Running and Growing the Small Company: Project-Paper Writing Recommendations SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Technology & Operations
Strategy / MBA Resources
Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of Running and Growing the Small Company: Project-Paper Writing Recommendations
Students are required to do a team project. During the project, they are to do a benchmarking study of a business process to determine best practice or to study a single business process for the purposes of discovering improvement opportunities. The student teams are required to report their results in a 10- to 15-page paper. In years past, students have struggled to "ground" their findings properly in the specific observations and other data they have collected through direct observation, interview, survey, and other methods. As a result, the persuasiveness of their papers has suffered. Furthermore, and of longer term concern, the students have not fully exploited the opportunity to develop a critical management skill--reasoning inductively to discover how a process or system works when an adequate explanation is lacking a priori.
Swot Analysis of "Running and Growing the Small Company: Project-Paper Writing Recommendations" written by Steven J. Spear includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Priori Paper facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Running and Growing the Small Company: Project-Paper Writing Recommendations case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Entrepreneurial management and Technology & Operations.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Running and Growing the Small Company: Project-Paper Writing Recommendations casestudy better are - – supply chains are disrupted by pandemic , increasing commodity prices, challanges to central banks by blockchain based private currencies, technology disruption, banking and financial system is disrupted by Bitcoin and other crypto currencies, increasing household debt because of falling income levels, increasing inequality as vast percentage of new income is going to the top 1%,
increasing government debt because of Covid-19 spendings, central banks are concerned over increasing inflation, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Running and Growing the Small Company: Project-Paper Writing Recommendations
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Running and Growing the Small Company: Project-Paper Writing Recommendations case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Priori Paper, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Priori Paper 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 Running and Growing the Small Company: Project-Paper Writing Recommendations can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Running and Growing the Small Company: Project-Paper Writing Recommendations case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Priori Paper
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 Priori Paper
Strengths Running and Growing the Small Company: Project-Paper Writing Recommendations | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Priori Paper in Running and Growing the Small Company: Project-Paper Writing Recommendations Harvard Business Review case study are -
Highly skilled collaborators
– Priori Paper 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 Running and Growing the Small Company: Project-Paper Writing Recommendations HBR case study have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
Strong track record of project management
– Priori Paper is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.
High switching costs
– The high switching costs that Priori Paper 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.
Successful track record of launching new products
– Priori Paper has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Priori Paper 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.
Cross disciplinary teams
– Horizontal connected teams at the Priori Paper 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.
Operational resilience
– The operational resilience strategy in the Running and Growing the Small Company: Project-Paper Writing Recommendations 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 Priori Paper
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing that Priori Paper does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
Innovation driven organization
– Priori Paper is one of the most innovative firm in sector. Manager in Running and Growing the Small Company: Project-Paper Writing Recommendations Harvard Business Review case study can use Clayton Christensen Disruptive Innovation strategies to further increase the scale of innovtions in the organization.
Effective Research and Development (R&D)
– Priori Paper 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 Running and Growing the Small Company: Project-Paper Writing Recommendations - 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
– Priori Paper is one of the leading recruiters in the industry. Managers in the Running and Growing the Small Company: Project-Paper Writing Recommendations are in a position to attract the best talent available. The firm has a robust talent identification program that helps in identifying the brightest.
Diverse revenue streams
– Priori Paper is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided firm in Running and Growing the Small Company: Project-Paper Writing Recommendations 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.
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Technology & Operations industry
– Running and Growing the Small Company: Project-Paper Writing Recommendations firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Priori Paper to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Technology & Operations industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Priori Paper to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Weaknesses Running and Growing the Small Company: Project-Paper Writing Recommendations | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Running and Growing the Small Company: Project-Paper Writing Recommendations are -
Compensation and incentives
– The revenue per employee as mentioned in the HBR case study Running and Growing the Small Company: Project-Paper Writing Recommendations, is just above the industry average. Priori Paper 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.
Low market penetration in new markets
– Outside its home market of Priori Paper, firm in the HBR case study Running and Growing the Small Company: Project-Paper Writing Recommendations needs to spend more promotional, marketing, and advertising efforts to penetrate international markets.
