Digital Maker-Entrepreneurs in Open Design: What Activities Make Up Their Business Model? SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Innovation & Entrepreneurship
Strategy / MBA Resources
Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of Digital Maker-Entrepreneurs in Open Design: What Activities Make Up Their Business Model?
The business models of digital maker-entrepreneurs in open design are inextricably linked to the broader open design community. Digital makers share designs on online platforms such as Thingiverse and use digital manufacturing technology such as 3-D printing as a generative mechanism for their entrepreneurial activities. There is a general understanding of how sharing works in that community and the basic design parameters that determine the business models of these digital maker-entrepreneurs, which are based on a portfolio of activities. This study is based on in-depth interviews with 11 digital maker-entrepreneurs from the open design community. We investigate the activities that constitute their business models using activity theory as a lens with which better to understand them. This study provides a perspective on the complexity of the relationships in which these activities are embedded and analyzes the activities related to the production, distribution, and consumption of value. Finally, we examine the exchanges between digital maker-entrepreneurs in the community, shedding light on how digital maker-entrepreneurs share and exchange goods, services, and knowledge as peers.
Swot Analysis of "Digital Maker-Entrepreneurs in Open Design: What Activities Make Up Their Business Model?" written by Peter Troxler, Patricia Wolf includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Maker Digital facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Digital Maker-Entrepreneurs in Open Design: What Activities Make Up Their Business Model? case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Design, Entrepreneurship and Innovation & Entrepreneurship.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Digital Maker-Entrepreneurs in Open Design: What Activities Make Up Their Business Model? casestudy better are - – cloud computing is disrupting traditional business models, increasing commodity prices, increasing inequality as vast percentage of new income is going to the top 1%, increasing transportation and logistics costs, there is backlash against globalization, supply chains are disrupted by pandemic , competitive advantages are harder to sustain because of technology dispersion,
digital marketing is dominated by two big players Facebook and Google, central banks are concerned over increasing inflation, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Digital Maker-Entrepreneurs in Open Design: What Activities Make Up Their Business Model?
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Digital Maker-Entrepreneurs in Open Design: What Activities Make Up Their Business Model? case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Maker Digital, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Maker Digital 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 Digital Maker-Entrepreneurs in Open Design: What Activities Make Up Their Business Model? can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Digital Maker-Entrepreneurs in Open Design: What Activities Make Up Their Business Model? case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Maker Digital
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 Maker Digital
Strengths Digital Maker-Entrepreneurs in Open Design: What Activities Make Up Their Business Model? | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Maker Digital in Digital Maker-Entrepreneurs in Open Design: What Activities Make Up Their Business Model? Harvard Business Review case study are -
Successful track record of launching new products
– Maker Digital has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Maker Digital 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.
Digital Transformation in Innovation & Entrepreneurship segment
- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For Maker Digital digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Maker Digital 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.
Superior customer experience
– The customer experience strategy of Maker Digital in the segment is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Innovation & Entrepreneurship industry
– Digital Maker-Entrepreneurs in Open Design: What Activities Make Up Their Business Model? firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Maker Digital to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Innovation & Entrepreneurship industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Maker Digital to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Analytics focus
– Maker Digital 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 Peter Troxler, Patricia Wolf 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.
Ability to recruit top talent
– Maker Digital is one of the leading recruiters in the industry. Managers in the Digital Maker-Entrepreneurs in Open Design: What Activities Make Up Their Business Model? are in a position to attract the best talent available. The firm has a robust talent identification program that helps in identifying the brightest.
Highly skilled collaborators
– Maker Digital 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 Digital Maker-Entrepreneurs in Open Design: What Activities Make Up Their Business Model? HBR case study have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
Innovation driven organization
– Maker Digital is one of the most innovative firm in sector. Manager in Digital Maker-Entrepreneurs in Open Design: What Activities Make Up Their Business Model? Harvard Business Review case study can use Clayton Christensen Disruptive Innovation strategies to further increase the scale of innovtions in the organization.
Strong track record of project management
– Maker Digital is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.
Training and development
– Maker Digital has one of the best training and development program in the industry. The effectiveness of the training programs can be measured in Digital Maker-Entrepreneurs in Open Design: What Activities Make Up Their Business Model? 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.
High brand equity
– Maker Digital has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Maker Digital to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of Maker Digital in the sector have low bargaining power. Digital Maker-Entrepreneurs in Open Design: What Activities Make Up Their Business Model? has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Maker Digital to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
Weaknesses Digital Maker-Entrepreneurs in Open Design: What Activities Make Up Their Business Model? | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Digital Maker-Entrepreneurs in Open Design: What Activities Make Up Their Business Model? are -
Aligning sales with marketing
– It come across in the case study Digital Maker-Entrepreneurs in Open Design: What Activities Make Up Their Business Model? 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 Digital Maker-Entrepreneurs in Open Design: What Activities Make Up Their Business Model? can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Maker Digital is planning to shift buying processes online.
