Sensor-Based Entrepreneurship: A Framework for Developing New Products and Services SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Innovation & Entrepreneurship
Strategy / MBA Resources
Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of Sensor-Based Entrepreneurship: A Framework for Developing New Products and Services
As the Internet of Things (IoT) begins to dominate the technology landscape, there will be new products and services that will become technically and financially feasible. Internet technologies and advancements in social interaction tools have led to an increase in the use of the crowd as a provider of business solutions. Yet we have just seen a fraction of the possibilities of crowdsourcing technologies. This is because most of the development, discussion, and research around crowdsourcing has focused on active-input crowdsourcing. However, the real transformative pressure will come from passive sources of data generated primarily by developing and growing sensor technologies. This next generation of crowdsourcing will be a game changer for entrepreneurial opportunities. As crowdsourcing systems proliferate, more input will be acquired from sensors, artificial intelligence, bots, and other devices. As a result of this explosion, the variety of product and service opportunities will swell as entrepreneurs become more aware of technologies merging, such as the combination of crowdsourcing, sensors, and big data into a new type of entrepreneurship-sensor-based entrepreneurship. The purpose of this research is to contribute by, first, clarifying the next generation of crowdsourcing and, second, developing and presenting a framework to help sensor-based entrepreneurs plan, develop, and map their new products and services.
Swot Analysis of "Sensor-Based Entrepreneurship: A Framework for Developing New Products and Services" written by Terrence E. Brown includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Crowdsourcing Sensor facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Sensor-Based Entrepreneurship: A Framework for Developing New Products and Services case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Entrepreneurship, Internet, Product development, Strategy and Innovation & Entrepreneurship.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Sensor-Based Entrepreneurship: A Framework for Developing New Products and Services casestudy better are - – central banks are concerned over increasing inflation, customer relationship management is fast transforming because of increasing concerns over data privacy, technology disruption, talent flight as more people leaving formal jobs, cloud computing is disrupting traditional business models, increasing government debt because of Covid-19 spendings, banking and financial system is disrupted by Bitcoin and other crypto currencies,
challanges to central banks by blockchain based private currencies, supply chains are disrupted by pandemic , etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Sensor-Based Entrepreneurship: A Framework for Developing New Products and Services
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Sensor-Based Entrepreneurship: A Framework for Developing New Products and Services case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Crowdsourcing Sensor, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Crowdsourcing Sensor 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 Sensor-Based Entrepreneurship: A Framework for Developing New Products and Services can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Sensor-Based Entrepreneurship: A Framework for Developing New Products and Services case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Crowdsourcing Sensor
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 Crowdsourcing Sensor
Strengths Sensor-Based Entrepreneurship: A Framework for Developing New Products and Services | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Crowdsourcing Sensor in Sensor-Based Entrepreneurship: A Framework for Developing New Products and Services Harvard Business Review case study are -
Cross disciplinary teams
– Horizontal connected teams at the Crowdsourcing Sensor 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.
Innovation driven organization
– Crowdsourcing Sensor is one of the most innovative firm in sector. Manager in Sensor-Based Entrepreneurship: A Framework for Developing New Products and Services Harvard Business Review case study can use Clayton Christensen Disruptive Innovation strategies to further increase the scale of innovtions in the organization.
High switching costs
– The high switching costs that Crowdsourcing Sensor 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.
Diverse revenue streams
– Crowdsourcing Sensor is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided firm in Sensor-Based Entrepreneurship: A Framework for Developing New Products and Services 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.
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of Crowdsourcing Sensor in the sector have low bargaining power. Sensor-Based Entrepreneurship: A Framework for Developing New Products and Services has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Crowdsourcing Sensor to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
Digital Transformation in Innovation & Entrepreneurship segment
- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For Crowdsourcing Sensor digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Crowdsourcing Sensor 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.
Strong track record of project management
– Crowdsourcing Sensor is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.
Superior customer experience
– The customer experience strategy of Crowdsourcing Sensor in the segment is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.
Effective Research and Development (R&D)
– Crowdsourcing Sensor 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 Sensor-Based Entrepreneurship: A Framework for Developing New Products and Services - staying ahead in the industry in terms of – new product launches, superior customer experience, highly competitive pricing strategies, and great returns to the shareholders.
Training and development
– Crowdsourcing Sensor has one of the best training and development program in the industry. The effectiveness of the training programs can be measured in Sensor-Based Entrepreneurship: A Framework for Developing New Products and Services 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.
Successful track record of launching new products
– Crowdsourcing Sensor has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Crowdsourcing Sensor 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.
Learning organization
- Crowdsourcing Sensor 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 Crowdsourcing Sensor is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders in Sensor-Based Entrepreneurship: A Framework for Developing New Products and Services Harvard Business Review case study emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
Weaknesses Sensor-Based Entrepreneurship: A Framework for Developing New Products and Services | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Sensor-Based Entrepreneurship: A Framework for Developing New Products and Services are -
No frontier risks strategy
– After analyzing the HBR case study Sensor-Based Entrepreneurship: A Framework for Developing New Products and Services, it seems that company is thinking about the frontier risks that can impact Innovation & Entrepreneurship 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.
