LumiA?re: Supporting a Virtual Workspace on the Cloud SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Technology & Operations
Strategy / MBA Resources
Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of LumiA?re: Supporting a Virtual Workspace on the Cloud
In early 2015, the chief information officer at LumiA?re Business Solutions (LumiA?re) was reflecting on the impact of technology on the company's business performance. LumiA?re had been using cloud technology to provide clients and employees 24/7 access to project progress and documentation. Clients appreciated the fact that, despite being a small firm, LumiA?re was as competitive and quick to respond as any other big market-research company. What were the factors that had made this adoption easy? How much of the firm's efficiency could be attributed to the cloud? So far, most of LumiA?re's applications on the cloud had been sourced from Google Marketplace, but with other players like Microsoft getting into cloud technology aggressively, should LumiA?re start to explore these new offerings as well? Given the trade-offs that LumiA?re had made while choosing the cloud, would this technology continue to pay off in the future? Deepa Ray is affiliated with School of Business Management.
Swot Analysis of "LumiA?re: Supporting a Virtual Workspace on the Cloud" written by Deepa Ray, Lakshminaryana Seshadri Subramanian includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Lumia Cloud facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in LumiA?re: Supporting a Virtual Workspace on the Cloud case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Entrepreneurship, International business, Internet, IT and Technology & Operations.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the LumiA?re: Supporting a Virtual Workspace on the Cloud casestudy better are - – wage bills are increasing, technology disruption, increasing transportation and logistics costs, competitive advantages are harder to sustain because of technology dispersion, challanges to central banks by blockchain based private currencies, cloud computing is disrupting traditional business models, increasing household debt because of falling income levels,
supply chains are disrupted by pandemic , increasing energy prices, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of LumiA?re: Supporting a Virtual Workspace on the Cloud
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in LumiA?re: Supporting a Virtual Workspace on the Cloud case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Lumia Cloud, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Lumia Cloud 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 LumiA?re: Supporting a Virtual Workspace on the Cloud can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in LumiA?re: Supporting a Virtual Workspace on the Cloud case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Lumia Cloud
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 Lumia Cloud
Strengths LumiA?re: Supporting a Virtual Workspace on the Cloud | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Lumia Cloud in LumiA?re: Supporting a Virtual Workspace on the Cloud Harvard Business Review case study are -
Innovation driven organization
– Lumia Cloud is one of the most innovative firm in sector. Manager in LumiA?re: Supporting a Virtual Workspace on the Cloud Harvard Business Review case study can use Clayton Christensen Disruptive Innovation strategies to further increase the scale of innovtions in the organization.
High switching costs
– The high switching costs that Lumia Cloud 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.
High brand equity
– Lumia Cloud has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Lumia Cloud to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Cross disciplinary teams
– Horizontal connected teams at the Lumia Cloud 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.
Analytics focus
– Lumia Cloud 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 Deepa Ray, Lakshminaryana Seshadri Subramanian 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.
Successful track record of launching new products
– Lumia Cloud has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Lumia Cloud 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.
Diverse revenue streams
– Lumia Cloud is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided firm in LumiA?re: Supporting a Virtual Workspace on the Cloud 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.
Ability to lead change in Technology & Operations field
– Lumia Cloud 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 Lumia Cloud in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.
Highly skilled collaborators
– Lumia Cloud 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 LumiA?re: Supporting a Virtual Workspace on the Cloud HBR case study have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
Operational resilience
– The operational resilience strategy in the LumiA?re: Supporting a Virtual Workspace on the Cloud 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.
Organizational Resilience of Lumia Cloud
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing that Lumia Cloud does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of Lumia Cloud in the sector have low bargaining power. LumiA?re: Supporting a Virtual Workspace on the Cloud has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Lumia Cloud to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
Weaknesses LumiA?re: Supporting a Virtual Workspace on the Cloud | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of LumiA?re: Supporting a Virtual Workspace on the Cloud are -
Slow decision making process
– As mentioned earlier in the report, Lumia Cloud 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. Lumia Cloud 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.
High operating costs
– Compare to the competitors, firm in the HBR case study LumiA?re: Supporting a Virtual Workspace on the Cloud 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 Lumia Cloud 's lucrative customers.
