Rebel Technologies Series Seed Negotiation: Rebel Information SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
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Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of Rebel Technologies Series Seed Negotiation: Rebel Information
Students engage in a high-stakes seed stage investment negotiation between Empire Ventures, a leading venture capital firm, and Rebel Technologies, a cutting-edge virtual reality game developer. The parties must quickly hash out the size of the investment, board composition, founder vesting provisions and other issues or risk falling behind in a fast-moving marketplace. This document contains general information and confidential information and instructions for Rebel Technologies.
Authors :: Scott Lenet, Laju Obasaju, Selina Troesch
Swot Analysis of "Rebel Technologies Series Seed Negotiation: Rebel Information" written by Scott Lenet, Laju Obasaju, Selina Troesch includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Rebel Seed facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Rebel Technologies Series Seed Negotiation: Rebel Information case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Venture capital and Communication.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Rebel Technologies Series Seed Negotiation: Rebel Information casestudy better are - – cloud computing is disrupting traditional business models, increasing commodity prices, supply chains are disrupted by pandemic , wage bills are increasing, challanges to central banks by blockchain based private currencies, increasing household debt because of falling income levels, increasing energy prices,
increasing transportation and logistics costs, there is backlash against globalization, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Rebel Technologies Series Seed Negotiation: Rebel Information
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Rebel Technologies Series Seed Negotiation: Rebel Information case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Rebel Seed, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Rebel Seed 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 Rebel Technologies Series Seed Negotiation: Rebel Information can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Rebel Technologies Series Seed Negotiation: Rebel Information case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Rebel Seed
3. Assessing feasibility of the new initiative in Communication field.
4. Making a Communication topic specific business decision
5. Set goals for the organization
6. Organizational restructuring of Rebel Seed
Strengths Rebel Technologies Series Seed Negotiation: Rebel Information | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Rebel Seed in Rebel Technologies Series Seed Negotiation: Rebel Information Harvard Business Review case study are -
Highly skilled collaborators
– Rebel Seed 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 Rebel Technologies Series Seed Negotiation: Rebel Information HBR case study have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
Diverse revenue streams
– Rebel Seed is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided firm in Rebel Technologies Series Seed Negotiation: Rebel Information 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.
Ability to recruit top talent
– Rebel Seed is one of the leading recruiters in the industry. Managers in the Rebel Technologies Series Seed Negotiation: Rebel Information are in a position to attract the best talent available. The firm has a robust talent identification program that helps in identifying the brightest.
Superior customer experience
– The customer experience strategy of Rebel Seed in the segment is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.
Training and development
– Rebel Seed has one of the best training and development program in the industry. The effectiveness of the training programs can be measured in Rebel Technologies Series Seed Negotiation: Rebel Information 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.
Digital Transformation in Communication segment
- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For Rebel Seed digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Rebel Seed 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.
Successful track record of launching new products
– Rebel Seed has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Rebel Seed 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 Rebel Seed 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.
High switching costs
– The high switching costs that Rebel Seed 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.
Operational resilience
– The operational resilience strategy in the Rebel Technologies Series Seed Negotiation: Rebel Information 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.
High brand equity
– Rebel Seed has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Rebel Seed to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Effective Research and Development (R&D)
– Rebel Seed 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 Rebel Technologies Series Seed Negotiation: Rebel Information - staying ahead in the industry in terms of – new product launches, superior customer experience, highly competitive pricing strategies, and great returns to the shareholders.
Weaknesses Rebel Technologies Series Seed Negotiation: Rebel Information | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Rebel Technologies Series Seed Negotiation: Rebel Information are -
Skills based hiring
– The stress on hiring functional specialists at Rebel Seed 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.
Increasing silos among functional specialists
– The organizational structure of Rebel Seed is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Communication segment. Rebel Seed needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Rebel Seed to focus more on services rather than just following the product oriented approach.
No frontier risks strategy
– After analyzing the HBR case study Rebel Technologies Series Seed Negotiation: Rebel Information, it seems that company is thinking about the frontier risks that can impact Communication strategy. But it has very little resources allocation to manage the risks emerging from events such as natural disasters, climate change, melting of permafrost, tacking the rise of artificial intelligence, opportunities and threats emerging from commercialization of space etc.