Slow to harness new channels of communication
– Even though competitors are using new communication channels such as Instagram, Tiktok, and Snap, Crowdsourcing Sensor is slow explore the new channels of communication. These new channels of communication mentioned in marketing section of case study Sensor-Based Entrepreneurship: A Framework for Developing New Products and Services can help to provide better information regarding products and services. It can also build an online community to further reach out to potential customers.
Products dominated business model
– Even though Crowdsourcing Sensor 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 - Sensor-Based Entrepreneurship: A Framework for Developing New Products and Services should strive to include more intangible value offerings along with its core products and services.
High cash cycle compare to competitors
Crowdsourcing Sensor 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.
Ability to respond to the competition
– As the decision making is very deliberative, highlighted in the case study Sensor-Based Entrepreneurship: A Framework for Developing New Products and Services, in the dynamic environment Crowdsourcing Sensor has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. Crowdsourcing Sensor 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 Sensor-Based Entrepreneurship: A Framework for Developing New Products and Services 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 Sensor-Based Entrepreneurship: A Framework for Developing New Products and Services can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Crowdsourcing Sensor is planning to shift buying processes online.
High bargaining power of channel partners
– Because of the regulatory requirements, Terrence E. Brown suggests that, Crowdsourcing Sensor 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.
Slow decision making process
– As mentioned earlier in the report, Crowdsourcing Sensor 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. Crowdsourcing Sensor 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.
Lack of clear differentiation of Crowdsourcing Sensor products
– To increase the profitability and margins on the products, Crowdsourcing Sensor needs to provide more differentiated products than what it is currently offering in the marketplace.
Capital Spending Reduction
– Even during the low interest decade, Crowdsourcing Sensor 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
– Crowdsourcing Sensor 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 Sensor-Based Entrepreneurship: A Framework for Developing New Products and Services | 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 Sensor-Based Entrepreneurship: A Framework for Developing New Products and Services are -
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– Crowdsourcing Sensor 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 Sensor-Based Entrepreneurship: A Framework for Developing New Products and Services - to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Crowdsourcing Sensor to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
Increase in government spending
– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Crowdsourcing Sensor can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Crowdsourcing Sensor operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Innovation & Entrepreneurship sector.
Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities
– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Crowdsourcing Sensor 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 Crowdsourcing Sensor to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
Better consumer reach
– The expansion of the 5G network will help Crowdsourcing Sensor to increase its market reach. Crowdsourcing Sensor 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.
Redefining models of collaboration and team work
– As explained in the weaknesses section, Crowdsourcing Sensor is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. Sensor-Based Entrepreneurship: A Framework for Developing New Products and Services 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.
Learning at scale
– Online learning technologies has now opened space for Crowdsourcing Sensor 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.
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 Crowdsourcing Sensor in the consumer business. Now Crowdsourcing Sensor can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.
Loyalty marketing
– Crowdsourcing Sensor 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.
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. Crowdsourcing Sensor can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.
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. Crowdsourcing Sensor 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. Crowdsourcing Sensor 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 Crowdsourcing Sensor 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.
Low interest rates
– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Crowdsourcing Sensor 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.
Building a culture of innovation
– managers at Crowdsourcing Sensor 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 Innovation & Entrepreneurship segment.
Threats Sensor-Based Entrepreneurship: A Framework for Developing New Products and Services External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Sensor-Based Entrepreneurship: A Framework for Developing New Products and Services 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 Crowdsourcing Sensor.
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.
Regulatory challenges
– Crowdsourcing Sensor 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.
High dependence on third party suppliers
– Crowdsourcing Sensor 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 Crowdsourcing Sensor 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
– Crowdsourcing Sensor has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Innovation & Entrepreneurship industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Crowdsourcing Sensor 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.
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, as highlighted in case study Sensor-Based Entrepreneurship: A Framework for Developing New Products and Services, Crowdsourcing Sensor 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 .
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Crowdsourcing Sensor 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 Crowdsourcing Sensor 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.
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. Crowdsourcing Sensor can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
Increasing wage structure of Crowdsourcing Sensor
– 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 Crowdsourcing Sensor.
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Crowdsourcing Sensor 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 Sensor-Based Entrepreneurship: A Framework for Developing New Products and Services .
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 Crowdsourcing Sensor business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Sensor-Based Entrepreneurship: A Framework for Developing New Products and Services 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 Sensor-Based Entrepreneurship: A Framework for Developing New Products and Services 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 Sensor-Based Entrepreneurship: A Framework for Developing New Products and Services 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 Sensor-Based Entrepreneurship: A Framework for Developing New Products and Services 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 Sensor-Based Entrepreneurship: A Framework for Developing New Products and Services 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 Crowdsourcing Sensor needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.
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