Ivey Publishing: Making a Case for Paying the Price SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Strategy & Execution
Strategy / MBA Resources
Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of Ivey Publishing: Making a Case for Paying the Price
In 2017, Ivey Publishing, a publisher and distributor of cases for the academic market, struggled with widespread copyright infringement, which affected its revenue stream. The digital revolution, which had an impact on so many other creative industries, including music, film, and computer software, had also affected the publisher. Ivey Publishing's sales team leader made a call to a business professor to elicit his support in encouraging his students to purchase cases from Ivey Publishing (rather than copying them from other students). Having failed to persuade this professor and others, the sales team leader reflected on what else she could do to strengthen Ivey Publishing's financial performance. Brent Beal is affiliated with University of Texas at Tyler. Karen MacMillan is affiliated with Wilfrid Laurier University.
Swot Analysis of "Ivey Publishing: Making a Case for Paying the Price" written by Brent D. Beal, Karen MacMillan includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Ivey Publishing's facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Ivey Publishing: Making a Case for Paying the Price case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Influence, Intellectual property, Pricing and Strategy & Execution.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Ivey Publishing: Making a Case for Paying the Price casestudy better are - – increasing energy prices, increasing inequality as vast percentage of new income is going to the top 1%, increasing transportation and logistics costs, banking and financial system is disrupted by Bitcoin and other crypto currencies, geopolitical disruptions, wage bills are increasing, digital marketing is dominated by two big players Facebook and Google,
talent flight as more people leaving formal jobs, increasing government debt because of Covid-19 spendings, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Ivey Publishing: Making a Case for Paying the Price
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Ivey Publishing: Making a Case for Paying the Price case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Ivey Publishing's, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Ivey Publishing's 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 Ivey Publishing: Making a Case for Paying the Price can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Ivey Publishing: Making a Case for Paying the Price case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Ivey Publishing's
3. Assessing feasibility of the new initiative in Strategy & Execution field.
4. Making a Strategy & Execution topic specific business decision
5. Set goals for the organization
6. Organizational restructuring of Ivey Publishing's
Strengths Ivey Publishing: Making a Case for Paying the Price | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Ivey Publishing's in Ivey Publishing: Making a Case for Paying the Price Harvard Business Review case study are -
Cross disciplinary teams
– Horizontal connected teams at the Ivey Publishing's 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.
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of Ivey Publishing's in the sector have low bargaining power. Ivey Publishing: Making a Case for Paying the Price has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Ivey Publishing's to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
Organizational Resilience of Ivey Publishing's
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing that Ivey Publishing's does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
Successful track record of launching new products
– Ivey Publishing's has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Ivey Publishing's 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.
High switching costs
– The high switching costs that Ivey Publishing's 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.
Ability to lead change in Strategy & Execution field
– Ivey Publishing's 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 Ivey Publishing's in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.
Diverse revenue streams
– Ivey Publishing's is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided firm in Ivey Publishing: Making a Case for Paying the Price 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.
Highly skilled collaborators
– Ivey Publishing's 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 Ivey Publishing: Making a Case for Paying the Price HBR case study have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
Training and development
– Ivey Publishing's has one of the best training and development program in the industry. The effectiveness of the training programs can be measured in Ivey Publishing: Making a Case for Paying the Price 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.
Innovation driven organization
– Ivey Publishing's is one of the most innovative firm in sector. Manager in Ivey Publishing: Making a Case for Paying the Price Harvard Business Review case study can use Clayton Christensen Disruptive Innovation strategies to further increase the scale of innovtions in the organization.
Superior customer experience
– The customer experience strategy of Ivey Publishing's in the segment is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Strategy & Execution industry
– Ivey Publishing: Making a Case for Paying the Price firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Ivey Publishing's to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Strategy & Execution industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Ivey Publishing's to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Weaknesses Ivey Publishing: Making a Case for Paying the Price | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Ivey Publishing: Making a Case for Paying the Price are -
Workers concerns about automation
– As automation is fast increasing in the segment, Ivey Publishing's 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 to strategic competitive environment developments
– As Ivey Publishing: Making a Case for Paying the Price HBR case study mentions - Ivey Publishing's 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.
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 Ivey Publishing's supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes mentioned in the HBR case study - Ivey Publishing: Making a Case for Paying the Price, it is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left Ivey Publishing's vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.
Skills based hiring
– The stress on hiring functional specialists at Ivey Publishing's 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.
Interest costs
– Compare to the competition, Ivey Publishing's 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.
