Living Proof: Are We a Technology Company or a Beauty Company? SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Technology & Operations
Strategy / MBA Resources
Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of Living Proof: Are We a Technology Company or a Beauty Company?
To maximize their effectiveness, color cases should be printed in color.Jon Flint came up with the idea of a science-based beauty company while talking with his hairdresser about the problems with typical hair and skin care products. Together with a small team that included Professor Robert Langer of MIT, he committed to assemble a team of scientists from outside the beauty industry to challenge the conventional wisdom. Their company, Living Proof, wanted to offer women "proof in a bottle" rather than "hope in a bottle." As the firm came to market with its first products, it focused on explaining its science to consumers. It found it increasingly necessary to direct more of its resources towards marketing, including a major investment in Jennifer Aniston as its celebrity spokesperson. Were they becoming less of a biotech company and more like a traditional beauty company? How did they reconcile the desire for continued high spending on R&D with the need to ramp up marketing?
Swot Analysis of "Living Proof: Are We a Technology Company or a Beauty Company?" written by Willy Shih includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Beauty Proof facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Living Proof: Are We a Technology Company or a Beauty Company? case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Research & development, Strategy and Technology & Operations.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Living Proof: Are We a Technology Company or a Beauty Company? casestudy better are - – central banks are concerned over increasing inflation, challanges to central banks by blockchain based private currencies, wage bills are increasing, there is backlash against globalization, increasing government debt because of Covid-19 spendings, competitive advantages are harder to sustain because of technology dispersion, increasing inequality as vast percentage of new income is going to the top 1%,
supply chains are disrupted by pandemic , customer relationship management is fast transforming because of increasing concerns over data privacy, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Living Proof: Are We a Technology Company or a Beauty Company?
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Living Proof: Are We a Technology Company or a Beauty Company? case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Beauty Proof, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Beauty Proof 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 Living Proof: Are We a Technology Company or a Beauty Company? can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Living Proof: Are We a Technology Company or a Beauty Company? case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Beauty Proof
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 Beauty Proof
Strengths Living Proof: Are We a Technology Company or a Beauty Company? | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Beauty Proof in Living Proof: Are We a Technology Company or a Beauty Company? Harvard Business Review case study are -
Ability to lead change in Technology & Operations field
– Beauty Proof 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 Beauty Proof in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Technology & Operations industry
– Living Proof: Are We a Technology Company or a Beauty Company? firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Beauty Proof to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Technology & Operations industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Beauty Proof to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Digital Transformation in Technology & Operations segment
- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For Beauty Proof digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Beauty Proof has successfully integrated the four key components of digital transformation – digital integration in processes, digital integration in marketing and customer relationship management, digital integration into the value chain, and using technology to explore new products and market opportunities.
Diverse revenue streams
– Beauty Proof is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided firm in Living Proof: Are We a Technology Company or a Beauty Company? 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.
Successful track record of launching new products
– Beauty Proof has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Beauty Proof 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.
Training and development
– Beauty Proof has one of the best training and development program in the industry. The effectiveness of the training programs can be measured in Living Proof: Are We a Technology Company or a Beauty Company? 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.
Operational resilience
– The operational resilience strategy in the Living Proof: Are We a Technology Company or a Beauty Company? 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.
Effective Research and Development (R&D)
– Beauty Proof 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 Living Proof: Are We a Technology Company or a Beauty Company? - staying ahead in the industry in terms of – new product launches, superior customer experience, highly competitive pricing strategies, and great returns to the shareholders.
Cross disciplinary teams
– Horizontal connected teams at the Beauty Proof 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
– Beauty Proof is one of the most innovative firm in sector. Manager in Living Proof: Are We a Technology Company or a Beauty Company? 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
– Beauty Proof 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 Living Proof: Are We a Technology Company or a Beauty Company? HBR case study have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
Learning organization
- Beauty Proof 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 Beauty Proof is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders in Living Proof: Are We a Technology Company or a Beauty Company? Harvard Business Review case study emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
Weaknesses Living Proof: Are We a Technology Company or a Beauty Company? | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Living Proof: Are We a Technology Company or a Beauty Company? are -
No frontier risks strategy
– After analyzing the HBR case study Living Proof: Are We a Technology Company or a Beauty Company?, 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.
