Case Study Description of Trade secrets: Managerial guidance for competitive advantage
While scholars have explored the construct and ramifications of intellectual property, most research efforts have focused on patents as a means of protecting a firm's intellectual capital. Yet Hemphill (2004) suggested that trade secrets can affect the difference between economic success and failure of the firm. When trade secrets are discussed, there is a tendency to focus on the more famous secrets that have received considerable hype in the popular press (e.g., Coca-Cola, KFC, McDonald's). To address this shortage of trade secrets storytelling, the research reported here engaged in a historiographic approach to capturing and compiling an in-depth look at various company trade secrets and elaborating on the strategic intent behind many of the secrecy efforts. Product and process secrets were seen to be used to develop positive brand perceptions, establish consistent brand purchasing, aid in distinguishing products and services from competitive offerings, and build market share. We suggest that managers should regularly assess which assets are suitable for patent, product design, trademark, copyright, or trade secret status and work diligently to protect the firm's intangible assets.
Authors :: William F. Crittenden, Victoria L. Crittenden, Allison Pierpont
Swot Analysis of "Trade secrets: Managerial guidance for competitive advantage" written by William F. Crittenden, Victoria L. Crittenden, Allison Pierpont includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Secrets Trade facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Trade secrets: Managerial guidance for competitive advantage case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Intellectual property, Strategy and Strategy & Execution.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Trade secrets: Managerial guidance for competitive advantage casestudy better are - – increasing energy prices, technology disruption, challanges to central banks by blockchain based private currencies, cloud computing is disrupting traditional business models, increasing government debt because of Covid-19 spendings, increasing inequality as vast percentage of new income is going to the top 1%, digital marketing is dominated by two big players Facebook and Google,
there is increasing trade war between United States & China, customer relationship management is fast transforming because of increasing concerns over data privacy, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Trade secrets: Managerial guidance for competitive advantage
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Trade secrets: Managerial guidance for competitive advantage case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Secrets Trade, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Secrets Trade 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 Trade secrets: Managerial guidance for competitive advantage can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Trade secrets: Managerial guidance for competitive advantage case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Secrets Trade
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 Secrets Trade
Strengths Trade secrets: Managerial guidance for competitive advantage | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Secrets Trade in Trade secrets: Managerial guidance for competitive advantage Harvard Business Review case study are -
Training and development
– Secrets Trade has one of the best training and development program in the industry. The effectiveness of the training programs can be measured in Trade secrets: Managerial guidance for competitive advantage 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.
Analytics focus
– Secrets Trade 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 William F. Crittenden, Victoria L. Crittenden, Allison Pierpont 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.
High switching costs
– The high switching costs that Secrets Trade 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.
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of Secrets Trade in the sector have low bargaining power. Trade secrets: Managerial guidance for competitive advantage has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Secrets Trade to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Strategy & Execution industry
– Trade secrets: Managerial guidance for competitive advantage firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Secrets Trade to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Strategy & Execution industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Secrets Trade to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Organizational Resilience of Secrets Trade
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing that Secrets Trade does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
Effective Research and Development (R&D)
– Secrets Trade 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 Trade secrets: Managerial guidance for competitive advantage - 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 Trade secrets: Managerial guidance for competitive advantage 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 Secrets Trade digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Secrets Trade 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.
Innovation driven organization
– Secrets Trade is one of the most innovative firm in sector. Manager in Trade secrets: Managerial guidance for competitive advantage Harvard Business Review case study can use Clayton Christensen Disruptive Innovation strategies to further increase the scale of innovtions in the organization.
Superior customer experience
– The customer experience strategy of Secrets Trade in the segment is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.
Highly skilled collaborators
– Secrets Trade 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 Trade secrets: Managerial guidance for competitive advantage HBR case study have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
Weaknesses Trade secrets: Managerial guidance for competitive advantage | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Trade secrets: Managerial guidance for competitive advantage are -
Slow to strategic competitive environment developments
– As Trade secrets: Managerial guidance for competitive advantage HBR case study mentions - Secrets Trade 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.
Interest costs
– Compare to the competition, Secrets Trade 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.
