EDevice: Choosing the Right Growth Strategy (A) SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Strategy & Execution
Strategy / MBA Resources
Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of EDevice: Choosing the Right Growth Strategy (A)
When eDevice was officially founded in October 1999, it pioneered the Internet connection devices market. This young software company allowed customers to monitor all sorts of appliances via the Internet--24 hours a day, 7 days a week, and in any location. After landing eDevice's second-round funding, its CEO had come to a turning point in eDevice's strategy and he struggled with four choices. Would eDevice succeed in leading its market and sustaining its growth to go public by the end of 2004?
Swot Analysis of "EDevice: Choosing the Right Growth Strategy (A)" written by Jacques Horovitz, Carole Low includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Edevice Edevice's facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in EDevice: Choosing the Right Growth Strategy (A) case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Growth strategy, Internet and Strategy & Execution.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the EDevice: Choosing the Right Growth Strategy (A) casestudy better are - – supply chains are disrupted by pandemic , increasing household debt because of falling income levels, increasing transportation and logistics costs, competitive advantages are harder to sustain because of technology dispersion, increasing government debt because of Covid-19 spendings, wage bills are increasing, geopolitical disruptions,
digital marketing is dominated by two big players Facebook and Google, increasing commodity prices, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of EDevice: Choosing the Right Growth Strategy (A)
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in EDevice: Choosing the Right Growth Strategy (A) case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Edevice Edevice's, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Edevice Edevice's 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 EDevice: Choosing the Right Growth Strategy (A) can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in EDevice: Choosing the Right Growth Strategy (A) case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Edevice Edevice's
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 Edevice Edevice's
Strengths EDevice: Choosing the Right Growth Strategy (A) | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Edevice Edevice's in EDevice: Choosing the Right Growth Strategy (A) Harvard Business Review case study are -
Cross disciplinary teams
– Horizontal connected teams at the Edevice Edevice's 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.
Effective Research and Development (R&D)
– Edevice Edevice's 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 EDevice: Choosing the Right Growth Strategy (A) - staying ahead in the industry in terms of – new product launches, superior customer experience, highly competitive pricing strategies, and great returns to the shareholders.
Successful track record of launching new products
– Edevice Edevice's has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Edevice Edevice's 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.
High brand equity
– Edevice Edevice's has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Edevice Edevice's to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Innovation driven organization
– Edevice Edevice's is one of the most innovative firm in sector. Manager in EDevice: Choosing the Right Growth Strategy (A) Harvard Business Review case study can use Clayton Christensen Disruptive Innovation strategies to further increase the scale of innovtions in the organization.
Learning organization
- Edevice Edevice's 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 Edevice Edevice's is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders in EDevice: Choosing the Right Growth Strategy (A) Harvard Business Review case study emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
Operational resilience
– The operational resilience strategy in the EDevice: Choosing the Right Growth Strategy (A) 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.
Digital Transformation in Strategy & Execution segment
- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For Edevice Edevice's digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Edevice Edevice's 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.
Highly skilled collaborators
– Edevice Edevice's 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 EDevice: Choosing the Right Growth Strategy (A) HBR case study have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of Edevice Edevice's in the sector have low bargaining power. EDevice: Choosing the Right Growth Strategy (A) has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Edevice Edevice's to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
Diverse revenue streams
– Edevice Edevice's is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided firm in EDevice: Choosing the Right Growth Strategy (A) 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.
Training and development
– Edevice Edevice's has one of the best training and development program in the industry. The effectiveness of the training programs can be measured in EDevice: Choosing the Right Growth Strategy (A) 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.
Weaknesses EDevice: Choosing the Right Growth Strategy (A) | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of EDevice: Choosing the Right Growth Strategy (A) are -
No frontier risks strategy
– After analyzing the HBR case study EDevice: Choosing the Right Growth Strategy (A), 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.
Skills based hiring
– The stress on hiring functional specialists at Edevice Edevice's 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, Edevice Edevice's 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. Edevice Edevice's 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.
