neechie Gear: Pivoting in an Aboriginal Start-up can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Aboriginal Entrepreneur is planning to shift buying processes online.
Opportunities Neechie Gear: Pivoting in an Aboriginal Start-up | 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 Neechie Gear: Pivoting in an Aboriginal Start-up are -
Loyalty marketing
– Aboriginal Entrepreneur 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.
Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities
– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Aboriginal Entrepreneur 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 Aboriginal Entrepreneur to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
Buying journey improvements
– Aboriginal Entrepreneur can improve the customer journey of consumers in the industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. Neechie Gear: Pivoting in an Aboriginal Start-up 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.
Learning at scale
– Online learning technologies has now opened space for Aboriginal Entrepreneur 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.
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. Aboriginal Entrepreneur can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.
Increase in government spending
– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Aboriginal Entrepreneur can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Aboriginal Entrepreneur operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Strategy & Execution sector.
Leveraging digital technologies
– Aboriginal Entrepreneur 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 Aboriginal Entrepreneur in the consumer business. Now Aboriginal Entrepreneur can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.
Building a culture of innovation
– managers at Aboriginal Entrepreneur 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.
Manufacturing automation
– Aboriginal Entrepreneur 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.
Better consumer reach
– The expansion of the 5G network will help Aboriginal Entrepreneur to increase its market reach. Aboriginal Entrepreneur 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.
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 Aboriginal Entrepreneur 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.
Low interest rates
– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Aboriginal Entrepreneur 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 Neechie Gear: Pivoting in an Aboriginal Start-up External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Neechie Gear: Pivoting in an Aboriginal Start-up are -
Environmental challenges
– Aboriginal Entrepreneur 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. Aboriginal Entrepreneur can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Strategy & Execution industry.
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry in the industry are lowering. It can presents Aboriginal Entrepreneur with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the sector.
Technology disruption because of hacks, piracy etc
– The colonial pipeline illustrated, how vulnerable modern organization are to international hackers, miscreants, and disruptors. The cyber security interruption, data leaks, etc can seriously jeopardize the future growth of the organization.
High dependence on third party suppliers
– Aboriginal Entrepreneur 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.
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 Aboriginal Entrepreneur business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
Instability in the European markets
– European Union markets are facing three big challenges post Covid – expanded balance sheets, Brexit related business disruption, and aggressive Russia looking to distract the existing security mechanism. Aboriginal Entrepreneur will face different problems in different parts of Europe. For example it will face inflationary pressures in UK, France, and Germany, balance sheet expansion and demand challenges in Southern European countries, and geopolitical instability in the Eastern Europe.
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. Aboriginal Entrepreneur needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Strategy & Execution industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
Consumer confidence and its impact on Aboriginal Entrepreneur 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.
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Aboriginal Entrepreneur 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.
Increasing wage structure of Aboriginal Entrepreneur
– 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 Aboriginal Entrepreneur.
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Aboriginal Entrepreneur 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 Neechie Gear: Pivoting in an Aboriginal Start-up .
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Aboriginal Entrepreneur has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Strategy & Execution industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Aboriginal Entrepreneur 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.
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 Aboriginal Entrepreneur in the Strategy & Execution sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Neechie Gear: Pivoting in an Aboriginal Start-up 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 Neechie Gear: Pivoting in an Aboriginal Start-up 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 Neechie Gear: Pivoting in an Aboriginal Start-up 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 Neechie Gear: Pivoting in an Aboriginal Start-up 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 Neechie Gear: Pivoting in an Aboriginal Start-up 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 Aboriginal Entrepreneur needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.
