Higher Education and the Digital Revolution: About MOOCs, SPOCs, Social Media, and the Cookie Monster SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
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Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of Higher Education and the Digital Revolution: About MOOCs, SPOCs, Social Media, and the Cookie Monster
Distance learning-that is, providing education to students who are separated by distance and in which the pedagogical material is planned and prepared by educational institutions-is a topic of regular interest in the popular and business press. In particular, MOOCs (Massive Open Online Courses), which are open-access online courses that allow for unlimited participation, as well as SPOCs (Small Private Online Courses), are said to have revolutionized universities and the corporate education landscape. In this article we provide a nuanced analysis of the phenomenon of online distance learning. We first provide an overview of its historical evolution, and subsequently define and classify key concepts. We further discuss in detail the optimal target group in terms of participating students and teaching professors and propose corresponding frameworks for driving intrinsic student motivation and for choosing a successful online teacher. We also outline the benefits that institutions can achieve by offering online distance learning. Finally, we speak about the specific connection between online distance learning and social media by focusing on the difference between MOOCs based on traditional lecture formats (xMOOCs) and connectivist cMOOCs.
Swot Analysis of "Higher Education and the Digital Revolution: About MOOCs, SPOCs, Social Media, and the Cookie Monster" written by Andreas M. Kaplan, Michael Haenlein includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Distance Moocs facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Higher Education and the Digital Revolution: About MOOCs, SPOCs, Social Media, and the Cookie Monster case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Internet, IT, Social platforms and Technology & Operations.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Higher Education and the Digital Revolution: About MOOCs, SPOCs, Social Media, and the Cookie Monster casestudy better are - – challanges to central banks by blockchain based private currencies, there is increasing trade war between United States & China, digital marketing is dominated by two big players Facebook and Google, central banks are concerned over increasing inflation, competitive advantages are harder to sustain because of technology dispersion, banking and financial system is disrupted by Bitcoin and other crypto currencies, increasing energy prices,
technology disruption, there is backlash against globalization, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Higher Education and the Digital Revolution: About MOOCs, SPOCs, Social Media, and the Cookie Monster
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Higher Education and the Digital Revolution: About MOOCs, SPOCs, Social Media, and the Cookie Monster case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Distance Moocs, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Distance Moocs 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 Higher Education and the Digital Revolution: About MOOCs, SPOCs, Social Media, and the Cookie Monster can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Higher Education and the Digital Revolution: About MOOCs, SPOCs, Social Media, and the Cookie Monster case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Distance Moocs
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 Distance Moocs
Strengths Higher Education and the Digital Revolution: About MOOCs, SPOCs, Social Media, and the Cookie Monster | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Distance Moocs in Higher Education and the Digital Revolution: About MOOCs, SPOCs, Social Media, and the Cookie Monster Harvard Business Review case study are -
Training and development
– Distance Moocs has one of the best training and development program in the industry. The effectiveness of the training programs can be measured in Higher Education and the Digital Revolution: About MOOCs, SPOCs, Social Media, and the Cookie Monster Harvard Business Review case study by analyzing – employees retention, in-house promotion, loyalty, new venture initiation, lack of conflict, and high level of both employees and customer engagement.
Organizational Resilience of Distance Moocs
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing that Distance Moocs does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
Strong track record of project management
– Distance Moocs is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Technology & Operations industry
– Higher Education and the Digital Revolution: About MOOCs, SPOCs, Social Media, and the Cookie Monster firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Distance Moocs to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Technology & Operations industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Distance Moocs to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Superior customer experience
– The customer experience strategy of Distance Moocs in the segment is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.
Innovation driven organization
– Distance Moocs is one of the most innovative firm in sector. Manager in Higher Education and the Digital Revolution: About MOOCs, SPOCs, Social Media, and the Cookie Monster Harvard Business Review case study can use Clayton Christensen Disruptive Innovation strategies to further increase the scale of innovtions in the organization.
Ability to lead change in Technology & Operations field
– Distance Moocs 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 Distance Moocs in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.
Effective Research and Development (R&D)
– Distance Moocs 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 Higher Education and the Digital Revolution: About MOOCs, SPOCs, Social Media, and the Cookie Monster - staying ahead in the industry in terms of – new product launches, superior customer experience, highly competitive pricing strategies, and great returns to the shareholders.
Highly skilled collaborators
– Distance Moocs 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 Higher Education and the Digital Revolution: About MOOCs, SPOCs, Social Media, and the Cookie Monster HBR case study have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
Diverse revenue streams
– Distance Moocs is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided firm in Higher Education and the Digital Revolution: About MOOCs, SPOCs, Social Media, and the Cookie Monster 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.
Learning organization
- Distance Moocs 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 Distance Moocs is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders in Higher Education and the Digital Revolution: About MOOCs, SPOCs, Social Media, and the Cookie Monster Harvard Business Review case study emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
Analytics focus
– Distance Moocs 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 Andreas M. Kaplan, Michael Haenlein 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.
