Allstate Chemical Co.: The Commercialization of Dynarim SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Technology & Operations
Strategy / MBA Resources
Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of Allstate Chemical Co.: The Commercialization of Dynarim
Raises three issues: the different requirements for competing in specialty and commodity chemicals; the steps a new idea follows in moving from research, applied research, and development to manufacturing and marketing; and the role of a commercial development organization in facilitating new product development. Students must evaluate the role of the commercial development group, especially its goals, management criteria for accepting new projects, and the criteria for passing on projects to established divisions.
Swot Analysis of "Allstate Chemical Co.: The Commercialization of Dynarim" written by David A. Garvin, Artemis March includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Criteria Dynarim facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Allstate Chemical Co.: The Commercialization of Dynarim case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Market research, Product development, Technology and Technology & Operations.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Allstate Chemical Co.: The Commercialization of Dynarim casestudy better are - – competitive advantages are harder to sustain because of technology dispersion, cloud computing is disrupting traditional business models, talent flight as more people leaving formal jobs, digital marketing is dominated by two big players Facebook and Google, banking and financial system is disrupted by Bitcoin and other crypto currencies, supply chains are disrupted by pandemic , increasing transportation and logistics costs,
increasing inequality as vast percentage of new income is going to the top 1%, technology disruption, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Allstate Chemical Co.: The Commercialization of Dynarim
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Allstate Chemical Co.: The Commercialization of Dynarim case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Criteria Dynarim, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Criteria Dynarim 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 Allstate Chemical Co.: The Commercialization of Dynarim can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Allstate Chemical Co.: The Commercialization of Dynarim case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Criteria Dynarim
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 Criteria Dynarim
Strengths Allstate Chemical Co.: The Commercialization of Dynarim | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Criteria Dynarim in Allstate Chemical Co.: The Commercialization of Dynarim Harvard Business Review case study are -
Effective Research and Development (R&D)
– Criteria Dynarim 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 Allstate Chemical Co.: The Commercialization of Dynarim - 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
– Criteria Dynarim is one of the leading recruiters in the industry. Managers in the Allstate Chemical Co.: The Commercialization of Dynarim are in a position to attract the best talent available. The firm has a robust talent identification program that helps in identifying the brightest.
Cross disciplinary teams
– Horizontal connected teams at the Criteria Dynarim 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.
Innovation driven organization
– Criteria Dynarim is one of the most innovative firm in sector. Manager in Allstate Chemical Co.: The Commercialization of Dynarim Harvard Business Review case study can use Clayton Christensen Disruptive Innovation strategies to further increase the scale of innovtions in the organization.
Highly skilled collaborators
– Criteria Dynarim 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 Allstate Chemical Co.: The Commercialization of Dynarim HBR case study have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
Learning organization
- Criteria Dynarim 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 Criteria Dynarim is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders in Allstate Chemical Co.: The Commercialization of Dynarim Harvard Business Review case study emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of Criteria Dynarim in the sector have low bargaining power. Allstate Chemical Co.: The Commercialization of Dynarim has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Criteria Dynarim to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
Diverse revenue streams
– Criteria Dynarim is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided firm in Allstate Chemical Co.: The Commercialization of Dynarim 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.
Training and development
– Criteria Dynarim has one of the best training and development program in the industry. The effectiveness of the training programs can be measured in Allstate Chemical Co.: The Commercialization of Dynarim 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.
High brand equity
– Criteria Dynarim has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Criteria Dynarim to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Superior customer experience
– The customer experience strategy of Criteria Dynarim in the segment is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.
Organizational Resilience of Criteria Dynarim
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing that Criteria Dynarim does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
Weaknesses Allstate Chemical Co.: The Commercialization of Dynarim | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Allstate Chemical Co.: The Commercialization of Dynarim are -
High dependence on star products
– The top 2 products and services of the firm as mentioned in the Allstate Chemical Co.: The Commercialization of Dynarim 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 Criteria Dynarim has relatively successful track record of launching new products.
Workers concerns about automation
– As automation is fast increasing in the segment, Criteria Dynarim 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.
