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The Age of the Consumer-Innovator SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis

Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution

Case Study Description of The Age of the Consumer-Innovator


This is an MIT Sloan Management Review article. It has long been assumed that companies develop new products for consumers, while consumers are passive recipients -buying and consuming what producers create. However, this paradigm is fundamentally flawed, because consumers themselves are a major source of product innovations. The authors have framed a new innovation paradigm, in which consumers and users play a central and active role in developing products on their own. In this article, they summarize key findings from studies on consumer product innovation conducted in the United States, the United Kingdom and Japan. The authors describe three phases in the new innovation paradigm. Initially, markets for products and services with novel functionality are both small and uncertain, with consumers pioneering really new products (for example, the skateboard) for themselves. In the second phase, other consumers become interested in the new products. In the third phase, producer companies decide if the information on the design and function of the new product, and the projected market, are consistent with their risk profiles. The implications are significant for both consumers and producers, the authors note. Consumer innovators should realize that they play important roles in developing novel products and services. Businesses, for their part, need to think about how they can reorganize their product development systems to take advantage of prototypes developed by users. By focusing on product concepts that consumers have already prototyped and tested, companies can save money and improve their success ratios.

Authors :: Eric von Hippel, Susumu Ogawa, Jeroen P.J. de Jong

Topics :: Strategy & Execution

Tags :: Sustainability, SWOT Analysis, SWOT Matrix, TOWS, Weighted SWOT Analysis

Swot Analysis of "The Age of the Consumer-Innovator" written by Eric von Hippel, Susumu Ogawa, Jeroen P.J. de Jong includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Consumers Paradigm facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in The Age of the Consumer-Innovator case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Sustainability and Strategy & Execution.


Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the The Age of the Consumer-Innovator casestudy better are - – technology disruption, there is increasing trade war between United States & China, increasing energy prices, wage bills are increasing, cloud computing is disrupting traditional business models, competitive advantages are harder to sustain because of technology dispersion, digital marketing is dominated by two big players Facebook and Google, increasing government debt because of Covid-19 spendings, central banks are concerned over increasing inflation, etc



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Introduction to SWOT Analysis of The Age of the Consumer-Innovator


SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in The Age of the Consumer-Innovator case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Consumers Paradigm, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Consumers Paradigm 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 The Age of the Consumer-Innovator can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in The Age of the Consumer-Innovator case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Consumers Paradigm
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 Consumers Paradigm




Strengths The Age of the Consumer-Innovator | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis

The strengths of Consumers Paradigm in The Age of the Consumer-Innovator Harvard Business Review case study are -

Successful track record of launching new products

– Consumers Paradigm has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Consumers Paradigm 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.

Analytics focus

– Consumers Paradigm 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 Eric von Hippel, Susumu Ogawa, Jeroen P.J. de Jong 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.

Sustainable margins compare to other players in Strategy & Execution industry

– The Age of the Consumer-Innovator firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Consumers Paradigm to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Strategy & Execution industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Consumers Paradigm to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.

Training and development

– Consumers Paradigm has one of the best training and development program in the industry. The effectiveness of the training programs can be measured in The Age of the Consumer-Innovator 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.

Ability to recruit top talent

– Consumers Paradigm is one of the leading recruiters in the industry. Managers in the The Age of the Consumer-Innovator are in a position to attract the best talent available. The firm has a robust talent identification program that helps in identifying the brightest.

Digital Transformation in Strategy & Execution segment

- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For Consumers Paradigm digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Consumers Paradigm 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.

Operational resilience

– The operational resilience strategy in the The Age of the Consumer-Innovator 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 Consumers Paradigm in the segment is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.

Strong track record of project management

– Consumers Paradigm is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.

Diverse revenue streams

– Consumers Paradigm is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided firm in The Age of the Consumer-Innovator 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.

Organizational Resilience of Consumers Paradigm

– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing that Consumers Paradigm does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.

Ability to lead change in Strategy & Execution field

– Consumers Paradigm is one of the leading players in its industry. Over the years it has not only transformed the business landscape in its segment but also across the whole industry. The ability to lead change has enabled Consumers Paradigm in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.






Weaknesses The Age of the Consumer-Innovator | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis

The weaknesses of The Age of the Consumer-Innovator are -

High operating costs

– Compare to the competitors, firm in the HBR case study The Age of the Consumer-Innovator 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 Consumers Paradigm 's lucrative customers.