Aligning sales with marketing
– It come across in the case study LumiA?re: Supporting a Virtual Workspace on the Cloud 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 LumiA?re: Supporting a Virtual Workspace on the Cloud can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Lumia Cloud is planning to shift buying processes online.
No frontier risks strategy
– After analyzing the HBR case study LumiA?re: Supporting a Virtual Workspace on the Cloud, 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.
Compensation and incentives
– The revenue per employee as mentioned in the HBR case study LumiA?re: Supporting a Virtual Workspace on the Cloud, is just above the industry average. Lumia Cloud 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.
Increasing silos among functional specialists
– The organizational structure of Lumia Cloud is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Technology & Operations segment. Lumia Cloud needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Lumia Cloud to focus more on services rather than just following the product oriented approach.
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 Lumia Cloud supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes mentioned in the HBR case study - LumiA?re: Supporting a Virtual Workspace on the Cloud, it is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left Lumia Cloud vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.
Lack of clear differentiation of Lumia Cloud products
– To increase the profitability and margins on the products, Lumia Cloud needs to provide more differentiated products than what it is currently offering in the marketplace.
Workers concerns about automation
– As automation is fast increasing in the segment, Lumia Cloud 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 bargaining power of channel partners
– Because of the regulatory requirements, Deepa Ray, Lakshminaryana Seshadri Subramanian suggests that, Lumia Cloud 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.
High dependence on star products
– The top 2 products and services of the firm as mentioned in the LumiA?re: Supporting a Virtual Workspace on the Cloud 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 Lumia Cloud has relatively successful track record of launching new products.
Opportunities LumiA?re: Supporting a Virtual Workspace on the Cloud | 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 LumiA?re: Supporting a Virtual Workspace on the Cloud are -
Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains
– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Lumia Cloud 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, LumiA?re: Supporting a Virtual Workspace on the Cloud, to buy more products closer to the markets, and it can leverage its size and influence to get better deal from the local markets.
Loyalty marketing
– Lumia Cloud 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.
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. Lumia Cloud can tie-up with other value chain partners to explore new opportunities regarding meeting customer demands and building a rewarding and engaging relationship.
Buying journey improvements
– Lumia Cloud can improve the customer journey of consumers in the industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. LumiA?re: Supporting a Virtual Workspace on the Cloud 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.
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. Lumia Cloud 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. Lumia Cloud 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.
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 Lumia Cloud 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.
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– Lumia Cloud 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 LumiA?re: Supporting a Virtual Workspace on the Cloud - to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Lumia Cloud to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
Developing new processes and practices
– Lumia Cloud 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.
Better consumer reach
– The expansion of the 5G network will help Lumia Cloud to increase its market reach. Lumia Cloud 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.
Building a culture of innovation
– managers at Lumia Cloud 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.
Reforming the budgeting process
- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects Lumia Cloud can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.
Manufacturing automation
– Lumia Cloud 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.
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 Lumia Cloud in the consumer business. Now Lumia Cloud can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.
Threats LumiA?re: Supporting a Virtual Workspace on the Cloud External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study LumiA?re: Supporting a Virtual Workspace on the Cloud are -
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. Lumia Cloud needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Technology & Operations industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Lumia Cloud 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.
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Lumia Cloud 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 Lumia Cloud
– 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 Lumia Cloud.
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, as highlighted in case study LumiA?re: Supporting a Virtual Workspace on the Cloud, Lumia Cloud 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 .
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Lumia Cloud has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Technology & Operations industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Lumia Cloud needs to keep up with the evolution of technology in the Technology & Operations 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.
Environmental challenges
– Lumia Cloud 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. Lumia Cloud can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Technology & Operations industry.
Consumer confidence and its impact on Lumia Cloud 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.
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 Lumia Cloud in the Technology & Operations sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Lumia Cloud is facing in Technology & Operations sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, 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.
High dependence on third party suppliers
– Lumia Cloud 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.
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. Lumia Cloud can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of LumiA?re: Supporting a Virtual Workspace on the Cloud 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 LumiA?re: Supporting a Virtual Workspace on the Cloud 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 LumiA?re: Supporting a Virtual Workspace on the Cloud 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 LumiA?re: Supporting a Virtual Workspace on the Cloud 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 LumiA?re: Supporting a Virtual Workspace on the Cloud 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 Lumia Cloud needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.