Cisco: Early if Not Elegant (B) SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Finance & Accounting
Strategy / MBA Resources
Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of Cisco: Early if Not Elegant (B)
Cisco Systems' relentless pace of acquisitions between 1993 and 2000 ground to a halt in 2001, with Cisco buying only two businesses that year. By September of 2002, it had acquired Hammerhead Networks and Navarro Networks for $258 million in stock and planned to buy Andiamo Systems for up to $2.5 billion. Market conditions may have shed light on cracks in its acquisition methodology, but the most profound change, according to CEO John Chambers, was the decision to acquire companies at a later stage of product development than previously. Now, a target had to have a proven product, customers, and management team before any transaction was considered. The (B) case includes a brief update on the company and financials up to July 2002.
Swot Analysis of "Cisco: Early if Not Elegant (B)" written by Gerry Yemen, Sayan Chatterjee, L.J. Bourgeois includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Cisco Andiamo facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Cisco: Early if Not Elegant (B) case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Mergers & acquisitions, Supply chain, Technology and Finance & Accounting.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Cisco: Early if Not Elegant (B) casestudy better are - – increasing commodity prices, increasing energy prices, increasing government debt because of Covid-19 spendings, talent flight as more people leaving formal jobs, wage bills are increasing, challanges to central banks by blockchain based private currencies, increasing inequality as vast percentage of new income is going to the top 1%,
geopolitical disruptions, supply chains are disrupted by pandemic , etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Cisco: Early if Not Elegant (B)
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Cisco: Early if Not Elegant (B) case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Cisco Andiamo, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Cisco Andiamo 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 Cisco: Early if Not Elegant (B) can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Cisco: Early if Not Elegant (B) case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Cisco Andiamo
3. Assessing feasibility of the new initiative in Finance & Accounting field.
4. Making a Finance & Accounting topic specific business decision
5. Set goals for the organization
6. Organizational restructuring of Cisco Andiamo
Strengths Cisco: Early if Not Elegant (B) | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Cisco Andiamo in Cisco: Early if Not Elegant (B) Harvard Business Review case study are -
Diverse revenue streams
– Cisco Andiamo is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided firm in Cisco: Early if Not Elegant (B) 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.
Innovation driven organization
– Cisco Andiamo is one of the most innovative firm in sector. Manager in Cisco: Early if Not Elegant (B) Harvard Business Review case study can use Clayton Christensen Disruptive Innovation strategies to further increase the scale of innovtions in the organization.
Digital Transformation in Finance & Accounting segment
- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For Cisco Andiamo digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Cisco Andiamo 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.
High switching costs
– The high switching costs that Cisco Andiamo 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.
Superior customer experience
– The customer experience strategy of Cisco Andiamo in the segment is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.
Operational resilience
– The operational resilience strategy in the Cisco: Early if Not Elegant (B) 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 Cisco Andiamo 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
– Cisco Andiamo 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 Gerry Yemen, Sayan Chatterjee, L.J. Bourgeois 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.
Strong track record of project management
– Cisco Andiamo is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.
High brand equity
– Cisco Andiamo has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Cisco Andiamo to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Ability to recruit top talent
– Cisco Andiamo is one of the leading recruiters in the industry. Managers in the Cisco: Early if Not Elegant (B) are in a position to attract the best talent available. The firm has a robust talent identification program that helps in identifying the brightest.
Highly skilled collaborators
– Cisco Andiamo 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 Cisco: Early if Not Elegant (B) HBR case study have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
Weaknesses Cisco: Early if Not Elegant (B) | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Cisco: Early if Not Elegant (B) are -
Slow to harness new channels of communication
– Even though competitors are using new communication channels such as Instagram, Tiktok, and Snap, Cisco Andiamo is slow explore the new channels of communication. These new channels of communication mentioned in marketing section of case study Cisco: Early if Not Elegant (B) can help to provide better information regarding products and services. It can also build an online community to further reach out to potential customers.
High cash cycle compare to competitors
Cisco Andiamo 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.
Interest costs
– Compare to the competition, Cisco Andiamo 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 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 Cisco Andiamo supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes mentioned in the HBR case study - Cisco: Early if Not Elegant (B), it is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left Cisco Andiamo vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.
