Epodia: Demise of the HBS Case-Writing Monopoly? SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Technology & Operations
Strategy / MBA Resources
Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of Epodia: Demise of the HBS Case-Writing Monopoly?
Karl Ulrich, Wharton professor, must decide between a commercial and "open source" model for his new business case venture. Students analyze a variety of open source and proprietary business models and formulate strategic recommendations.
Swot Analysis of "Epodia: Demise of the HBS Case-Writing Monopoly?" written by Lee Fleming, James Quinn includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Epodia Ulrich facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Epodia: Demise of the HBS Case-Writing Monopoly? case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Innovation, Intellectual property, Marketing, Technology and Technology & Operations.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Epodia: Demise of the HBS Case-Writing Monopoly? casestudy better are - – competitive advantages are harder to sustain because of technology dispersion, challanges to central banks by blockchain based private currencies, talent flight as more people leaving formal jobs, there is increasing trade war between United States & China, wage bills are increasing, supply chains are disrupted by pandemic , there is backlash against globalization,
digital marketing is dominated by two big players Facebook and Google, increasing commodity prices, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Epodia: Demise of the HBS Case-Writing Monopoly?
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Epodia: Demise of the HBS Case-Writing Monopoly? case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Epodia Ulrich, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Epodia Ulrich 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 Epodia: Demise of the HBS Case-Writing Monopoly? can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Epodia: Demise of the HBS Case-Writing Monopoly? case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Epodia Ulrich
3. Assessing feasibility of the new initiative in Technology & Operations field.
4. Making a Technology & Operations topic specific business decision
5. Set goals for the organization
6. Organizational restructuring of Epodia Ulrich
Strengths Epodia: Demise of the HBS Case-Writing Monopoly? | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Epodia Ulrich in Epodia: Demise of the HBS Case-Writing Monopoly? Harvard Business Review case study are -
Learning organization
- Epodia Ulrich 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 Epodia Ulrich is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders in Epodia: Demise of the HBS Case-Writing Monopoly? Harvard Business Review case study emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
Successful track record of launching new products
– Epodia Ulrich has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Epodia Ulrich 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.
Ability to lead change in Technology & Operations field
– Epodia Ulrich 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 Epodia Ulrich in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.
High brand equity
– Epodia Ulrich has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Epodia Ulrich to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Operational resilience
– The operational resilience strategy in the Epodia: Demise of the HBS Case-Writing Monopoly? 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.
Highly skilled collaborators
– Epodia Ulrich 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 Epodia: Demise of the HBS Case-Writing Monopoly? HBR case study have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
Diverse revenue streams
– Epodia Ulrich is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided firm in Epodia: Demise of the HBS Case-Writing Monopoly? 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.
Superior customer experience
– The customer experience strategy of Epodia Ulrich in the segment is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.
Effective Research and Development (R&D)
– Epodia Ulrich 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 Epodia: Demise of the HBS Case-Writing Monopoly? - 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 Epodia Ulrich 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.
Analytics focus
– Epodia Ulrich 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 Lee Fleming, James Quinn 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.
Ability to recruit top talent
– Epodia Ulrich is one of the leading recruiters in the industry. Managers in the Epodia: Demise of the HBS Case-Writing Monopoly? are in a position to attract the best talent available. The firm has a robust talent identification program that helps in identifying the brightest.
Weaknesses Epodia: Demise of the HBS Case-Writing Monopoly? | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Epodia: Demise of the HBS Case-Writing Monopoly? are -
Aligning sales with marketing
– It come across in the case study Epodia: Demise of the HBS Case-Writing Monopoly? 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 Epodia: Demise of the HBS Case-Writing Monopoly? can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Epodia Ulrich is planning to shift buying processes online.
Slow to strategic competitive environment developments
– As Epodia: Demise of the HBS Case-Writing Monopoly? HBR case study mentions - Epodia Ulrich 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.
Compensation and incentives
– The revenue per employee as mentioned in the HBR case study Epodia: Demise of the HBS Case-Writing Monopoly?, is just above the industry average. Epodia Ulrich 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.
Skills based hiring
– The stress on hiring functional specialists at Epodia Ulrich 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.
High operating costs
– Compare to the competitors, firm in the HBR case study Epodia: Demise of the HBS Case-Writing Monopoly? 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 Epodia Ulrich 's lucrative customers.
Capital Spending Reduction
– Even during the low interest decade, Epodia Ulrich 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.
