Hive Lighting: The Green Solution for Hollywood? SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Strategy & Execution
Strategy / MBA Resources
Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of Hive Lighting: The Green Solution for Hollywood?
Environmentally friendly theatrical lighting company has to decide how much it should emphasize a green message vs. an efficiency and quality message. The founders must also determine if they want to move beyond their initial niche in set-lighting and enter gigantic segments such as stadium lighting. Hive is also considering a total sales and communications shutdown for 6 months to finalize its products, a move that could potentially cost it hard-earned momentum and recognition.
Authors :: Jeremy Dann, Helena Yli-Renko, Eric Kim
Swot Analysis of "Hive Lighting: The Green Solution for Hollywood?" written by Jeremy Dann, Helena Yli-Renko, Eric Kim includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Lighting Hive facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Hive Lighting: The Green Solution for Hollywood? case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Marketing, Product development and Strategy & Execution.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Hive Lighting: The Green Solution for Hollywood? casestudy better are - – cloud computing is disrupting traditional business models, increasing transportation and logistics costs, banking and financial system is disrupted by Bitcoin and other crypto currencies, increasing government debt because of Covid-19 spendings, increasing household debt because of falling income levels, competitive advantages are harder to sustain because of technology dispersion, there is backlash against globalization,
customer relationship management is fast transforming because of increasing concerns over data privacy, increasing energy prices, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Hive Lighting: The Green Solution for Hollywood?
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Hive Lighting: The Green Solution for Hollywood? case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Lighting Hive, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Lighting Hive 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 Hive Lighting: The Green Solution for Hollywood? can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Hive Lighting: The Green Solution for Hollywood? case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Lighting Hive
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 Lighting Hive
Strengths Hive Lighting: The Green Solution for Hollywood? | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Lighting Hive in Hive Lighting: The Green Solution for Hollywood? Harvard Business Review case study are -
Operational resilience
– The operational resilience strategy in the Hive Lighting: The Green Solution for Hollywood? 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 Lighting Hive in the segment is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Strategy & Execution industry
– Hive Lighting: The Green Solution for Hollywood? firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Lighting Hive to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Strategy & Execution industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Lighting Hive to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Analytics focus
– Lighting Hive 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 Jeremy Dann, Helena Yli-Renko, Eric Kim 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.
Cross disciplinary teams
– Horizontal connected teams at the Lighting Hive 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.
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of Lighting Hive in the sector have low bargaining power. Hive Lighting: The Green Solution for Hollywood? has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Lighting Hive to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
Successful track record of launching new products
– Lighting Hive has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Lighting Hive has effective processes in place that helps in exploring new product needs, doing quick pilot testing, and then launching the products quickly using its extensive distribution network.
High switching costs
– The high switching costs that Lighting Hive 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.
Highly skilled collaborators
– Lighting Hive 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 Hive Lighting: The Green Solution for Hollywood? HBR case study have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
High brand equity
– Lighting Hive has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Lighting Hive to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Organizational Resilience of Lighting Hive
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing that Lighting Hive does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
Strong track record of project management
– Lighting Hive is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.
Weaknesses Hive Lighting: The Green Solution for Hollywood? | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Hive Lighting: The Green Solution for Hollywood? are -
Slow to harness new channels of communication
– Even though competitors are using new communication channels such as Instagram, Tiktok, and Snap, Lighting Hive is slow explore the new channels of communication. These new channels of communication mentioned in marketing section of case study Hive Lighting: The Green Solution for Hollywood? can help to provide better information regarding products and services. It can also build an online community to further reach out to potential customers.
Lack of clear differentiation of Lighting Hive products
– To increase the profitability and margins on the products, Lighting Hive needs to provide more differentiated products than what it is currently offering in the marketplace.
Employees’ incomplete understanding of strategy
– From the instances in the HBR case study Hive Lighting: The Green Solution for Hollywood?, it seems that the employees of Lighting Hive 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.
High operating costs
– Compare to the competitors, firm in the HBR case study Hive Lighting: The Green Solution for Hollywood? 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 Lighting Hive 's lucrative customers.
Need for greater diversity
– Lighting Hive 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.