Workers concerns about automation
– As automation is fast increasing in the segment, Priori Paper 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.
Slow decision making process
– As mentioned earlier in the report, Priori Paper 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. Priori Paper 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.
Products dominated business model
– Even though Priori Paper 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 - Running and Growing the Small Company: Project-Paper Writing Recommendations should strive to include more intangible value offerings along with its core products and services.
High dependence on star products
– The top 2 products and services of the firm as mentioned in the Running and Growing the Small Company: Project-Paper Writing Recommendations 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 Priori Paper has relatively successful track record of launching new products.
High cash cycle compare to competitors
Priori Paper has a high cash cycle compare to other players in the industry. It needs to shorten the cash cycle by 12% to be more competitive in the marketplace, reduce inventory costs, and be more profitable.
Skills based hiring
– The stress on hiring functional specialists at Priori Paper has created an environment where the organization is dominated by functional specialists rather than management generalist. This has resulted into product oriented approach rather than marketing oriented approach or consumers oriented approach.
High operating costs
– Compare to the competitors, firm in the HBR case study Running and Growing the Small Company: Project-Paper Writing Recommendations 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 Priori Paper 's lucrative customers.
Slow to harness new channels of communication
– Even though competitors are using new communication channels such as Instagram, Tiktok, and Snap, Priori Paper is slow explore the new channels of communication. These new channels of communication mentioned in marketing section of case study Running and Growing the Small Company: Project-Paper Writing Recommendations can help to provide better information regarding products and services. It can also build an online community to further reach out to potential customers.
Employees’ incomplete understanding of strategy
– From the instances in the HBR case study Running and Growing the Small Company: Project-Paper Writing Recommendations, it seems that the employees of Priori Paper 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.
Opportunities Running and Growing the Small Company: Project-Paper Writing Recommendations | 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 Running and Growing the Small Company: Project-Paper Writing Recommendations 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 Priori Paper in the consumer business. Now Priori Paper can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.
Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains
– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Priori Paper 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, Running and Growing the Small Company: Project-Paper Writing Recommendations, to buy more products closer to the markets, and it can leverage its size and influence to get better deal from the local markets.
Redefining models of collaboration and team work
– As explained in the weaknesses section, Priori Paper is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. Running and Growing the Small Company: Project-Paper Writing Recommendations 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.
Low interest rates
– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Priori Paper 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.
Better consumer reach
– The expansion of the 5G network will help Priori Paper to increase its market reach. Priori Paper 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.
Leveraging digital technologies
– Priori Paper 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.
Developing new processes and practices
– Priori Paper 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.
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. Priori Paper can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.
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 Priori Paper 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.
Increase in government spending
– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Priori Paper can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Priori Paper operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Technology & Operations sector.
Buying journey improvements
– Priori Paper can improve the customer journey of consumers in the industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. Running and Growing the Small Company: Project-Paper Writing Recommendations 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. Priori Paper 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. Priori Paper 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.
Building a culture of innovation
– managers at Priori Paper 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.
Threats Running and Growing the Small Company: Project-Paper Writing Recommendations External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Running and Growing the Small Company: Project-Paper Writing Recommendations are -
High dependence on third party suppliers
– Priori Paper 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.
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Priori Paper has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Technology & Operations industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Priori Paper 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.
Consumer confidence and its impact on Priori Paper 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.
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry in the industry are lowering. It can presents Priori Paper with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the sector.
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. Priori Paper 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.
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 Priori Paper in the Technology & Operations sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Priori Paper 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.
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Priori Paper is facing in Technology & Operations sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.
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.
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 Priori Paper business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
Increasing wage structure of Priori Paper
– 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 Priori Paper.
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. Priori Paper needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Technology & Operations industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, as highlighted in case study Running and Growing the Small Company: Project-Paper Writing Recommendations, Priori Paper 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 .
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Running and Growing the Small Company: Project-Paper Writing Recommendations 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 Running and Growing the Small Company: Project-Paper Writing Recommendations 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 Running and Growing the Small Company: Project-Paper Writing Recommendations 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 Running and Growing the Small Company: Project-Paper Writing Recommendations 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 Running and Growing the Small Company: Project-Paper Writing Recommendations 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 Priori Paper needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.