Low market penetration in new markets
– Outside its home market of Epodia Ulrich, firm in the HBR case study Epodia: Demise of the HBS Case-Writing Monopoly? needs to spend more promotional, marketing, and advertising efforts to penetrate international markets.
Slow to harness new channels of communication
– Even though competitors are using new communication channels such as Instagram, Tiktok, and Snap, Epodia Ulrich is slow explore the new channels of communication. These new channels of communication mentioned in marketing section of case study Epodia: Demise of the HBS Case-Writing Monopoly? can help to provide better information regarding products and services. It can also build an online community to further reach out to potential customers.
No frontier risks strategy
– After analyzing the HBR case study Epodia: Demise of the HBS Case-Writing Monopoly?, it seems that company is thinking about the frontier risks that can impact Technology & Operations 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.
High dependence on star products
– The top 2 products and services of the firm as mentioned in the Epodia: Demise of the HBS Case-Writing Monopoly? 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 Epodia Ulrich has relatively successful track record of launching new products.
Increasing silos among functional specialists
– The organizational structure of Epodia Ulrich is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Technology & Operations segment. Epodia Ulrich needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Epodia Ulrich to focus more on services rather than just following the product oriented approach.
Opportunities Epodia: Demise of the HBS Case-Writing Monopoly? | 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 Epodia: Demise of the HBS Case-Writing Monopoly? are -
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 Epodia Ulrich in the consumer business. Now Epodia Ulrich can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.
Reforming the budgeting process
- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects Epodia Ulrich can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.
Low interest rates
– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Epodia Ulrich 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.
Leveraging digital technologies
– Epodia Ulrich 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.
Lowering marketing communication costs
– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Epodia Ulrich in the field of marketing communication. It will bring down the cost of doing business, provide technology platform to build new products in the Technology & Operations segment, and it will provide faster access to the consumers.
Better consumer reach
– The expansion of the 5G network will help Epodia Ulrich to increase its market reach. Epodia Ulrich 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.
Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains
– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Epodia Ulrich 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, Epodia: Demise of the HBS Case-Writing Monopoly?, to buy more products closer to the markets, and it can leverage its size and influence to get better deal from the local markets.
Building a culture of innovation
– managers at Epodia Ulrich 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 Technology & Operations segment.
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– Epodia Ulrich 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 Epodia: Demise of the HBS Case-Writing Monopoly? - to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Epodia Ulrich to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
Finding new ways to collaborate
– Covid-19 has not only transformed business models of companies in Technology & Operations industry, but it has also influenced the consumer preferences. Epodia Ulrich can tie-up with other value chain partners to explore new opportunities regarding meeting customer demands and building a rewarding and engaging relationship.
Developing new processes and practices
– Epodia Ulrich can develop new processes and procedures in Technology & Operations 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.
Loyalty marketing
– Epodia Ulrich 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.
Manufacturing automation
– Epodia Ulrich can use the latest technology developments to improve its manufacturing and designing process in Technology & Operations 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.
Threats Epodia: Demise of the HBS Case-Writing Monopoly? External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Epodia: Demise of the HBS Case-Writing Monopoly? are -
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 Epodia Ulrich business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
Regulatory challenges
– Epodia Ulrich 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 Technology & Operations industry regulations.
Easy access to finance
– Easy access to finance in Technology & Operations field will also reduce the barriers to entry in the industry, thus putting downward pressure on the prices because of increasing competition. Epodia Ulrich can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Epodia Ulrich is facing in Technology & Operations sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Epodia Ulrich in the Technology & Operations industry. The Technology & Operations 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.
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 Epodia Ulrich.
Environmental challenges
– Epodia Ulrich 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. Epodia Ulrich can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Technology & Operations industry.
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 Epodia Ulrich in the Technology & Operations sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
Increasing wage structure of Epodia Ulrich
– 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 Epodia Ulrich.
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Epodia Ulrich 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.
High dependence on third party suppliers
– Epodia Ulrich 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.
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.
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.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Epodia: Demise of the HBS Case-Writing Monopoly? 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 Epodia: Demise of the HBS Case-Writing Monopoly? 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 Epodia: Demise of the HBS Case-Writing Monopoly? 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 Epodia: Demise of the HBS Case-Writing Monopoly? 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 Epodia: Demise of the HBS Case-Writing Monopoly? 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 Epodia Ulrich needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.