High dependence on star products
– The top 2 products and services of the firm as mentioned in the EDevice: Choosing the Right Growth Strategy (A) 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 Edevice Edevice's has relatively successful track record of launching new products.
High bargaining power of channel partners
– Because of the regulatory requirements, Jacques Horovitz, Carole Low suggests that, Edevice Edevice's 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.
Need for greater diversity
– Edevice Edevice's 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.
High operating costs
– Compare to the competitors, firm in the HBR case study EDevice: Choosing the Right Growth Strategy (A) 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 Edevice Edevice's 's lucrative customers.
Ability to respond to the competition
– As the decision making is very deliberative, highlighted in the case study EDevice: Choosing the Right Growth Strategy (A), in the dynamic environment Edevice Edevice's has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. Edevice Edevice's has reasonably good record with similar level competitors but it has struggled with new entrants taking away niches of its business.
Slow to strategic competitive environment developments
– As EDevice: Choosing the Right Growth Strategy (A) HBR case study mentions - Edevice Edevice's 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.
High cash cycle compare to competitors
Edevice Edevice's 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.
Slow to harness new channels of communication
– Even though competitors are using new communication channels such as Instagram, Tiktok, and Snap, Edevice Edevice's is slow explore the new channels of communication. These new channels of communication mentioned in marketing section of case study EDevice: Choosing the Right Growth Strategy (A) can help to provide better information regarding products and services. It can also build an online community to further reach out to potential customers.
Opportunities EDevice: Choosing the Right Growth Strategy (A) | 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 EDevice: Choosing the Right Growth Strategy (A) are -
Redefining models of collaboration and team work
– As explained in the weaknesses section, Edevice Edevice's is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. EDevice: Choosing the Right Growth Strategy (A) 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.
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. Edevice Edevice's 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. Edevice Edevice's 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.
Low interest rates
– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Edevice Edevice's 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.
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. Edevice Edevice's can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.
Developing new processes and practices
– Edevice Edevice's 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.
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. Edevice Edevice's can tie-up with other value chain partners to explore new opportunities regarding meeting customer demands and building a rewarding and engaging relationship.
Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities
– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Edevice Edevice's 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 Edevice Edevice's to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
Increase in government spending
– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Edevice Edevice's can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Edevice Edevice's operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Strategy & Execution sector.
Manufacturing automation
– Edevice Edevice's 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.
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Edevice Edevice's has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Edevice Edevice's to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the EDevice: Choosing the Right Growth Strategy (A) case study. Edevice Edevice's can build new products and services such as - data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
Leveraging digital technologies
– Edevice Edevice's 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.
Learning at scale
– Online learning technologies has now opened space for Edevice Edevice's 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.
Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains
– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Edevice Edevice's 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, EDevice: Choosing the Right Growth Strategy (A), to buy more products closer to the markets, and it can leverage its size and influence to get better deal from the local markets.
Threats EDevice: Choosing the Right Growth Strategy (A) External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study EDevice: Choosing the Right Growth Strategy (A) are -
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 Edevice Edevice's in the Strategy & Execution sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
Consumer confidence and its impact on Edevice Edevice's 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.
High dependence on third party suppliers
– Edevice Edevice's 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.
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Edevice Edevice's is facing in Strategy & Execution sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, 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 EDevice: Choosing the Right Growth Strategy (A), Edevice Edevice's 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 .
Regulatory challenges
– Edevice Edevice's 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.
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Edevice Edevice's has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Strategy & Execution industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Edevice Edevice's 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.
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Edevice Edevice's 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.
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, Edevice Edevice's 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 EDevice: Choosing the Right Growth Strategy (A) .
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. Edevice Edevice's needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Strategy & Execution industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
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 Edevice Edevice's 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. Edevice Edevice's 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 EDevice: Choosing the Right Growth Strategy (A) 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 EDevice: Choosing the Right Growth Strategy (A) 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 EDevice: Choosing the Right Growth Strategy (A) 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 EDevice: Choosing the Right Growth Strategy (A) 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 EDevice: Choosing the Right Growth Strategy (A) 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 Edevice Edevice's needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.