Public Entrepreneurs? Picking a Path SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Innovation & Entrepreneurship
Strategy / MBA Resources
Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of Public Entrepreneurs? Picking a Path
Direct entry into government remained an uncommon post-HBS path, with only 1-2% of recent classes going directly into the public sector. But, for public-minded MBAs, government wasn't the sole province for public problem-solving. MBAs could join or launch companies that sell to government (or directly to citizens), lead venture funds, operate as ecosystem partners, and more. What felt like a new array of opportunities, though, raised a host of additional questions: What does a career path for a public entrepreneur actually look like? In which sector (private vs. public) should I start? Should I run for elective office? What does that imply for how I pursue my career? And often, and perhaps especially, what do I need in order to be able to move back and forth between sectors? In the spring of 2017, four students in the MBA class felt incredibly fortunate. After two years of business school, strong opportunities awaited each of them. None was wanting for work. However, they still had to decide which posts to take at the moment, if any at all.
Swot Analysis of "Public Entrepreneurs? Picking a Path" written by Mitchell Weiss, Matthew Segneri includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Public Mbas facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Public Entrepreneurs? Picking a Path case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Government, Innovation, Leadership, Operations management, Social enterprise, Technology and Innovation & Entrepreneurship.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Public Entrepreneurs? Picking a Path casestudy better are - – geopolitical disruptions, wage bills are increasing, increasing government debt because of Covid-19 spendings, there is backlash against globalization, digital marketing is dominated by two big players Facebook and Google, technology disruption, there is increasing trade war between United States & China,
banking and financial system is disrupted by Bitcoin and other crypto currencies, challanges to central banks by blockchain based private currencies, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Public Entrepreneurs? Picking a Path
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Public Entrepreneurs? Picking a Path case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Public Mbas, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Public Mbas 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 Public Entrepreneurs? Picking a Path can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Public Entrepreneurs? Picking a Path case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Public Mbas
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 Public Mbas
Strengths Public Entrepreneurs? Picking a Path | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Public Mbas in Public Entrepreneurs? Picking a Path Harvard Business Review case study are -
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Innovation & Entrepreneurship industry
– Public Entrepreneurs? Picking a Path firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Public Mbas to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Innovation & Entrepreneurship industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Public Mbas to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Effective Research and Development (R&D)
– Public Mbas 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 Public Entrepreneurs? Picking a Path - staying ahead in the industry in terms of – new product launches, superior customer experience, highly competitive pricing strategies, and great returns to the shareholders.
Digital Transformation in Innovation & Entrepreneurship segment
- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For Public Mbas digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Public Mbas 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.
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of Public Mbas in the sector have low bargaining power. Public Entrepreneurs? Picking a Path has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Public Mbas to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
Analytics focus
– Public Mbas is putting a lot of focus on utilizing the power of analytics in business decision making. This has put it among the leading players in the industry. The technology infrastructure suggested by Mitchell Weiss, Matthew Segneri can also help it to harness the power of analytics for – marketing optimization, demand forecasting, customer relationship management, inventory management, information sharing across the value chain etc.
Highly skilled collaborators
– Public Mbas 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 Public Entrepreneurs? Picking a Path HBR case study have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
Strong track record of project management
– Public Mbas 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 brand equity
– Public Mbas has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Public Mbas to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Cross disciplinary teams
– Horizontal connected teams at the Public Mbas 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.
Ability to lead change in Innovation & Entrepreneurship field
– Public Mbas 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 Public Mbas in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.
Organizational Resilience of Public Mbas
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing that Public Mbas 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
– Public Mbas has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Public Mbas 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.
Weaknesses Public Entrepreneurs? Picking a Path | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Public Entrepreneurs? Picking a Path are -
Products dominated business model
– Even though Public Mbas 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 - Public Entrepreneurs? Picking a Path 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 Public Entrepreneurs? Picking a Path 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 Public Mbas has relatively successful track record of launching new products.
Ability to respond to the competition
– As the decision making is very deliberative, highlighted in the case study Public Entrepreneurs? Picking a Path, in the dynamic environment Public Mbas has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. Public Mbas has reasonably good record with similar level competitors but it has struggled with new entrants taking away niches of its business.
High bargaining power of channel partners
– Because of the regulatory requirements, Mitchell Weiss, Matthew Segneri suggests that, Public Mbas 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.
Compensation and incentives
– The revenue per employee as mentioned in the HBR case study Public Entrepreneurs? Picking a Path, is just above the industry average. Public Mbas 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.
Aligning sales with marketing
– It come across in the case study Public Entrepreneurs? Picking a Path 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 Public Entrepreneurs? Picking a Path can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Public Mbas is planning to shift buying processes online.
Slow to strategic competitive environment developments
– As Public Entrepreneurs? Picking a Path HBR case study mentions - Public Mbas 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.
Capital Spending Reduction
– Even during the low interest decade, Public Mbas 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.
Lack of clear differentiation of Public Mbas products
– To increase the profitability and margins on the products, Public Mbas needs to provide more differentiated products than what it is currently offering in the marketplace.
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 Public Mbas supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes mentioned in the HBR case study - Public Entrepreneurs? Picking a Path, it is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left Public Mbas vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.
Need for greater diversity
– Public Mbas 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.
Opportunities Public Entrepreneurs? Picking a Path | 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 Public Entrepreneurs? Picking a Path are -
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. Public Mbas 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. Public Mbas 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
– Public Mbas 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.
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 Public Mbas in the consumer business. Now Public Mbas can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.
Low interest rates
– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Public Mbas 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.
Leveraging digital technologies
– Public Mbas 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.
Buying journey improvements
– Public Mbas can improve the customer journey of consumers in the industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. Public Entrepreneurs? Picking a Path 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.
Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains
– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Public Mbas 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, Public Entrepreneurs? Picking a Path, 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, Public Mbas is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. Public Entrepreneurs? Picking a Path 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.
Better consumer reach
– The expansion of the 5G network will help Public Mbas to increase its market reach. Public Mbas 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.
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. Public Mbas can tie-up with other value chain partners to explore new opportunities regarding meeting customer demands and building a rewarding and engaging relationship.
Learning at scale
– Online learning technologies has now opened space for Public Mbas 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.
Lowering marketing communication costs
– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Public Mbas 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.
Increase in government spending
– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Public Mbas can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Public Mbas operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Innovation & Entrepreneurship sector.
Threats Public Entrepreneurs? Picking a Path External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Public Entrepreneurs? Picking a Path are -
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, as highlighted in case study Public Entrepreneurs? Picking a Path, Public Mbas may face longer learning curve for training and development of existing employees. This can open space for more nimble competitors in the field of Innovation & Entrepreneurship .
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Public Mbas has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Innovation & Entrepreneurship industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Public Mbas 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.
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 Public Mbas in the Innovation & Entrepreneurship sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
Increasing wage structure of Public Mbas
– 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 Public Mbas.
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.
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Public Mbas is facing in Innovation & Entrepreneurship sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.
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. Public Mbas 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.
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 Public Mbas business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Public Mbas 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 Public Entrepreneurs? Picking a Path .
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Public Mbas 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.
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Public Mbas 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 Public Mbas.
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. Public Mbas needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Innovation & Entrepreneurship industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Public Entrepreneurs? Picking a Path 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 Public Entrepreneurs? Picking a Path 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 Public Entrepreneurs? Picking a Path 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 Public Entrepreneurs? Picking a Path 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 Public Entrepreneurs? Picking a Path 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 Public Mbas needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.
