In the Company of Spies: When Competitive Intelligence Gathering Becomes Industrial Espionage SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
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Case Study Description of In the Company of Spies: When Competitive Intelligence Gathering Becomes Industrial Espionage
At what point does legitimate competitive intelligence gathering cross the line into industrial espionage, and what is it about certain intelligence-gathering practices that opens them up to criticism? Examines three recent cases of industrial espionage, involving major multinationals such as Procter & Gamble, Unilever, Canal Plus, and Ericsson. The argument is made that, from an ethical point of view, industrial espionage can be assessed according to three main considerations: the tactics used in the acquisition of information, the privacy of the information concerned, and the consequences for the public interest as a result of the deployment of the information by the intelligence gatherer.
Swot Analysis of "In the Company of Spies: When Competitive Intelligence Gathering Becomes Industrial Espionage" written by Andrew Crane includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Espionage Intelligence facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in In the Company of Spies: When Competitive Intelligence Gathering Becomes Industrial Espionage case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Market research, Security & privacy and Strategy & Execution.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the In the Company of Spies: When Competitive Intelligence Gathering Becomes Industrial Espionage casestudy better are - – increasing inequality as vast percentage of new income is going to the top 1%, increasing energy prices, customer relationship management is fast transforming because of increasing concerns over data privacy, cloud computing is disrupting traditional business models, there is increasing trade war between United States & China, banking and financial system is disrupted by Bitcoin and other crypto currencies, geopolitical disruptions,
digital marketing is dominated by two big players Facebook and Google, central banks are concerned over increasing inflation, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of In the Company of Spies: When Competitive Intelligence Gathering Becomes Industrial Espionage
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in In the Company of Spies: When Competitive Intelligence Gathering Becomes Industrial Espionage case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Espionage Intelligence, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Espionage Intelligence 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 In the Company of Spies: When Competitive Intelligence Gathering Becomes Industrial Espionage can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in In the Company of Spies: When Competitive Intelligence Gathering Becomes Industrial Espionage case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Espionage Intelligence
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 Espionage Intelligence
Strengths In the Company of Spies: When Competitive Intelligence Gathering Becomes Industrial Espionage | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Espionage Intelligence in In the Company of Spies: When Competitive Intelligence Gathering Becomes Industrial Espionage Harvard Business Review case study are -
Highly skilled collaborators
– Espionage Intelligence 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 In the Company of Spies: When Competitive Intelligence Gathering Becomes Industrial Espionage HBR case study have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
Superior customer experience
– The customer experience strategy of Espionage Intelligence in the segment is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.
Ability to recruit top talent
– Espionage Intelligence is one of the leading recruiters in the industry. Managers in the In the Company of Spies: When Competitive Intelligence Gathering Becomes Industrial Espionage are in a position to attract the best talent available. The firm has a robust talent identification program that helps in identifying the brightest.
Cross disciplinary teams
– Horizontal connected teams at the Espionage Intelligence 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.
Learning organization
- Espionage Intelligence 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 Espionage Intelligence is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders in In the Company of Spies: When Competitive Intelligence Gathering Becomes Industrial Espionage Harvard Business Review case study emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
Training and development
– Espionage Intelligence has one of the best training and development program in the industry. The effectiveness of the training programs can be measured in In the Company of Spies: When Competitive Intelligence Gathering Becomes Industrial Espionage 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 lead change in Strategy & Execution field
– Espionage Intelligence 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 Espionage Intelligence in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.
Effective Research and Development (R&D)
– Espionage Intelligence 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 In the Company of Spies: When Competitive Intelligence Gathering Becomes Industrial Espionage - staying ahead in the industry in terms of – new product launches, superior customer experience, highly competitive pricing strategies, and great returns to the shareholders.
High switching costs
– The high switching costs that Espionage Intelligence 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.
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Strategy & Execution industry
– In the Company of Spies: When Competitive Intelligence Gathering Becomes Industrial Espionage firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Espionage Intelligence to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Strategy & Execution industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Espionage Intelligence to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of Espionage Intelligence in the sector have low bargaining power. In the Company of Spies: When Competitive Intelligence Gathering Becomes Industrial Espionage has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Espionage Intelligence to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
Organizational Resilience of Espionage Intelligence
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing that Espionage Intelligence does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
Weaknesses In the Company of Spies: When Competitive Intelligence Gathering Becomes Industrial Espionage | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of In the Company of Spies: When Competitive Intelligence Gathering Becomes Industrial Espionage are -
Slow decision making process
– As mentioned earlier in the report, Espionage Intelligence 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. Espionage Intelligence 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.
Employees’ incomplete understanding of strategy
– From the instances in the HBR case study In the Company of Spies: When Competitive Intelligence Gathering Becomes Industrial Espionage, it seems that the employees of Espionage Intelligence 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.