High operating costs
– Compare to the competitors, firm in the HBR case study Digital Maker-Entrepreneurs in Open Design: What Activities Make Up Their Business Model? 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 Maker Digital 's lucrative customers.
Employees’ incomplete understanding of strategy
– From the instances in the HBR case study Digital Maker-Entrepreneurs in Open Design: What Activities Make Up Their Business Model?, it seems that the employees of Maker Digital 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.
Interest costs
– Compare to the competition, Maker Digital 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.
No frontier risks strategy
– After analyzing the HBR case study Digital Maker-Entrepreneurs in Open Design: What Activities Make Up Their Business Model?, 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.
Compensation and incentives
– The revenue per employee as mentioned in the HBR case study Digital Maker-Entrepreneurs in Open Design: What Activities Make Up Their Business Model?, is just above the industry average. Maker Digital 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.
Lack of clear differentiation of Maker Digital products
– To increase the profitability and margins on the products, Maker Digital needs to provide more differentiated products than what it is currently offering in the marketplace.
Skills based hiring
– The stress on hiring functional specialists at Maker Digital 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.
High bargaining power of channel partners
– Because of the regulatory requirements, Peter Troxler, Patricia Wolf suggests that, Maker Digital 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.
Capital Spending Reduction
– Even during the low interest decade, Maker Digital 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.
Ability to respond to the competition
– As the decision making is very deliberative, highlighted in the case study Digital Maker-Entrepreneurs in Open Design: What Activities Make Up Their Business Model?, in the dynamic environment Maker Digital has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. Maker Digital has reasonably good record with similar level competitors but it has struggled with new entrants taking away niches of its business.
Opportunities Digital Maker-Entrepreneurs in Open Design: What Activities Make Up Their Business Model? | 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 Digital Maker-Entrepreneurs in Open Design: What Activities Make Up Their Business Model? are -
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. Maker Digital can tie-up with other value chain partners to explore new opportunities regarding meeting customer demands and building a rewarding and engaging relationship.
Developing new processes and practices
– Maker Digital 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.
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– Maker Digital 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 Digital Maker-Entrepreneurs in Open Design: What Activities Make Up Their Business Model? - to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Maker Digital to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
Buying journey improvements
– Maker Digital can improve the customer journey of consumers in the industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. Digital Maker-Entrepreneurs in Open Design: What Activities Make Up Their Business Model? 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.
Increase in government spending
– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Maker Digital can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Maker Digital 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, Maker Digital is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. Digital Maker-Entrepreneurs in Open Design: What Activities Make Up Their Business Model? 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.
Low interest rates
– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Maker Digital 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.
Lowering marketing communication costs
– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Maker Digital 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.
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. Maker Digital 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. Maker Digital 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.
Better consumer reach
– The expansion of the 5G network will help Maker Digital to increase its market reach. Maker Digital 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.
Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities
– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Maker Digital 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 Maker Digital to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
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. Maker Digital can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.
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 Maker Digital in the consumer business. Now Maker Digital can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.
Threats Digital Maker-Entrepreneurs in Open Design: What Activities Make Up Their Business Model? External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Digital Maker-Entrepreneurs in Open Design: What Activities Make Up Their Business Model? are -
Regulatory challenges
– Maker Digital 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.
Environmental challenges
– Maker Digital needs to have a robust strategy against the disruptions arising from climate change and energy requirements. EU has identified it as key priority area and spending 30% of its 880 billion Euros European post Covid-19 recovery funds on green technology. Maker Digital can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Innovation & Entrepreneurship industry.
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. Maker Digital can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
High dependence on third party suppliers
– Maker Digital 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.
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Maker Digital has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Innovation & Entrepreneurship industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Maker Digital 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.
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. Maker Digital needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Innovation & Entrepreneurship industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry in the industry are lowering. It can presents Maker Digital with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the sector.
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. Maker Digital 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.
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, as highlighted in case study Digital Maker-Entrepreneurs in Open Design: What Activities Make Up Their Business Model?, Maker Digital 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 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.
Increasing wage structure of Maker Digital
– 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 Maker Digital.
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 Maker Digital.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Digital Maker-Entrepreneurs in Open Design: What Activities Make Up Their Business Model? 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 Digital Maker-Entrepreneurs in Open Design: What Activities Make Up Their Business Model? 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 Digital Maker-Entrepreneurs in Open Design: What Activities Make Up Their Business Model? 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 Digital Maker-Entrepreneurs in Open Design: What Activities Make Up Their Business Model? 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 Digital Maker-Entrepreneurs in Open Design: What Activities Make Up Their Business Model? 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 Maker Digital needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.
Feel free to connect with us if you need business research.
You can download Excel Template of Case Study Solution & Analysis of Digital Maker-Entrepreneurs in Open Design: What Activities Make Up Their Business Model?