Spreading Academic Entrepreneurship: Made in Mexico SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Innovation & Entrepreneurship
Strategy / MBA Resources
Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of Spreading Academic Entrepreneurship: Made in Mexico
This work presents REPITA (Research-Ecosystem-People-Intellectual Property-Transfer-Alignment), a prescriptive and repeatable model for successful technology-based academic entrepreneurship, synthesized from research of academic entrepreneurship in developing economy conditions. In this work, we identify three deficiencies in Mexico's entrepreneurship ecosystem: research skills, high technology, and technology transfer. We then present a solution that has been recognized by the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) for fueling high-tech university spin-offs with science and technology doctoral research. Lessons from 48 spin-off projects are synthesized in the newly proposed REPITA model, which prescribes connecting a basic research platform to applications, catalyzing the entrepreneurship ecosystem with resources and incentives, combining highly specialized people in entrepreneurial teams, setting generous and flexible intellectual property policies for the knowledge economy, transferring technology per entry and exit strategies, and aligning technology and business incubation. Finally, we propose a tool that presents academic entrepreneurship theories in an actionable format for university administrators and entrepreneurs. These results are not a theoretical framework on their own, but rather a real-world organizational model based on theory for impelling technology-based, academic spin-offs with economic impact. Taken together, this contribution may be useful to practitioners and provocative for researchers.
Authors :: Francisco J. Cantu-Ortiz, Nathalie Galeano, Patricia Mora-Castro, James Fangmeyer Jr.
Swot Analysis of "Spreading Academic Entrepreneurship: Made in Mexico" written by Francisco J. Cantu-Ortiz, Nathalie Galeano, Patricia Mora-Castro, James Fangmeyer Jr. includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Entrepreneurship Academic facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Spreading Academic Entrepreneurship: Made in Mexico case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Technology and Innovation & Entrepreneurship.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Spreading Academic Entrepreneurship: Made in Mexico casestudy better are - – competitive advantages are harder to sustain because of technology dispersion, digital marketing is dominated by two big players Facebook and Google, customer relationship management is fast transforming because of increasing concerns over data privacy, there is backlash against globalization, increasing government debt because of Covid-19 spendings, wage bills are increasing, banking and financial system is disrupted by Bitcoin and other crypto currencies,
challanges to central banks by blockchain based private currencies, increasing household debt because of falling income levels, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Spreading Academic Entrepreneurship: Made in Mexico
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Spreading Academic Entrepreneurship: Made in Mexico case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Entrepreneurship Academic, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Entrepreneurship Academic 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 Spreading Academic Entrepreneurship: Made in Mexico can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Spreading Academic Entrepreneurship: Made in Mexico case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Entrepreneurship Academic
3. Assessing feasibility of the new initiative in Innovation & Entrepreneurship field.
4. Making a Innovation & Entrepreneurship topic specific business decision
5. Set goals for the organization
6. Organizational restructuring of Entrepreneurship Academic
Strengths Spreading Academic Entrepreneurship: Made in Mexico | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Entrepreneurship Academic in Spreading Academic Entrepreneurship: Made in Mexico Harvard Business Review case study are -
Effective Research and Development (R&D)
– Entrepreneurship Academic 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 Spreading Academic Entrepreneurship: Made in Mexico - staying ahead in the industry in terms of – new product launches, superior customer experience, highly competitive pricing strategies, and great returns to the shareholders.
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of Entrepreneurship Academic in the sector have low bargaining power. Spreading Academic Entrepreneurship: Made in Mexico has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Entrepreneurship Academic to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
Training and development
– Entrepreneurship Academic has one of the best training and development program in the industry. The effectiveness of the training programs can be measured in Spreading Academic Entrepreneurship: Made in Mexico 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 Innovation & Entrepreneurship segment
- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For Entrepreneurship Academic digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Entrepreneurship Academic 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.
High brand equity
– Entrepreneurship Academic has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Entrepreneurship Academic to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Diverse revenue streams
– Entrepreneurship Academic is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided firm in Spreading Academic Entrepreneurship: Made in Mexico 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.
Strong track record of project management
– Entrepreneurship Academic is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.
Ability to recruit top talent
– Entrepreneurship Academic is one of the leading recruiters in the industry. Managers in the Spreading Academic Entrepreneurship: Made in Mexico 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 Entrepreneurship Academic in the segment is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.
Operational resilience
– The operational resilience strategy in the Spreading Academic Entrepreneurship: Made in Mexico 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 switching costs
– The high switching costs that Entrepreneurship Academic 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.
Learning organization
- Entrepreneurship Academic 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 Entrepreneurship Academic is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders in Spreading Academic Entrepreneurship: Made in Mexico Harvard Business Review case study emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
Weaknesses Spreading Academic Entrepreneurship: Made in Mexico | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Spreading Academic Entrepreneurship: Made in Mexico are -
Need for greater diversity
– Entrepreneurship Academic 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.
High cash cycle compare to competitors
Entrepreneurship Academic 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.