Compensation and incentives
– The revenue per employee as mentioned in the HBR case study Cisco: Early if Not Elegant (B), is just above the industry average. Cisco Andiamo needs to redesign the compensation structure and incentives to increase the revenue per employees. Some of the steps that it can take are – hiring more specialists on project basis, etc.
Slow to strategic competitive environment developments
– As Cisco: Early if Not Elegant (B) HBR case study mentions - Cisco Andiamo 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.
Workers concerns about automation
– As automation is fast increasing in the segment, Cisco Andiamo 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, Cisco Andiamo 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.
Lack of clear differentiation of Cisco Andiamo products
– To increase the profitability and margins on the products, Cisco Andiamo needs to provide more differentiated products than what it is currently offering in the marketplace.
Employees’ incomplete understanding of strategy
– From the instances in the HBR case study Cisco: Early if Not Elegant (B), it seems that the employees of Cisco Andiamo 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 operating costs
– Compare to the competitors, firm in the HBR case study Cisco: Early if Not Elegant (B) 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 Cisco Andiamo 's lucrative customers.
Opportunities Cisco: Early if Not Elegant (B) | 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 Cisco: Early if Not Elegant (B) are -
Loyalty marketing
– Cisco Andiamo 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.
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– Cisco Andiamo 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 Cisco: Early if Not Elegant (B) - to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Cisco Andiamo to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
Better consumer reach
– The expansion of the 5G network will help Cisco Andiamo to increase its market reach. Cisco Andiamo 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.
Low interest rates
– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Cisco Andiamo 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.
Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains
– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Cisco Andiamo 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, Cisco: Early if Not Elegant (B), to buy more products closer to the markets, and it can leverage its size and influence to get better deal from the local markets.
Finding new ways to collaborate
– Covid-19 has not only transformed business models of companies in Finance & Accounting industry, but it has also influenced the consumer preferences. Cisco Andiamo can tie-up with other value chain partners to explore new opportunities regarding meeting customer demands and building a rewarding and engaging relationship.
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Cisco Andiamo has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Cisco Andiamo to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the Cisco: Early if Not Elegant (B) case study. Cisco Andiamo can build new products and services such as - data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
Buying journey improvements
– Cisco Andiamo can improve the customer journey of consumers in the industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. Cisco: Early if Not Elegant (B) 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.
Manufacturing automation
– Cisco Andiamo can use the latest technology developments to improve its manufacturing and designing process in Finance & Accounting 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.
Learning at scale
– Online learning technologies has now opened space for Cisco Andiamo 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.
Developing new processes and practices
– Cisco Andiamo can develop new processes and procedures in Finance & Accounting 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.
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. Cisco Andiamo 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, Cisco Andiamo can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Cisco Andiamo operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Finance & Accounting sector.
Threats Cisco: Early if Not Elegant (B) External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Cisco: Early if Not Elegant (B) are -
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. Cisco Andiamo needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Finance & Accounting industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
Consumer confidence and its impact on Cisco Andiamo 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.
Environmental challenges
– Cisco Andiamo 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. Cisco Andiamo can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Finance & Accounting industry.
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry in the industry are lowering. It can presents Cisco Andiamo with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the sector.
Increasing wage structure of Cisco Andiamo
– 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 Cisco Andiamo.
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, as highlighted in case study Cisco: Early if Not Elegant (B), Cisco Andiamo may face longer learning curve for training and development of existing employees. This can open space for more nimble competitors in the field of Finance & Accounting .
High dependence on third party suppliers
– Cisco Andiamo 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.
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Cisco Andiamo in the Finance & Accounting industry. The Finance & Accounting 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 Cisco Andiamo in the Finance & Accounting sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Cisco Andiamo has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Finance & Accounting industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Cisco Andiamo needs to keep up with the evolution of technology in the Finance & Accounting 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.
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 international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Cisco Andiamo 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 Cisco: Early if Not Elegant (B) .
Easy access to finance
– Easy access to finance in Finance & Accounting field will also reduce the barriers to entry in the industry, thus putting downward pressure on the prices because of increasing competition. Cisco Andiamo can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Cisco: Early if Not Elegant (B) 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 Cisco: Early if Not Elegant (B) 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 Cisco: Early if Not Elegant (B) 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 Cisco: Early if Not Elegant (B) 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 Cisco: Early if Not Elegant (B) 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 Cisco Andiamo needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.