Weaknesses Higher Education and the Digital Revolution: About MOOCs, SPOCs, Social Media, and the Cookie Monster | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Higher Education and the Digital Revolution: About MOOCs, SPOCs, Social Media, and the Cookie Monster are -
Products dominated business model
– Even though Distance Moocs 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 - Higher Education and the Digital Revolution: About MOOCs, SPOCs, Social Media, and the Cookie Monster 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, Distance Moocs 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.
Interest costs
– Compare to the competition, Distance Moocs 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.
High dependence on star products
– The top 2 products and services of the firm as mentioned in the Higher Education and the Digital Revolution: About MOOCs, SPOCs, Social Media, and the Cookie Monster 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 Distance Moocs has relatively successful track record of launching new products.
No frontier risks strategy
– After analyzing the HBR case study Higher Education and the Digital Revolution: About MOOCs, SPOCs, Social Media, and the Cookie Monster, 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.
Low market penetration in new markets
– Outside its home market of Distance Moocs, firm in the HBR case study Higher Education and the Digital Revolution: About MOOCs, SPOCs, Social Media, and the Cookie Monster needs to spend more promotional, marketing, and advertising efforts to penetrate international markets.
Slow to strategic competitive environment developments
– As Higher Education and the Digital Revolution: About MOOCs, SPOCs, Social Media, and the Cookie Monster HBR case study mentions - Distance Moocs 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.
Capital Spending Reduction
– Even during the low interest decade, Distance Moocs 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.
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 Distance Moocs supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes mentioned in the HBR case study - Higher Education and the Digital Revolution: About MOOCs, SPOCs, Social Media, and the Cookie Monster, it is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left Distance Moocs vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.
Need for greater diversity
– Distance Moocs 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.
Compensation and incentives
– The revenue per employee as mentioned in the HBR case study Higher Education and the Digital Revolution: About MOOCs, SPOCs, Social Media, and the Cookie Monster, is just above the industry average. Distance Moocs 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.
Opportunities Higher Education and the Digital Revolution: About MOOCs, SPOCs, Social Media, and the Cookie Monster | 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 Higher Education and the Digital Revolution: About MOOCs, SPOCs, Social Media, and the Cookie Monster are -
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 Distance Moocs 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.
Low interest rates
– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Distance Moocs 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.
Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains
– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Distance Moocs 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, Higher Education and the Digital Revolution: About MOOCs, SPOCs, Social Media, and the Cookie Monster, to buy more products closer to the markets, and it can leverage its size and influence to get better deal from the local markets.
Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities
– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Distance Moocs 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 Distance Moocs to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
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 Distance Moocs in the consumer business. Now Distance Moocs can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– Distance Moocs 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 Higher Education and the Digital Revolution: About MOOCs, SPOCs, Social Media, and the Cookie Monster - to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Distance Moocs to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
Building a culture of innovation
– managers at Distance Moocs 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.
Developing new processes and practices
– Distance Moocs 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.
Leveraging digital technologies
– Distance Moocs 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.
Reforming the budgeting process
- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects Distance Moocs 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
– Distance Moocs 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.
Learning at scale
– Online learning technologies has now opened space for Distance Moocs 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.
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. Distance Moocs can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.
Threats Higher Education and the Digital Revolution: About MOOCs, SPOCs, Social Media, and the Cookie Monster External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Higher Education and the Digital Revolution: About MOOCs, SPOCs, Social Media, and the Cookie Monster are -
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Distance Moocs has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Technology & Operations industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Distance Moocs 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.
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 Distance Moocs in the Technology & Operations sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
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 Distance Moocs.
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Distance Moocs is facing in Technology & Operations sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry in the industry are lowering. It can presents Distance Moocs with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the sector.
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Distance Moocs 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 Higher Education and the Digital Revolution: About MOOCs, SPOCs, Social Media, and the Cookie Monster .
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. Distance Moocs needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Technology & Operations industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
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 Distance Moocs
– 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 Distance Moocs.
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, as highlighted in case study Higher Education and the Digital Revolution: About MOOCs, SPOCs, Social Media, and the Cookie Monster, Distance Moocs 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 .
Consumer confidence and its impact on Distance Moocs demand
– There is a high probability of declining consumer confidence, given – high inflammation rate, rise of gig economy, lower job stability, increasing cost of living, higher interest rates, and aging demography. All the factors contribute to people saving higher rate of their income, resulting in lower consumer demand in the industry and other sectors.
Technology disruption because of hacks, piracy etc
– The colonial pipeline illustrated, how vulnerable modern organization are to international hackers, miscreants, and disruptors. The cyber security interruption, data leaks, etc can seriously jeopardize the future growth of the organization.
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 Distance Moocs business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Higher Education and the Digital Revolution: About MOOCs, SPOCs, Social Media, and the Cookie Monster 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 Higher Education and the Digital Revolution: About MOOCs, SPOCs, Social Media, and the Cookie Monster 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 Higher Education and the Digital Revolution: About MOOCs, SPOCs, Social Media, and the Cookie Monster 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 Higher Education and the Digital Revolution: About MOOCs, SPOCs, Social Media, and the Cookie Monster 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 Higher Education and the Digital Revolution: About MOOCs, SPOCs, Social Media, and the Cookie Monster 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 Distance Moocs needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.
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