Swot Analysis of "Polaroid-Kodak (B5)" written by Michael E. Porter includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that B5 Polaroid facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Polaroid-Kodak (B5) case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Intellectual property, Marketing, Product development, Strategic planning and Strategy & Execution.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Polaroid-Kodak (B5) casestudy better are - – customer relationship management is fast transforming because of increasing concerns over data privacy, central banks are concerned over increasing inflation, challanges to central banks by blockchain based private currencies, increasing commodity prices, cloud computing is disrupting traditional business models, increasing government debt because of Covid-19 spendings, digital marketing is dominated by two big players Facebook and Google,
technology disruption, increasing transportation and logistics costs, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Polaroid-Kodak (B5)
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Polaroid-Kodak (B5) case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the B5 Polaroid, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which B5 Polaroid 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 Polaroid-Kodak (B5) can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Polaroid-Kodak (B5) case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of B5 Polaroid
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 B5 Polaroid
Strengths Polaroid-Kodak (B5) | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of B5 Polaroid in Polaroid-Kodak (B5) Harvard Business Review case study are -
Effective Research and Development (R&D)
– B5 Polaroid 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 Polaroid-Kodak (B5) - staying ahead in the industry in terms of – new product launches, superior customer experience, highly competitive pricing strategies, and great returns to the shareholders.
Diverse revenue streams
– B5 Polaroid is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided firm in Polaroid-Kodak (B5) 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.
Highly skilled collaborators
– B5 Polaroid 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 Polaroid-Kodak (B5) HBR case study have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
Ability to lead change in Strategy & Execution field
– B5 Polaroid 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 B5 Polaroid in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of B5 Polaroid in the sector have low bargaining power. Polaroid-Kodak (B5) has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps B5 Polaroid to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
Ability to recruit top talent
– B5 Polaroid is one of the leading recruiters in the industry. Managers in the Polaroid-Kodak (B5) are in a position to attract the best talent available. The firm has a robust talent identification program that helps in identifying the brightest.
Operational resilience
– The operational resilience strategy in the Polaroid-Kodak (B5) 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.
Successful track record of launching new products
– B5 Polaroid has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. B5 Polaroid 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.
Digital Transformation in Strategy & Execution segment
- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For B5 Polaroid digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. B5 Polaroid 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.
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Strategy & Execution industry
– Polaroid-Kodak (B5) firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled B5 Polaroid to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Strategy & Execution industry. The sustainable margins have also helped B5 Polaroid to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Cross disciplinary teams
– Horizontal connected teams at the B5 Polaroid 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.
High brand equity
– B5 Polaroid has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled B5 Polaroid to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Weaknesses Polaroid-Kodak (B5) | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Polaroid-Kodak (B5) are -
Interest costs
– Compare to the competition, B5 Polaroid 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.
Slow to strategic competitive environment developments
– As Polaroid-Kodak (B5) HBR case study mentions - B5 Polaroid 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 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 B5 Polaroid supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes mentioned in the HBR case study - Polaroid-Kodak (B5), it is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left B5 Polaroid vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.
Capital Spending Reduction
– Even during the low interest decade, B5 Polaroid 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.
High dependence on star products
– The top 2 products and services of the firm as mentioned in the Polaroid-Kodak (B5) 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 B5 Polaroid has relatively successful track record of launching new products.
Skills based hiring
– The stress on hiring functional specialists at B5 Polaroid 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 Polaroid-Kodak (B5), in the dynamic environment B5 Polaroid has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. B5 Polaroid has reasonably good record with similar level competitors but it has struggled with new entrants taking away niches of its business.
High bargaining power of channel partners
– Because of the regulatory requirements, Michael E. Porter suggests that, B5 Polaroid 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.
Low market penetration in new markets
– Outside its home market of B5 Polaroid, firm in the HBR case study Polaroid-Kodak (B5) needs to spend more promotional, marketing, and advertising efforts to penetrate international markets.
High cash cycle compare to competitors
B5 Polaroid 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.
Employees’ incomplete understanding of strategy
– From the instances in the HBR case study Polaroid-Kodak (B5), it seems that the employees of B5 Polaroid 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.
Opportunities Polaroid-Kodak (B5) | 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 Polaroid-Kodak (B5) are -
Low interest rates
– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, B5 Polaroid 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.
Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities
– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for B5 Polaroid 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 B5 Polaroid to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of B5 Polaroid has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help B5 Polaroid to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the Polaroid-Kodak (B5) case study. B5 Polaroid can build new products and services such as - data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– B5 Polaroid 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 Polaroid-Kodak (B5) - to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help B5 Polaroid 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 B5 Polaroid to increase its market reach. B5 Polaroid 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.
Learning at scale
– Online learning technologies has now opened space for B5 Polaroid 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.
Increase in government spending
– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, B5 Polaroid can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that B5 Polaroid operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Strategy & Execution sector.
Loyalty marketing
– B5 Polaroid 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.
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 B5 Polaroid in the consumer business. Now B5 Polaroid can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.
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. B5 Polaroid can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.
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 B5 Polaroid 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.
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. B5 Polaroid 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. B5 Polaroid 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.
Lowering marketing communication costs
– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for B5 Polaroid 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.
Threats Polaroid-Kodak (B5) External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Polaroid-Kodak (B5) are -
High dependence on third party suppliers
– B5 Polaroid 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.
Increasing wage structure of B5 Polaroid
– 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 B5 Polaroid.
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, as highlighted in case study Polaroid-Kodak (B5), B5 Polaroid 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 .
Consumer confidence and its impact on B5 Polaroid 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.
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. B5 Polaroid 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.
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 B5 Polaroid business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
Regulatory challenges
– B5 Polaroid 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.
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for B5 Polaroid 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.
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry in the industry are lowering. It can presents B5 Polaroid with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the sector.
Environmental challenges
– B5 Polaroid 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. B5 Polaroid 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, B5 Polaroid 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 Polaroid-Kodak (B5) .
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 B5 Polaroid in the Strategy & Execution sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Polaroid-Kodak (B5) 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 Polaroid-Kodak (B5) 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 Polaroid-Kodak (B5) 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 Polaroid-Kodak (B5) 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 Polaroid-Kodak (B5) 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 B5 Polaroid needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.
