Case Study Description of LinkedIn Corporation, 2012
Since its inception in 2003, LinkedIn had become a leading Silicon Valley institution with a brand name that was recognizable throughout the U.S. and in many countries overseas. As of March 2012, LinkedIn was the world's largest professional network on the Internet with $522.2 million in revenue in 2011 and more than 150 million members in over 200 countries. Unlike other major social networking sites, LinkedIn focused exclusively on fostering connections within the professional market. As LinkedIn's CEO thought about the future, he recognized the challenges in continuing to massively scale the company. At the same time, he focused on how LinkedIn could continue to use its vast amount of data to provide additional products and services for its members and customers.
Swot Analysis of "LinkedIn Corporation, 2012" written by David B. Yoffie, Liz Kind includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Linkedin 522.2 facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in LinkedIn Corporation, 2012 case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Collaboration, Disruptive innovation, Internet, Networking, Social platforms, Social responsibility, Strategy execution, Supply chain and Strategy & Execution.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the LinkedIn Corporation, 2012 casestudy better are - – increasing government debt because of Covid-19 spendings, there is backlash against globalization, wage bills are increasing, talent flight as more people leaving formal jobs, there is increasing trade war between United States & China, banking and financial system is disrupted by Bitcoin and other crypto currencies, increasing inequality as vast percentage of new income is going to the top 1%,
supply chains are disrupted by pandemic , technology disruption, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of LinkedIn Corporation, 2012
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in LinkedIn Corporation, 2012 case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Linkedin 522.2, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Linkedin 522.2 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 LinkedIn Corporation, 2012 can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in LinkedIn Corporation, 2012 case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Linkedin 522.2
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 Linkedin 522.2
Strengths LinkedIn Corporation, 2012 | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Linkedin 522.2 in LinkedIn Corporation, 2012 Harvard Business Review case study are -
Highly skilled collaborators
– Linkedin 522.2 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 LinkedIn Corporation, 2012 HBR case study have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
Organizational Resilience of Linkedin 522.2
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing that Linkedin 522.2 does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
Cross disciplinary teams
– Horizontal connected teams at the Linkedin 522.2 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.
Successful track record of launching new products
– Linkedin 522.2 has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Linkedin 522.2 has effective processes in place that helps in exploring new product needs, doing quick pilot testing, and then launching the products quickly using its extensive distribution network.
Innovation driven organization
– Linkedin 522.2 is one of the most innovative firm in sector. Manager in LinkedIn Corporation, 2012 Harvard Business Review case study can use Clayton Christensen Disruptive Innovation strategies to further increase the scale of innovtions in the organization.
High switching costs
– The high switching costs that Linkedin 522.2 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
- Linkedin 522.2 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 Linkedin 522.2 is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders in LinkedIn Corporation, 2012 Harvard Business Review case study emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Strategy & Execution industry
– LinkedIn Corporation, 2012 firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Linkedin 522.2 to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Strategy & Execution industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Linkedin 522.2 to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Effective Research and Development (R&D)
– Linkedin 522.2 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 LinkedIn Corporation, 2012 - staying ahead in the industry in terms of – new product launches, superior customer experience, highly competitive pricing strategies, and great returns to the shareholders.
Operational resilience
– The operational resilience strategy in the LinkedIn Corporation, 2012 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.
Superior customer experience
– The customer experience strategy of Linkedin 522.2 in the segment is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.
Ability to recruit top talent
– Linkedin 522.2 is one of the leading recruiters in the industry. Managers in the LinkedIn Corporation, 2012 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 LinkedIn Corporation, 2012 | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of LinkedIn Corporation, 2012 are -
Need for greater diversity
– Linkedin 522.2 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.
Skills based hiring
– The stress on hiring functional specialists at Linkedin 522.2 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.