Products dominated business model
– Even though Entrepreneurship Academic 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 - Spreading Academic Entrepreneurship: Made in Mexico 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 Spreading Academic Entrepreneurship: Made in Mexico 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 Entrepreneurship Academic has relatively successful track record of launching new products.
Slow to harness new channels of communication
– Even though competitors are using new communication channels such as Instagram, Tiktok, and Snap, Entrepreneurship Academic is slow explore the new channels of communication. These new channels of communication mentioned in marketing section of case study Spreading Academic Entrepreneurship: Made in Mexico can help to provide better information regarding products and services. It can also build an online community to further reach out to potential customers.
Aligning sales with marketing
– It come across in the case study Spreading Academic Entrepreneurship: Made in Mexico 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 Spreading Academic Entrepreneurship: Made in Mexico can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Entrepreneurship Academic is planning to shift buying processes online.
Increasing silos among functional specialists
– The organizational structure of Entrepreneurship Academic is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Innovation & Entrepreneurship segment. Entrepreneurship Academic needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Entrepreneurship Academic to focus more on services rather than just following the product oriented approach.
Workers concerns about automation
– As automation is fast increasing in the segment, Entrepreneurship Academic 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, Entrepreneurship Academic 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. Entrepreneurship Academic 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.
Low market penetration in new markets
– Outside its home market of Entrepreneurship Academic, firm in the HBR case study Spreading Academic Entrepreneurship: Made in Mexico needs to spend more promotional, marketing, and advertising efforts to penetrate international markets.
Skills based hiring
– The stress on hiring functional specialists at Entrepreneurship Academic 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.
Opportunities Spreading Academic Entrepreneurship: Made in Mexico | 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 Spreading Academic Entrepreneurship: Made in Mexico are -
Loyalty marketing
– Entrepreneurship Academic 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.
Changes in consumer behavior post Covid-19
– Consumer behavior has changed in the Innovation & Entrepreneurship industry because of Covid-19 restrictions. Some of this behavior will stay once things get back to normal. Entrepreneurship Academic 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. Entrepreneurship Academic 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.
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 Entrepreneurship Academic 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. Entrepreneurship Academic can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.
Developing new processes and practices
– Entrepreneurship Academic can develop new processes and procedures in Innovation & Entrepreneurship 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.
Lowering marketing communication costs
– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Entrepreneurship Academic in the field of marketing communication. It will bring down the cost of doing business, provide technology platform to build new products in the Innovation & Entrepreneurship segment, and it will provide faster access to the consumers.
Manufacturing automation
– Entrepreneurship Academic can use the latest technology developments to improve its manufacturing and designing process in Innovation & Entrepreneurship 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.
Finding new ways to collaborate
– Covid-19 has not only transformed business models of companies in Innovation & Entrepreneurship industry, but it has also influenced the consumer preferences. Entrepreneurship Academic can tie-up with other value chain partners to explore new opportunities regarding meeting customer demands and building a rewarding and engaging relationship.
Increase in government spending
– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Entrepreneurship Academic can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Entrepreneurship Academic operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Innovation & Entrepreneurship sector.
Redefining models of collaboration and team work
– As explained in the weaknesses section, Entrepreneurship Academic is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. Spreading Academic Entrepreneurship: Made in Mexico 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.
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– Entrepreneurship Academic 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 Spreading Academic Entrepreneurship: Made in Mexico - to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Entrepreneurship Academic 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 Entrepreneurship Academic to increase its market reach. Entrepreneurship Academic 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.
Reforming the budgeting process
- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects Entrepreneurship Academic can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.
Threats Spreading Academic Entrepreneurship: Made in Mexico External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Spreading Academic Entrepreneurship: Made in Mexico are -
Increasing wage structure of Entrepreneurship Academic
– 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 Entrepreneurship Academic.
Easy access to finance
– Easy access to finance in Innovation & Entrepreneurship field will also reduce the barriers to entry in the industry, thus putting downward pressure on the prices because of increasing competition. Entrepreneurship Academic can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry in the industry are lowering. It can presents Entrepreneurship Academic with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the sector.
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Entrepreneurship Academic has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Innovation & Entrepreneurship industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Entrepreneurship Academic needs to keep up with the evolution of technology in the Innovation & Entrepreneurship 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.
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 Entrepreneurship Academic business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Entrepreneurship Academic is facing in Innovation & Entrepreneurship sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.
Regulatory challenges
– Entrepreneurship Academic 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 Innovation & Entrepreneurship 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. Entrepreneurship Academic 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 Entrepreneurship Academic in the Innovation & Entrepreneurship sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Entrepreneurship Academic 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 Spreading Academic Entrepreneurship: Made in Mexico .
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.
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Entrepreneurship Academic in the Innovation & Entrepreneurship industry. The Innovation & Entrepreneurship 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.
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 Entrepreneurship Academic.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Spreading Academic Entrepreneurship: Made in Mexico 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 Spreading Academic Entrepreneurship: Made in Mexico 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 Spreading Academic Entrepreneurship: Made in Mexico 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 Spreading Academic Entrepreneurship: Made in Mexico 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 Spreading Academic Entrepreneurship: Made in Mexico 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 Entrepreneurship Academic needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.