Compensation and incentives
– The revenue per employee as mentioned in the HBR case study In the Company of Spies: When Competitive Intelligence Gathering Becomes Industrial Espionage, is just above the industry average. Espionage Intelligence 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.
No frontier risks strategy
– After analyzing the HBR case study In the Company of Spies: When Competitive Intelligence Gathering Becomes Industrial Espionage, 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.
Slow to strategic competitive environment developments
– As In the Company of Spies: When Competitive Intelligence Gathering Becomes Industrial Espionage HBR case study mentions - Espionage Intelligence 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, Espionage Intelligence 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 harness new channels of communication
– Even though competitors are using new communication channels such as Instagram, Tiktok, and Snap, Espionage Intelligence is slow explore the new channels of communication. These new channels of communication mentioned in marketing section of case study In the Company of Spies: When Competitive Intelligence Gathering Becomes Industrial Espionage can help to provide better information regarding products and services. It can also build an online community to further reach out to potential customers.
High bargaining power of channel partners
– Because of the regulatory requirements, Andrew Crane suggests that, Espionage Intelligence 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.
Skills based hiring
– The stress on hiring functional specialists at Espionage Intelligence 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.
Aligning sales with marketing
– It come across in the case study In the Company of Spies: When Competitive Intelligence Gathering Becomes Industrial Espionage 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 In the Company of Spies: When Competitive Intelligence Gathering Becomes Industrial Espionage can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Espionage Intelligence is planning to shift buying processes online.
Increasing silos among functional specialists
– The organizational structure of Espionage Intelligence is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Strategy & Execution segment. Espionage Intelligence needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Espionage Intelligence to focus more on services rather than just following the product oriented approach.
Opportunities In the Company of Spies: When Competitive Intelligence Gathering Becomes Industrial Espionage | 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 In the Company of Spies: When Competitive Intelligence Gathering Becomes Industrial Espionage are -
Leveraging digital technologies
– Espionage Intelligence 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.
Low interest rates
– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Espionage Intelligence 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.
Learning at scale
– Online learning technologies has now opened space for Espionage Intelligence 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.
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 Espionage Intelligence 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.
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Espionage Intelligence has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Espionage Intelligence to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the In the Company of Spies: When Competitive Intelligence Gathering Becomes Industrial Espionage case study. Espionage Intelligence can build new products and services such as - data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
Developing new processes and practices
– Espionage Intelligence 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.
Buying journey improvements
– Espionage Intelligence can improve the customer journey of consumers in the industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. In the Company of Spies: When Competitive Intelligence Gathering Becomes Industrial Espionage 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.
Better consumer reach
– The expansion of the 5G network will help Espionage Intelligence to increase its market reach. Espionage Intelligence 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.
Reforming the budgeting process
- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects Espionage Intelligence can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.
Increase in government spending
– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Espionage Intelligence can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Espionage Intelligence operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Strategy & Execution sector.
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– Espionage Intelligence 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 In the Company of Spies: When Competitive Intelligence Gathering Becomes Industrial Espionage - to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Espionage Intelligence to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
Redefining models of collaboration and team work
– As explained in the weaknesses section, Espionage Intelligence is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. In the Company of Spies: When Competitive Intelligence Gathering Becomes Industrial Espionage 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. Espionage Intelligence 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. Espionage Intelligence 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.
Threats In the Company of Spies: When Competitive Intelligence Gathering Becomes Industrial Espionage External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study In the Company of Spies: When Competitive Intelligence Gathering Becomes Industrial Espionage are -
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Espionage Intelligence has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Strategy & Execution industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Espionage Intelligence 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.
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. Espionage Intelligence can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
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 Espionage Intelligence.
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 Espionage Intelligence in the Strategy & Execution sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
Increasing wage structure of Espionage Intelligence
– 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 Espionage Intelligence.
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. Espionage Intelligence 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.
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. Espionage Intelligence 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 Espionage Intelligence business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
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 Espionage Intelligence 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.
Technology disruption because of hacks, piracy etc
– The colonial pipeline illustrated, how vulnerable modern organization are to international hackers, miscreants, and disruptors. The cyber security interruption, data leaks, etc can seriously jeopardize the future growth of the organization.
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Espionage Intelligence 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.
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Espionage Intelligence is facing in Strategy & Execution sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of In the Company of Spies: When Competitive Intelligence Gathering Becomes Industrial Espionage 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 In the Company of Spies: When Competitive Intelligence Gathering Becomes Industrial Espionage 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 In the Company of Spies: When Competitive Intelligence Gathering Becomes Industrial Espionage 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 In the Company of Spies: When Competitive Intelligence Gathering Becomes Industrial Espionage 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 In the Company of Spies: When Competitive Intelligence Gathering Becomes Industrial Espionage 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 Espionage Intelligence needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.
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