No frontier risks strategy
– After analyzing the HBR case study Hive Lighting: The Green Solution for Hollywood?, it seems that company is thinking about the frontier risks that can impact Strategy & Execution strategy. But it has very little resources allocation to manage the risks emerging from events such as natural disasters, climate change, melting of permafrost, tacking the rise of artificial intelligence, opportunities and threats emerging from commercialization of space etc.
Skills based hiring
– The stress on hiring functional specialists at Lighting Hive 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 Hive Lighting: The Green Solution for Hollywood?, in the dynamic environment Lighting Hive has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. Lighting Hive has reasonably good record with similar level competitors but it has struggled with new entrants taking away niches of its business.
Slow decision making process
– As mentioned earlier in the report, Lighting Hive 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. Lighting Hive 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.
Workers concerns about automation
– As automation is fast increasing in the segment, Lighting Hive 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 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 Lighting Hive supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes mentioned in the HBR case study - Hive Lighting: The Green Solution for Hollywood?, it is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left Lighting Hive vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.
Opportunities Hive Lighting: The Green Solution for Hollywood? | 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 Hive Lighting: The Green Solution for Hollywood? are -
Reforming the budgeting process
- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects Lighting Hive can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.
Lowering marketing communication costs
– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Lighting Hive 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.
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 Lighting Hive 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.
Manufacturing automation
– Lighting Hive can use the latest technology developments to improve its manufacturing and designing process in Strategy & Execution segment. It can use CAD and 3D printing to build a quick prototype and pilot testing products. It can leverage automation using machine learning and artificial intelligence to do faster production at lowers costs, and it can leverage the growth in satellite and tracking technologies to improve inventory management, transportation, and shipping.
Low interest rates
– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Lighting Hive 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.
Building a culture of innovation
– managers at Lighting Hive 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.
Buying journey improvements
– Lighting Hive can improve the customer journey of consumers in the industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. Hive Lighting: The Green Solution for Hollywood? 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.
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– Lighting Hive 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 Hive Lighting: The Green Solution for Hollywood? - to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Lighting Hive to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities
– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Lighting Hive 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 Lighting Hive to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains
– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Lighting Hive 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, Hive Lighting: The Green Solution for Hollywood?, 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 Lighting Hive 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.
Better consumer reach
– The expansion of the 5G network will help Lighting Hive to increase its market reach. Lighting Hive 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.
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Lighting Hive has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Lighting Hive to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the Hive Lighting: The Green Solution for Hollywood? case study. Lighting Hive can build new products and services such as - data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
Threats Hive Lighting: The Green Solution for Hollywood? External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Hive Lighting: The Green Solution for Hollywood? are -
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. Lighting Hive 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. Lighting Hive needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Strategy & Execution industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Lighting Hive is facing in Strategy & Execution sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.
Environmental challenges
– Lighting Hive 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. Lighting Hive can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Strategy & Execution industry.
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Lighting Hive 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.
Aging population
– As the populations of most advanced economies are aging, it will lead to high social security costs, higher savings among population, and lower demand for goods and services in the economy. The household savings in US, France, UK, Germany, and Japan are growing faster than predicted because of uncertainty caused by pandemic.
Increasing wage structure of Lighting Hive
– 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 Lighting Hive.
Consumer confidence and its impact on Lighting Hive demand
– There is a high probability of declining consumer confidence, given – high inflammation rate, rise of gig economy, lower job stability, increasing cost of living, higher interest rates, and aging demography. All the factors contribute to people saving higher rate of their income, resulting in lower consumer demand in the industry and other sectors.
High dependence on third party suppliers
– Lighting Hive 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 international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Lighting Hive 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 Hive Lighting: The Green Solution for Hollywood? .
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, as highlighted in case study Hive Lighting: The Green Solution for Hollywood?, Lighting Hive 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 .
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. Lighting Hive can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
Regulatory challenges
– Lighting Hive 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.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Hive Lighting: The Green Solution for Hollywood? 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 Hive Lighting: The Green Solution for Hollywood? 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 Hive Lighting: The Green Solution for Hollywood? 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 Hive Lighting: The Green Solution for Hollywood? 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 Hive Lighting: The Green Solution for Hollywood? 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 Lighting Hive needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.