Case Study Description of Inxight: Incubating a Xerox Technology Spinout
Xerox has established a new spinoff that utilizes software technology developed at its PARC research facility. This spinoff, Inxight Software, is formulating its plans to commercialize PARC's technology via an OEM component business model.
Swot Analysis of "Inxight: Incubating a Xerox Technology Spinout" written by Henry W. Chesbrough, Christina Darwall includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Inxight Spinoff facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Inxight: Incubating a Xerox Technology Spinout case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Technology and Technology & Operations.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Inxight: Incubating a Xerox Technology Spinout casestudy better are - – technology disruption, increasing commodity prices, customer relationship management is fast transforming because of increasing concerns over data privacy, increasing energy prices, increasing inequality as vast percentage of new income is going to the top 1%, central banks are concerned over increasing inflation, increasing household debt because of falling income levels,
increasing transportation and logistics costs, geopolitical disruptions, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Inxight: Incubating a Xerox Technology Spinout
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Inxight: Incubating a Xerox Technology Spinout case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Inxight Spinoff, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Inxight Spinoff 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 Inxight: Incubating a Xerox Technology Spinout can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Inxight: Incubating a Xerox Technology Spinout case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Inxight Spinoff
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 Inxight Spinoff
Strengths Inxight: Incubating a Xerox Technology Spinout | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Inxight Spinoff in Inxight: Incubating a Xerox Technology Spinout Harvard Business Review case study are -
Highly skilled collaborators
– Inxight Spinoff 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 Inxight: Incubating a Xerox Technology Spinout HBR case study have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
Diverse revenue streams
– Inxight Spinoff is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided firm in Inxight: Incubating a Xerox Technology Spinout 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.
Operational resilience
– The operational resilience strategy in the Inxight: Incubating a Xerox Technology Spinout 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.
Learning organization
- Inxight Spinoff 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 Inxight Spinoff is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders in Inxight: Incubating a Xerox Technology Spinout Harvard Business Review case study emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
High brand equity
– Inxight Spinoff has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Inxight Spinoff to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of Inxight Spinoff in the sector have low bargaining power. Inxight: Incubating a Xerox Technology Spinout has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Inxight Spinoff to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
Successful track record of launching new products
– Inxight Spinoff has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Inxight Spinoff 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 Inxight Spinoff 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.
Effective Research and Development (R&D)
– Inxight Spinoff 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 Inxight: Incubating a Xerox Technology Spinout - staying ahead in the industry in terms of – new product launches, superior customer experience, highly competitive pricing strategies, and great returns to the shareholders.
Ability to recruit top talent
– Inxight Spinoff is one of the leading recruiters in the industry. Managers in the Inxight: Incubating a Xerox Technology Spinout are in a position to attract the best talent available. The firm has a robust talent identification program that helps in identifying the brightest.
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Technology & Operations industry
– Inxight: Incubating a Xerox Technology Spinout firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Inxight Spinoff to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Technology & Operations industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Inxight Spinoff to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Innovation driven organization
– Inxight Spinoff is one of the most innovative firm in sector. Manager in Inxight: Incubating a Xerox Technology Spinout Harvard Business Review case study can use Clayton Christensen Disruptive Innovation strategies to further increase the scale of innovtions in the organization.
Weaknesses Inxight: Incubating a Xerox Technology Spinout | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Inxight: Incubating a Xerox Technology Spinout are -
Need for greater diversity
– Inxight Spinoff 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.
Skills based hiring
– The stress on hiring functional specialists at Inxight Spinoff 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.
Slow to harness new channels of communication
– Even though competitors are using new communication channels such as Instagram, Tiktok, and Snap, Inxight Spinoff is slow explore the new channels of communication. These new channels of communication mentioned in marketing section of case study Inxight: Incubating a Xerox Technology Spinout can help to provide better information regarding products and services. It can also build an online community to further reach out to potential customers.
Interest costs
– Compare to the competition, Inxight Spinoff 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 decision making process
– As mentioned earlier in the report, Inxight Spinoff 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. Inxight Spinoff 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.
Lack of clear differentiation of Inxight Spinoff products
– To increase the profitability and margins on the products, Inxight Spinoff 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 Inxight: Incubating a Xerox Technology Spinout, it seems that the employees of Inxight Spinoff 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.
Products dominated business model
– Even though Inxight Spinoff has some of the most successful products in the industry, this business model has made each new product launch extremely critical for continuous financial growth of the organization. firm in the HBR case study - Inxight: Incubating a Xerox Technology Spinout should strive to include more intangible value offerings along with its core products and services.
Workers concerns about automation
– As automation is fast increasing in the segment, Inxight Spinoff 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 operating costs
– Compare to the competitors, firm in the HBR case study Inxight: Incubating a Xerox Technology Spinout 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 Inxight Spinoff 's lucrative customers.
Slow to strategic competitive environment developments
– As Inxight: Incubating a Xerox Technology Spinout HBR case study mentions - Inxight Spinoff 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.
Opportunities Inxight: Incubating a Xerox Technology Spinout | 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 Inxight: Incubating a Xerox Technology Spinout are -
Changes in consumer behavior post Covid-19
– Consumer behavior has changed in the Technology & Operations industry because of Covid-19 restrictions. Some of this behavior will stay once things get back to normal. Inxight Spinoff 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. Inxight Spinoff 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.
Reforming the budgeting process
- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects Inxight Spinoff can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.
Loyalty marketing
– Inxight Spinoff 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.
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. Inxight Spinoff can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.
Manufacturing automation
– Inxight Spinoff 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.
Increase in government spending
– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Inxight Spinoff can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Inxight Spinoff operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Technology & Operations sector.
Building a culture of innovation
– managers at Inxight Spinoff 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.
Buying journey improvements
– Inxight Spinoff can improve the customer journey of consumers in the industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. Inxight: Incubating a Xerox Technology Spinout 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.
Leveraging digital technologies
– Inxight Spinoff 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.
Redefining models of collaboration and team work
– As explained in the weaknesses section, Inxight Spinoff is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. Inxight: Incubating a Xerox Technology Spinout 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.
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. Inxight Spinoff can tie-up with other value chain partners to explore new opportunities regarding meeting customer demands and building a rewarding and engaging relationship.
Learning at scale
– Online learning technologies has now opened space for Inxight Spinoff 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.
Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities
– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Inxight Spinoff 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 Inxight Spinoff to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
Threats Inxight: Incubating a Xerox Technology Spinout External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Inxight: Incubating a Xerox Technology Spinout are -
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. Inxight Spinoff 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
– Inxight Spinoff 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.
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 Inxight Spinoff in the Technology & Operations sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, as highlighted in case study Inxight: Incubating a Xerox Technology Spinout, Inxight Spinoff may face longer learning curve for training and development of existing employees. This can open space for more nimble competitors in the field of Technology & Operations .
High dependence on third party suppliers
– Inxight Spinoff 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.
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 Inxight Spinoff business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
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.
Consumer confidence and its impact on Inxight Spinoff 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 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. Inxight Spinoff needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Technology & Operations industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Inxight Spinoff is facing in Technology & Operations sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.
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. Inxight Spinoff 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.
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Inxight Spinoff 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.
Increasing wage structure of Inxight Spinoff
– 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 Inxight Spinoff.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Inxight: Incubating a Xerox Technology Spinout 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 Inxight: Incubating a Xerox Technology Spinout 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 Inxight: Incubating a Xerox Technology Spinout 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 Inxight: Incubating a Xerox Technology Spinout 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 Inxight: Incubating a Xerox Technology Spinout 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 Inxight Spinoff needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.