Need for greater diversity

– Consumers Paradigm 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 cash cycle compare to competitors

Consumers Paradigm 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.

Low market penetration in new markets

– Outside its home market of Consumers Paradigm, firm in the HBR case study The Age of the Consumer-Innovator needs to spend more promotional, marketing, and advertising efforts to penetrate international markets.

Interest costs

– Compare to the competition, Consumers Paradigm 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 The Age of the Consumer-Innovator 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 The Age of the Consumer-Innovator can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Consumers Paradigm is planning to shift buying processes online.

Increasing silos among functional specialists

– The organizational structure of Consumers Paradigm is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Strategy & Execution segment. Consumers Paradigm needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Consumers Paradigm to focus more on services rather than just following the product oriented approach.

High dependence on star products

– The top 2 products and services of the firm as mentioned in the The Age of the Consumer-Innovator 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 Consumers Paradigm has relatively successful track record of launching new products.

Skills based hiring

– The stress on hiring functional specialists at Consumers Paradigm 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.

Ability to respond to the competition

– As the decision making is very deliberative, highlighted in the case study The Age of the Consumer-Innovator, in the dynamic environment Consumers Paradigm has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. Consumers Paradigm has reasonably good record with similar level competitors but it has struggled with new entrants taking away niches of its business.

No frontier risks strategy

– After analyzing the HBR case study The Age of the Consumer-Innovator, 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.




Opportunities The Age of the Consumer-Innovator | 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 The Age of the Consumer-Innovator are -

Lowering marketing communication costs

– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Consumers Paradigm in the field of marketing communication. It will bring down the cost of doing business, provide technology platform to build new products in the Strategy & Execution segment, and it will provide faster access to the consumers.

Reforming the budgeting process

- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects Consumers Paradigm can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.

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. Consumers Paradigm 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. Consumers Paradigm 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

– Consumers Paradigm 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 The Age of the Consumer-Innovator - to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Consumers Paradigm to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.

Increase in government spending

– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Consumers Paradigm can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Consumers Paradigm operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Strategy & Execution sector.

Developing new processes and practices

– Consumers Paradigm 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

– Consumers Paradigm 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.

Use of Bitcoin and other crypto currencies for transactions

– The popularity of Bitcoin and other crypto currencies as asset class and medium of transaction has opened new opportunities for Consumers Paradigm in the consumer business. Now Consumers Paradigm can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.

Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains

– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Consumers Paradigm 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, The Age of the Consumer-Innovator, to buy more products closer to the markets, and it can leverage its size and influence to get better deal from the local markets.

Learning at scale

– Online learning technologies has now opened space for Consumers Paradigm 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.

Low interest rates

– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Consumers Paradigm 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.

Creating value in data economy

– The success of analytics program of Consumers Paradigm has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Consumers Paradigm to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the The Age of the Consumer-Innovator case study. Consumers Paradigm can build new products and services such as - data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.

Building a culture of innovation

– managers at Consumers Paradigm can make experimentation a productive activity and build a culture of innovation using approaches such as – mining transaction data, A/B testing of websites and selling platforms, engaging potential customers over various needs, and building on small ideas in the Strategy & Execution segment.




Threats The Age of the Consumer-Innovator External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis


The threats mentioned in the HBR case study The Age of the Consumer-Innovator are -

Barriers of entry lowering

– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry in the industry are lowering. It can presents Consumers Paradigm with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the sector.

Trade war between China and United States

– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Consumers Paradigm 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.

Increasing wage structure of Consumers Paradigm

– 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 Consumers Paradigm.

Regulatory challenges

– Consumers Paradigm 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.

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.

Consumer confidence and its impact on Consumers Paradigm 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.

Stagnating economy with rate increase

– Consumers Paradigm 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.

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 Consumers Paradigm in the Strategy & Execution sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.

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 Consumers Paradigm.

Environmental challenges

– Consumers Paradigm 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. Consumers Paradigm can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Strategy & Execution industry.

Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins

– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Consumers Paradigm 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 The Age of the Consumer-Innovator .

Learning curve for new practices

– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, as highlighted in case study The Age of the Consumer-Innovator, Consumers Paradigm 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 .

Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution

– Consumers Paradigm has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Strategy & Execution industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Consumers Paradigm 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 The Age of the Consumer-Innovator 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 The Age of the Consumer-Innovator 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 The Age of the Consumer-Innovator 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 The Age of the Consumer-Innovator 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 The Age of the Consumer-Innovator 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 Consumers Paradigm needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.



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