Slow decision making process
– As mentioned earlier in the report, Linkedin 522.2 has a very deliberative decision making approach. This approach has resulted in prudent decisions, but it has also resulted in missing opportunities in the industry over the last five years. Linkedin 522.2 even though has strong showing on digital transformation primary two stages, it has struggled to capitalize the power of digital transformation in marketing efforts and new venture efforts.
Ability to respond to the competition
– As the decision making is very deliberative, highlighted in the case study LinkedIn Corporation, 2012, in the dynamic environment Linkedin 522.2 has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. Linkedin 522.2 has reasonably good record with similar level competitors but it has struggled with new entrants taking away niches of its business.
High cash cycle compare to competitors
Linkedin 522.2 has a high cash cycle compare to other players in the industry. It needs to shorten the cash cycle by 12% to be more competitive in the marketplace, reduce inventory costs, and be more profitable.
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 Linkedin 522.2 supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes mentioned in the HBR case study - LinkedIn Corporation, 2012, it is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left Linkedin 522.2 vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.
Slow to strategic competitive environment developments
– As LinkedIn Corporation, 2012 HBR case study mentions - Linkedin 522.2 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.
Aligning sales with marketing
– It come across in the case study LinkedIn Corporation, 2012 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 LinkedIn Corporation, 2012 can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Linkedin 522.2 is planning to shift buying processes online.
Workers concerns about automation
– As automation is fast increasing in the segment, Linkedin 522.2 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.
No frontier risks strategy
– After analyzing the HBR case study LinkedIn Corporation, 2012, 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.
Low market penetration in new markets
– Outside its home market of Linkedin 522.2, firm in the HBR case study LinkedIn Corporation, 2012 needs to spend more promotional, marketing, and advertising efforts to penetrate international markets.
Opportunities LinkedIn Corporation, 2012 | 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 LinkedIn Corporation, 2012 are -
Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities
– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Linkedin 522.2 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 Linkedin 522.2 to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
Reforming the budgeting process
- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects Linkedin 522.2 can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.
Loyalty marketing
– Linkedin 522.2 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.
Manufacturing automation
– Linkedin 522.2 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.
Developing new processes and practices
– Linkedin 522.2 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.
Leveraging digital technologies
– Linkedin 522.2 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.
Lowering marketing communication costs
– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Linkedin 522.2 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.
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Linkedin 522.2 has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Linkedin 522.2 to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the LinkedIn Corporation, 2012 case study. Linkedin 522.2 can build new products and services such as - data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– Linkedin 522.2 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 LinkedIn Corporation, 2012 - to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Linkedin 522.2 to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
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. Linkedin 522.2 can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.
Buying journey improvements
– Linkedin 522.2 can improve the customer journey of consumers in the industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. LinkedIn Corporation, 2012 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.
Redefining models of collaboration and team work
– As explained in the weaknesses section, Linkedin 522.2 is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. LinkedIn Corporation, 2012 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.
Increase in government spending
– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Linkedin 522.2 can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Linkedin 522.2 operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Strategy & Execution sector.
Threats LinkedIn Corporation, 2012 External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study LinkedIn Corporation, 2012 are -
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Linkedin 522.2 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.
Regulatory challenges
– Linkedin 522.2 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.
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Linkedin 522.2 is facing in Strategy & Execution sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, 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.
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 Linkedin 522.2 business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, as highlighted in case study LinkedIn Corporation, 2012, Linkedin 522.2 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 wage structure of Linkedin 522.2
– 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 Linkedin 522.2.
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 Linkedin 522.2 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. Linkedin 522.2 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. Linkedin 522.2 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.
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 Linkedin 522.2.
Consumer confidence and its impact on Linkedin 522.2 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.
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Linkedin 522.2 has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Strategy & Execution industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Linkedin 522.2 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 LinkedIn Corporation, 2012 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 LinkedIn Corporation, 2012 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 LinkedIn Corporation, 2012 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 LinkedIn Corporation, 2012 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 LinkedIn Corporation, 2012 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 Linkedin 522.2 needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.
