Case Study Description of Quimera: Making Sustainability Happen
Quimera is a Spanish start-up firm that was founded in 2009 by Javier De Rocafort. It aims to overcome the financial constraints associated with the development of sustainable projects in the areas of mobility and energy. Within the relatively new category of the "environmental goods and services sector," Quimera uses a business model where fixed assets are nearly irrelevant and networks are at its core. This case gives students the opportunity to assess the so-called environmental sector and the associated business opportunities.
Swot Analysis of "Quimera: Making Sustainability Happen" written by Mike Rosenberg, Victoria C Moreno includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Quimera Rocafort facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Quimera: Making Sustainability Happen case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Entrepreneurship and Strategy & Execution.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Quimera: Making Sustainability Happen casestudy better are - – technology disruption, talent flight as more people leaving formal jobs, competitive advantages are harder to sustain because of technology dispersion, there is increasing trade war between United States & China, challanges to central banks by blockchain based private currencies, increasing government debt because of Covid-19 spendings, increasing inequality as vast percentage of new income is going to the top 1%,
central banks are concerned over increasing inflation, increasing energy prices, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Quimera: Making Sustainability Happen
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Quimera: Making Sustainability Happen case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Quimera Rocafort, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Quimera Rocafort 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 Quimera: Making Sustainability Happen can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Quimera: Making Sustainability Happen case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Quimera Rocafort
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 Quimera Rocafort
Strengths Quimera: Making Sustainability Happen | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Quimera Rocafort in Quimera: Making Sustainability Happen Harvard Business Review case study are -
Highly skilled collaborators
– Quimera Rocafort 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 Quimera: Making Sustainability Happen HBR case study have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
Organizational Resilience of Quimera Rocafort
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing that Quimera Rocafort does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
Learning organization
- Quimera Rocafort 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 Quimera Rocafort is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders in Quimera: Making Sustainability Happen Harvard Business Review case study emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
Operational resilience
– The operational resilience strategy in the Quimera: Making Sustainability Happen 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.
High brand equity
– Quimera Rocafort has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Quimera Rocafort to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Cross disciplinary teams
– Horizontal connected teams at the Quimera Rocafort 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.
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of Quimera Rocafort in the sector have low bargaining power. Quimera: Making Sustainability Happen has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Quimera Rocafort to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
Training and development
– Quimera Rocafort has one of the best training and development program in the industry. The effectiveness of the training programs can be measured in Quimera: Making Sustainability Happen 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 switching costs
– The high switching costs that Quimera Rocafort 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.
Analytics focus
– Quimera Rocafort 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 Mike Rosenberg, Victoria C Moreno 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.
Ability to lead change in Strategy & Execution field
– Quimera Rocafort 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 Quimera Rocafort in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.
Ability to recruit top talent
– Quimera Rocafort is one of the leading recruiters in the industry. Managers in the Quimera: Making Sustainability Happen are in a position to attract the best talent available. The firm has a robust talent identification program that helps in identifying the brightest.
Weaknesses Quimera: Making Sustainability Happen | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Quimera: Making Sustainability Happen are -
High bargaining power of channel partners
– Because of the regulatory requirements, Mike Rosenberg, Victoria C Moreno suggests that, Quimera Rocafort 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 Quimera Rocafort 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.
Lack of clear differentiation of Quimera Rocafort products
– To increase the profitability and margins on the products, Quimera Rocafort needs to provide more differentiated products than what it is currently offering in the marketplace.
Increasing silos among functional specialists
– The organizational structure of Quimera Rocafort is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Strategy & Execution segment. Quimera Rocafort needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Quimera Rocafort to focus more on services rather than just following the product oriented approach.
Interest costs
– Compare to the competition, Quimera Rocafort 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.
Ability to respond to the competition
– As the decision making is very deliberative, highlighted in the case study Quimera: Making Sustainability Happen, in the dynamic environment Quimera Rocafort has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. Quimera Rocafort has reasonably good record with similar level competitors but it has struggled with new entrants taking away niches of its business.
No frontier risks strategy
– After analyzing the HBR case study Quimera: Making Sustainability Happen, 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.
Capital Spending Reduction
– Even during the low interest decade, Quimera Rocafort 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.
Employees’ incomplete understanding of strategy
– From the instances in the HBR case study Quimera: Making Sustainability Happen, it seems that the employees of Quimera Rocafort 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 star products
– The top 2 products and services of the firm as mentioned in the Quimera: Making Sustainability Happen 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 Quimera Rocafort has relatively successful track record of launching new products.
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 Quimera Rocafort supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes mentioned in the HBR case study - Quimera: Making Sustainability Happen, it is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left Quimera Rocafort vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.
Opportunities Quimera: Making Sustainability Happen | 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 Quimera: Making Sustainability Happen are -
Redefining models of collaboration and team work
– As explained in the weaknesses section, Quimera Rocafort is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. Quimera: Making Sustainability Happen 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.
Low interest rates
– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Quimera Rocafort 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.
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. Quimera Rocafort can tie-up with other value chain partners to explore new opportunities regarding meeting customer demands and building a rewarding and engaging relationship.
Building a culture of innovation
– managers at Quimera Rocafort 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.
Lowering marketing communication costs
– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Quimera Rocafort 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.
Reforming the budgeting process
- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects Quimera Rocafort 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
– Quimera Rocafort 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.
Manufacturing automation
– Quimera Rocafort 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.
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– Quimera Rocafort 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 Quimera: Making Sustainability Happen - to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Quimera Rocafort to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
Changes in consumer behavior post Covid-19
– Consumer behavior has changed in the Strategy & Execution industry because of Covid-19 restrictions. Some of this behavior will stay once things get back to normal. Quimera Rocafort can take advantage of these changes in consumer behavior to build a far more efficient business model. For example consumer regular ordering of products can reduce both last mile delivery costs and market penetration costs. Quimera Rocafort can further use this consumer data to build better customer loyalty, provide better products and service collection, and improve the value proposition in inflationary times.
Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities
– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Quimera Rocafort 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 Quimera Rocafort to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Quimera Rocafort has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Quimera Rocafort to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the Quimera: Making Sustainability Happen case study. Quimera Rocafort can build new products and services such as - data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
Buying journey improvements
– Quimera Rocafort can improve the customer journey of consumers in the industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. Quimera: Making Sustainability Happen 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.
Threats Quimera: Making Sustainability Happen External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Quimera: Making Sustainability Happen are -
Consumer confidence and its impact on Quimera Rocafort 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.
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.
Increasing wage structure of Quimera Rocafort
– 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 Quimera Rocafort.
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 Quimera Rocafort business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
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.
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry in the industry are lowering. It can presents Quimera Rocafort with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the sector.
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Quimera Rocafort has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Strategy & Execution industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Quimera Rocafort needs to keep up with the evolution of technology in the Strategy & Execution sector. According to Mckinsey study top managers believe that the adoption of technology in operations, communications is 20-25 times faster than what they planned in the beginning of 2019.
Regulatory challenges
– Quimera Rocafort 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.
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Quimera Rocafort 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 Quimera: Making Sustainability Happen .
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Quimera Rocafort 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.
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 Quimera Rocafort in the Strategy & Execution sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
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. Quimera Rocafort can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
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. Quimera Rocafort 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.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Quimera: Making Sustainability Happen 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 Quimera: Making Sustainability Happen 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 Quimera: Making Sustainability Happen 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 Quimera: Making Sustainability Happen 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 Quimera: Making Sustainability Happen 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 Quimera Rocafort needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.