Low market penetration in new markets
– Outside its home market of Rebel Seed, firm in the HBR case study Rebel Technologies Series Seed Negotiation: Rebel Information needs to spend more promotional, marketing, and advertising efforts to penetrate international markets.
Lack of clear differentiation of Rebel Seed products
– To increase the profitability and margins on the products, Rebel Seed needs to provide more differentiated products than what it is currently offering in the marketplace.
Products dominated business model
– Even though Rebel Seed 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 - Rebel Technologies Series Seed Negotiation: Rebel Information should strive to include more intangible value offerings along with its core products and services.
High operating costs
– Compare to the competitors, firm in the HBR case study Rebel Technologies Series Seed Negotiation: Rebel Information 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 Rebel Seed 's lucrative customers.
Interest costs
– Compare to the competition, Rebel Seed 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.
Capital Spending Reduction
– Even during the low interest decade, Rebel Seed has not been able to do capital spending to the tune of the competition. This has resulted into fewer innovations and company facing stiff competition from both existing competitors and new entrants who are disrupting the industry using digital technology.
Need for greater diversity
– Rebel Seed 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.
Employees’ incomplete understanding of strategy
– From the instances in the HBR case study Rebel Technologies Series Seed Negotiation: Rebel Information, it seems that the employees of Rebel Seed 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 Rebel Technologies Series Seed Negotiation: Rebel Information | 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 Rebel Technologies Series Seed Negotiation: Rebel Information are -
Learning at scale
– Online learning technologies has now opened space for Rebel Seed to conduct training and development for its employees across the world. This will result in not only reducing the cost of training but also help employees in different part of the world to integrate with the headquarter work culture, ethos, and standards.
Developing new processes and practices
– Rebel Seed can develop new processes and procedures in Communication 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.
Increase in government spending
– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Rebel Seed can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Rebel Seed operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Communication sector.
Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains
– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Rebel Seed 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, Rebel Technologies Series Seed Negotiation: Rebel Information, to buy more products closer to the markets, and it can leverage its size and influence to get better deal from the local markets.
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– Rebel Seed 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 Rebel Technologies Series Seed Negotiation: Rebel Information - to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Rebel Seed 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 Rebel Seed to increase its market reach. Rebel Seed 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.
Changes in consumer behavior post Covid-19
– Consumer behavior has changed in the Communication industry because of Covid-19 restrictions. Some of this behavior will stay once things get back to normal. Rebel Seed 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. Rebel Seed 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.
Manufacturing automation
– Rebel Seed can use the latest technology developments to improve its manufacturing and designing process in Communication 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.
Reforming the budgeting process
- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects Rebel Seed can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.
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 Rebel Seed in the consumer business. Now Rebel Seed can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.
Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities
– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Rebel Seed 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 Rebel Seed to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
Low interest rates
– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Rebel Seed 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.
Redefining models of collaboration and team work
– As explained in the weaknesses section, Rebel Seed is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. Rebel Technologies Series Seed Negotiation: Rebel Information 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.
Threats Rebel Technologies Series Seed Negotiation: Rebel Information External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Rebel Technologies Series Seed Negotiation: Rebel Information are -
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Rebel Seed is facing in Communication sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Rebel Seed has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Communication industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Rebel Seed needs to keep up with the evolution of technology in the Communication 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.
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry in the industry are lowering. It can presents Rebel Seed with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the sector.
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 Rebel Seed business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
Consumer confidence and its impact on Rebel Seed 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.
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Rebel Seed in the Communication industry. The Communication 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.
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Rebel Seed 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.
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.
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.
High dependence on third party suppliers
– Rebel Seed 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. Rebel Seed needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Communication industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
Regulatory challenges
– Rebel Seed 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 Communication industry regulations.
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. Rebel Seed 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.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Rebel Technologies Series Seed Negotiation: Rebel Information 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 Rebel Technologies Series Seed Negotiation: Rebel Information 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 Rebel Technologies Series Seed Negotiation: Rebel Information 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 Rebel Technologies Series Seed Negotiation: Rebel Information 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 Rebel Technologies Series Seed Negotiation: Rebel Information 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 Rebel Seed needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.