Aligning sales with marketing
– It come across in the case study Living Proof: Are We a Technology Company or a Beauty Company? 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 Living Proof: Are We a Technology Company or a Beauty Company? can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Beauty Proof is planning to shift buying processes online.
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 Beauty Proof supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes mentioned in the HBR case study - Living Proof: Are We a Technology Company or a Beauty Company?, it is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left Beauty Proof vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.
Employees’ incomplete understanding of strategy
– From the instances in the HBR case study Living Proof: Are We a Technology Company or a Beauty Company?, it seems that the employees of Beauty Proof 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.
High bargaining power of channel partners
– Because of the regulatory requirements, Willy Shih suggests that, Beauty Proof 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.
Products dominated business model
– Even though Beauty Proof 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 - Living Proof: Are We a Technology Company or a Beauty Company? should strive to include more intangible value offerings along with its core products and services.
Slow to strategic competitive environment developments
– As Living Proof: Are We a Technology Company or a Beauty Company? HBR case study mentions - Beauty Proof 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.
Slow to harness new channels of communication
– Even though competitors are using new communication channels such as Instagram, Tiktok, and Snap, Beauty Proof is slow explore the new channels of communication. These new channels of communication mentioned in marketing section of case study Living Proof: Are We a Technology Company or a Beauty Company? can help to provide better information regarding products and services. It can also build an online community to further reach out to potential customers.
Slow decision making process
– As mentioned earlier in the report, Beauty Proof 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. Beauty Proof 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 Living Proof: Are We a Technology Company or a Beauty Company? 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 Beauty Proof 's lucrative customers.
Lack of clear differentiation of Beauty Proof products
– To increase the profitability and margins on the products, Beauty Proof needs to provide more differentiated products than what it is currently offering in the marketplace.
Opportunities Living Proof: Are We a Technology Company or a Beauty Company? | 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 Living Proof: Are We a Technology Company or a Beauty Company? 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 Beauty Proof in the consumer business. Now Beauty Proof can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.
Loyalty marketing
– Beauty Proof 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.
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 Beauty Proof 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.
Developing new processes and practices
– Beauty Proof 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.
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– Beauty Proof 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 Living Proof: Are We a Technology Company or a Beauty Company? - to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Beauty Proof to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
Better consumer reach
– The expansion of the 5G network will help Beauty Proof to increase its market reach. Beauty Proof 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.
Buying journey improvements
– Beauty Proof can improve the customer journey of consumers in the industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. Living Proof: Are We a Technology Company or a Beauty Company? 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.
Low interest rates
– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Beauty Proof 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.
Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities
– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Beauty Proof 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 Beauty Proof to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
Redefining models of collaboration and team work
– As explained in the weaknesses section, Beauty Proof is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. Living Proof: Are We a Technology Company or a Beauty Company? 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.
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. Beauty Proof 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. Beauty Proof 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.
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Beauty Proof has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Beauty Proof to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the Living Proof: Are We a Technology Company or a Beauty Company? case study. Beauty Proof can build new products and services such as - data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
Increase in government spending
– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Beauty Proof can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Beauty Proof operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Technology & Operations sector.
Threats Living Proof: Are We a Technology Company or a Beauty Company? External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Living Proof: Are We a Technology Company or a Beauty Company? are -
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, as highlighted in case study Living Proof: Are We a Technology Company or a Beauty Company?, Beauty Proof 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 .
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Beauty Proof 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 Living Proof: Are We a Technology Company or a Beauty Company? .
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 Beauty Proof.
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
– Beauty Proof 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.
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. Beauty Proof 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
– Beauty Proof 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.
Regulatory challenges
– Beauty Proof 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.
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry in the industry are lowering. It can presents Beauty Proof with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the sector.
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 Beauty Proof in the Technology & Operations sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
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. Beauty Proof can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Beauty Proof has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Technology & Operations industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Beauty Proof 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.
Increasing wage structure of Beauty Proof
– 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 Beauty Proof.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Living Proof: Are We a Technology Company or a Beauty Company? 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 Living Proof: Are We a Technology Company or a Beauty Company? 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 Living Proof: Are We a Technology Company or a Beauty Company? 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 Living Proof: Are We a Technology Company or a Beauty Company? 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 Living Proof: Are We a Technology Company or a Beauty Company? 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 Beauty Proof needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.