Employees’ incomplete understanding of strategy
– From the instances in the HBR case study Ivey Publishing: Making a Case for Paying the Price, it seems that the employees of Ivey Publishing's 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 Ivey Publishing: Making a Case for Paying the Price, it seems that company is thinking about the frontier risks that can impact Strategy & Execution 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.
High operating costs
– Compare to the competitors, firm in the HBR case study Ivey Publishing: Making a Case for Paying the Price 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 Ivey Publishing's 's lucrative customers.
Ability to respond to the competition
– As the decision making is very deliberative, highlighted in the case study Ivey Publishing: Making a Case for Paying the Price, in the dynamic environment Ivey Publishing's has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. Ivey Publishing's has reasonably good record with similar level competitors but it has struggled with new entrants taking away niches of its business.
Aligning sales with marketing
– It come across in the case study Ivey Publishing: Making a Case for Paying the Price 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 Ivey Publishing: Making a Case for Paying the Price can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Ivey Publishing's is planning to shift buying processes online.
High bargaining power of channel partners
– Because of the regulatory requirements, Brent D. Beal, Karen MacMillan suggests that, Ivey Publishing's 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.
Opportunities Ivey Publishing: Making a Case for Paying the Price | 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 Ivey Publishing: Making a Case for Paying the Price are -
Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities
– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Ivey Publishing's 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 Ivey Publishing's to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
Better consumer reach
– The expansion of the 5G network will help Ivey Publishing's to increase its market reach. Ivey Publishing's 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
– Ivey Publishing's 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.
Changes in consumer behavior post Covid-19
– Consumer behavior has changed in the Strategy & Execution industry because of Covid-19 restrictions. Some of this behavior will stay once things get back to normal. Ivey Publishing's 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. Ivey Publishing's 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.
Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains
– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Ivey Publishing's 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, Ivey Publishing: Making a Case for Paying the Price, to buy more products closer to the markets, and it can leverage its size and influence to get better deal from the local markets.
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 Ivey Publishing's 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.
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. Ivey Publishing's can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.
Reforming the budgeting process
- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects Ivey Publishing's can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.
Developing new processes and practices
– Ivey Publishing's can develop new processes and procedures in Strategy & Execution 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.
Manufacturing automation
– Ivey Publishing's can use the latest technology developments to improve its manufacturing and designing process in Strategy & Execution segment. It can use CAD and 3D printing to build a quick prototype and pilot testing products. It can leverage automation using machine learning and artificial intelligence to do faster production at lowers costs, and it can leverage the growth in satellite and tracking technologies to improve inventory management, transportation, and shipping.
Building a culture of innovation
– managers at Ivey Publishing's 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 Strategy & Execution segment.
Lowering marketing communication costs
– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Ivey Publishing's in the field of marketing communication. It will bring down the cost of doing business, provide technology platform to build new products in the Strategy & Execution segment, and it will provide faster access to the consumers.
Finding new ways to collaborate
– Covid-19 has not only transformed business models of companies in Strategy & Execution industry, but it has also influenced the consumer preferences. Ivey Publishing's can tie-up with other value chain partners to explore new opportunities regarding meeting customer demands and building a rewarding and engaging relationship.
Threats Ivey Publishing: Making a Case for Paying the Price External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Ivey Publishing: Making a Case for Paying the Price are -
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 Ivey Publishing's.
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. Ivey Publishing's needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Strategy & Execution industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
Environmental challenges
– Ivey Publishing's 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. Ivey Publishing's can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Strategy & Execution industry.
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Ivey Publishing's in the Strategy & Execution industry. The Strategy & Execution industry is already at various protected from local competition in China, with the rise of trade war the protection levels may go up. This presents a clear threat of current business model in Chinese market.
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Ivey Publishing's is facing in Strategy & Execution sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.
Easy access to finance
– Easy access to finance in Strategy & Execution field will also reduce the barriers to entry in the industry, thus putting downward pressure on the prices because of increasing competition. Ivey Publishing's can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
High dependence on third party suppliers
– Ivey Publishing's 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.
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry in the industry are lowering. It can presents Ivey Publishing's with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the sector.
Regulatory challenges
– Ivey Publishing's 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 Strategy & Execution industry regulations.
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 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.
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. Ivey Publishing's 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 Ivey Publishing's in the Strategy & Execution sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Ivey Publishing: Making a Case for Paying the Price 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 Ivey Publishing: Making a Case for Paying the Price 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 Ivey Publishing: Making a Case for Paying the Price 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 Ivey Publishing: Making a Case for Paying the Price 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 Ivey Publishing: Making a Case for Paying the Price 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 Ivey Publishing's needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.