Aligning sales with marketing
– It come across in the case study Trade secrets: Managerial guidance for competitive advantage 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 Trade secrets: Managerial guidance for competitive advantage can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Secrets Trade is planning to shift buying processes online.
Workers concerns about automation
– As automation is fast increasing in the segment, Secrets Trade 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.
High operating costs
– Compare to the competitors, firm in the HBR case study Trade secrets: Managerial guidance for competitive advantage 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 Secrets Trade 's lucrative customers.
No frontier risks strategy
– After analyzing the HBR case study Trade secrets: Managerial guidance for competitive advantage, 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 Secrets Trade, firm in the HBR case study Trade secrets: Managerial guidance for competitive advantage needs to spend more promotional, marketing, and advertising efforts to penetrate international markets.
Slow decision making process
– As mentioned earlier in the report, Secrets Trade 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. Secrets Trade 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.
Compensation and incentives
– The revenue per employee as mentioned in the HBR case study Trade secrets: Managerial guidance for competitive advantage, is just above the industry average. Secrets Trade 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.
Need for greater diversity
– Secrets Trade 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.
Ability to respond to the competition
– As the decision making is very deliberative, highlighted in the case study Trade secrets: Managerial guidance for competitive advantage, in the dynamic environment Secrets Trade has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. Secrets Trade has reasonably good record with similar level competitors but it has struggled with new entrants taking away niches of its business.
Opportunities Trade secrets: Managerial guidance for competitive advantage | 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 Trade secrets: Managerial guidance for competitive advantage are -
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Secrets Trade has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Secrets Trade to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the Trade secrets: Managerial guidance for competitive advantage case study. Secrets Trade can build new products and services such as - data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains
– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Secrets Trade 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, Trade secrets: Managerial guidance for competitive advantage, to buy more products closer to the markets, and it can leverage its size and influence to get better deal from the local markets.
Low interest rates
– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Secrets Trade 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.
Better consumer reach
– The expansion of the 5G network will help Secrets Trade to increase its market reach. Secrets Trade 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.
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. Secrets Trade can tie-up with other value chain partners to explore new opportunities regarding meeting customer demands and building a rewarding and engaging relationship.
Reconfiguring business model
– The expansion of digital payment system, the bringing down of international transactions costs using Bitcoin and other blockchain based currencies, etc can help Secrets Trade to reconfigure its entire business model. For example it can used blockchain based technologies to reduce piracy of its products in the big markets such as China. Secondly it can use the popularity of e-commerce in various developing markets to build a Direct to Customer business model rather than the current Channel Heavy distribution network.
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. Secrets Trade can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.
Buying journey improvements
– Secrets Trade can improve the customer journey of consumers in the industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. Trade secrets: Managerial guidance for competitive advantage 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.
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. Secrets Trade 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. Secrets Trade 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.
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– Secrets Trade 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 Trade secrets: Managerial guidance for competitive advantage - to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Secrets Trade to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
Developing new processes and practices
– Secrets Trade 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.
Learning at scale
– Online learning technologies has now opened space for Secrets Trade 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.
Redefining models of collaboration and team work
– As explained in the weaknesses section, Secrets Trade is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. Trade secrets: Managerial guidance for competitive advantage 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.
Threats Trade secrets: Managerial guidance for competitive advantage External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Trade secrets: Managerial guidance for competitive advantage are -
Consumer confidence and its impact on Secrets Trade 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.
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 Secrets Trade business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Secrets Trade is facing in Strategy & Execution sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.
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 Secrets Trade.
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Secrets Trade 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.
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry in the industry are lowering. It can presents Secrets Trade 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
– Secrets Trade has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Strategy & Execution industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Secrets Trade 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
– Secrets Trade 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.
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. Secrets Trade 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.
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. Secrets Trade can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
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. Secrets Trade needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Strategy & Execution industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
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.
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 Secrets Trade in the Strategy & Execution sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Trade secrets: Managerial guidance for competitive advantage 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 Trade secrets: Managerial guidance for competitive advantage 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 Trade secrets: Managerial guidance for competitive advantage 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 Trade secrets: Managerial guidance for competitive advantage 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 Trade secrets: Managerial guidance for competitive advantage 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 Secrets Trade needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.