Employees’ incomplete understanding of strategy
– From the instances in the HBR case study Allstate Chemical Co.: The Commercialization of Dynarim, it seems that the employees of Criteria Dynarim 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.
No frontier risks strategy
– After analyzing the HBR case study Allstate Chemical Co.: The Commercialization of Dynarim, 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.
Ability to respond to the competition
– As the decision making is very deliberative, highlighted in the case study Allstate Chemical Co.: The Commercialization of Dynarim, in the dynamic environment Criteria Dynarim has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. Criteria Dynarim has reasonably good record with similar level competitors but it has struggled with new entrants taking away niches of its business.
Low market penetration in new markets
– Outside its home market of Criteria Dynarim, firm in the HBR case study Allstate Chemical Co.: The Commercialization of Dynarim needs to spend more promotional, marketing, and advertising efforts to penetrate international markets.
Need for greater diversity
– Criteria Dynarim 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.
Lack of clear differentiation of Criteria Dynarim products
– To increase the profitability and margins on the products, Criteria Dynarim needs to provide more differentiated products than what it is currently offering in the marketplace.
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 Criteria Dynarim supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes mentioned in the HBR case study - Allstate Chemical Co.: The Commercialization of Dynarim, it is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left Criteria Dynarim vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.
Compensation and incentives
– The revenue per employee as mentioned in the HBR case study Allstate Chemical Co.: The Commercialization of Dynarim, is just above the industry average. Criteria Dynarim 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.
Slow to strategic competitive environment developments
– As Allstate Chemical Co.: The Commercialization of Dynarim HBR case study mentions - Criteria Dynarim 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 Allstate Chemical Co.: The Commercialization of Dynarim | 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 Allstate Chemical Co.: The Commercialization of Dynarim 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 Criteria Dynarim in the consumer business. Now Criteria Dynarim can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.
Buying journey improvements
– Criteria Dynarim can improve the customer journey of consumers in the industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. Allstate Chemical Co.: The Commercialization of Dynarim 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.
Lowering marketing communication costs
– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Criteria Dynarim 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.
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– Criteria Dynarim 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 Allstate Chemical Co.: The Commercialization of Dynarim - to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Criteria Dynarim to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
Redefining models of collaboration and team work
– As explained in the weaknesses section, Criteria Dynarim is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. Allstate Chemical Co.: The Commercialization of Dynarim 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.
Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities
– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Criteria Dynarim 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 Criteria Dynarim to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
Increase in government spending
– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Criteria Dynarim can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Criteria Dynarim operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Technology & Operations sector.
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. Criteria Dynarim 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. Criteria Dynarim 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.
Developing new processes and practices
– Criteria Dynarim 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.
Low interest rates
– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Criteria Dynarim 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.
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. Criteria Dynarim can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.
Better consumer reach
– The expansion of the 5G network will help Criteria Dynarim to increase its market reach. Criteria Dynarim 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.
Loyalty marketing
– Criteria Dynarim 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.
Threats Allstate Chemical Co.: The Commercialization of Dynarim External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Allstate Chemical Co.: The Commercialization of Dynarim are -
Increasing wage structure of Criteria Dynarim
– 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 Criteria Dynarim.
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. Criteria Dynarim can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
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 Criteria Dynarim in the Technology & Operations sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
Environmental challenges
– Criteria Dynarim 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. Criteria Dynarim can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Technology & Operations industry.
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. Criteria Dynarim 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.
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.
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Criteria Dynarim is facing in Technology & Operations sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.
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 Criteria Dynarim business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry in the industry are lowering. It can presents Criteria Dynarim with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the sector.
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.
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Criteria Dynarim has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Technology & Operations industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Criteria Dynarim 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.
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Criteria Dynarim 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.
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Criteria Dynarim 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 Allstate Chemical Co.: The Commercialization of Dynarim .
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Allstate Chemical Co.: The Commercialization of Dynarim 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 Allstate Chemical Co.: The Commercialization of Dynarim 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 Allstate Chemical Co.: The Commercialization of Dynarim 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 Allstate Chemical Co.: The Commercialization of Dynarim 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 Allstate Chemical Co.: The Commercialization of Dynarim 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 Criteria Dynarim needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.