Moonshots: Achieving Breakthrough Innovation in Established Organizations SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Strategy & Execution
Strategy / MBA Resources
Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of Moonshots: Achieving Breakthrough Innovation in Established Organizations
Embracing a transformative goal is one way to move a legacy business from the brink of disruption to a new business model that incorporates new ideas and technologies. The author defines such a 'moonshot' strategy, named after President John F. Kennedy's 1962 speech announcing that the U.S. would seek to put a man on the moon and return him safely to earth by the end of the decade. She provides a framework for developing such a lofty goal and shows that you don't have to travel to the moon to experience the moonshot effect: In the end, a moonshot is not defined by its distance from Earth, but by its distance from business as usual.
Swot Analysis of "Moonshots: Achieving Breakthrough Innovation in Established Organizations" written by Anita M. McGahan includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Moonshot Moon facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Moonshots: Achieving Breakthrough Innovation in Established Organizations case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Strategy and Strategy & Execution.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Moonshots: Achieving Breakthrough Innovation in Established Organizations casestudy better are - – supply chains are disrupted by pandemic , digital marketing is dominated by two big players Facebook and Google, wage bills are increasing, increasing inequality as vast percentage of new income is going to the top 1%, competitive advantages are harder to sustain because of technology dispersion, increasing energy prices, increasing household debt because of falling income levels,
increasing commodity prices, increasing government debt because of Covid-19 spendings, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Moonshots: Achieving Breakthrough Innovation in Established Organizations
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Moonshots: Achieving Breakthrough Innovation in Established Organizations case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Moonshot Moon, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Moonshot Moon 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 Moonshots: Achieving Breakthrough Innovation in Established Organizations can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Moonshots: Achieving Breakthrough Innovation in Established Organizations case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Moonshot Moon
3. Assessing feasibility of the new initiative in Strategy & Execution field.
4. Making a Strategy & Execution topic specific business decision
5. Set goals for the organization
6. Organizational restructuring of Moonshot Moon
Strengths Moonshots: Achieving Breakthrough Innovation in Established Organizations | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Moonshot Moon in Moonshots: Achieving Breakthrough Innovation in Established Organizations Harvard Business Review case study are -
Diverse revenue streams
– Moonshot Moon is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided firm in Moonshots: Achieving Breakthrough Innovation in Established Organizations case study a diverse revenue stream that has helped it to survive disruptions such as global pandemic in Covid-19, financial disruption of 2008, and supply chain disruption of 2021.
Ability to lead change in Strategy & Execution field
– Moonshot Moon 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 Moonshot Moon in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.
Successful track record of launching new products
– Moonshot Moon has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Moonshot Moon 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.
Operational resilience
– The operational resilience strategy in the Moonshots: Achieving Breakthrough Innovation in Established Organizations 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.
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Strategy & Execution industry
– Moonshots: Achieving Breakthrough Innovation in Established Organizations firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Moonshot Moon to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Strategy & Execution industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Moonshot Moon to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Learning organization
- Moonshot Moon 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 Moonshot Moon is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders in Moonshots: Achieving Breakthrough Innovation in Established Organizations Harvard Business Review case study emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
Strong track record of project management
– Moonshot Moon is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.
Organizational Resilience of Moonshot Moon
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing that Moonshot Moon does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
Ability to recruit top talent
– Moonshot Moon is one of the leading recruiters in the industry. Managers in the Moonshots: Achieving Breakthrough Innovation in Established Organizations are in a position to attract the best talent available. The firm has a robust talent identification program that helps in identifying the brightest.
Effective Research and Development (R&D)
– Moonshot Moon 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 Moonshots: Achieving Breakthrough Innovation in Established Organizations - 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
– Moonshot Moon has one of the best training and development program in the industry. The effectiveness of the training programs can be measured in Moonshots: Achieving Breakthrough Innovation in Established Organizations 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.
Innovation driven organization
– Moonshot Moon is one of the most innovative firm in sector. Manager in Moonshots: Achieving Breakthrough Innovation in Established Organizations Harvard Business Review case study can use Clayton Christensen Disruptive Innovation strategies to further increase the scale of innovtions in the organization.
Weaknesses Moonshots: Achieving Breakthrough Innovation in Established Organizations | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Moonshots: Achieving Breakthrough Innovation in Established Organizations are -
High operating costs
– Compare to the competitors, firm in the HBR case study Moonshots: Achieving Breakthrough Innovation in Established Organizations 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 Moonshot Moon 's lucrative customers.
Workers concerns about automation
– As automation is fast increasing in the segment, Moonshot Moon 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 to harness new channels of communication
– Even though competitors are using new communication channels such as Instagram, Tiktok, and Snap, Moonshot Moon is slow explore the new channels of communication. These new channels of communication mentioned in marketing section of case study Moonshots: Achieving Breakthrough Innovation in Established Organizations can help to provide better information regarding products and services. It can also build an online community to further reach out to potential customers.
High dependence on star products
– The top 2 products and services of the firm as mentioned in the Moonshots: Achieving Breakthrough Innovation in Established Organizations 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 Moonshot Moon has relatively successful track record of launching new products.
High bargaining power of channel partners
– Because of the regulatory requirements, Anita M. McGahan suggests that, Moonshot Moon 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.
Low market penetration in new markets
– Outside its home market of Moonshot Moon, firm in the HBR case study Moonshots: Achieving Breakthrough Innovation in Established Organizations needs to spend more promotional, marketing, and advertising efforts to penetrate international markets.
Increasing silos among functional specialists
– The organizational structure of Moonshot Moon is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Strategy & Execution segment. Moonshot Moon needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Moonshot Moon to focus more on services rather than just following the product oriented approach.
No frontier risks strategy
– After analyzing the HBR case study Moonshots: Achieving Breakthrough Innovation in Established Organizations, it seems that company is thinking about the frontier risks that can impact Strategy & Execution 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.
High cash cycle compare to competitors
Moonshot Moon 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.
Employees’ incomplete understanding of strategy
– From the instances in the HBR case study Moonshots: Achieving Breakthrough Innovation in Established Organizations, it seems that the employees of Moonshot Moon 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.
Slow decision making process
– As mentioned earlier in the report, Moonshot Moon 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. Moonshot Moon 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.
Opportunities Moonshots: Achieving Breakthrough Innovation in Established Organizations | 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 Moonshots: Achieving Breakthrough Innovation in Established Organizations are -
Better consumer reach
– The expansion of the 5G network will help Moonshot Moon to increase its market reach. Moonshot Moon 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.
Low interest rates
– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Moonshot Moon 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 Moonshot Moon 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 Strategy & Execution segment.
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. Moonshot Moon can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.
Increase in government spending
– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Moonshot Moon can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Moonshot Moon operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Strategy & Execution sector.
Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains
– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Moonshot Moon 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, Moonshots: Achieving Breakthrough Innovation in Established Organizations, to buy more products closer to the markets, and it can leverage its size and influence to get better deal from the local markets.
Changes in consumer behavior post Covid-19
– Consumer behavior has changed in the Strategy & Execution industry because of Covid-19 restrictions. Some of this behavior will stay once things get back to normal. Moonshot Moon 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. Moonshot Moon 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.
Loyalty marketing
– Moonshot Moon 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.
Manufacturing automation
– Moonshot Moon can use the latest technology developments to improve its manufacturing and designing process in Strategy & Execution 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.
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– Moonshot Moon 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 Moonshots: Achieving Breakthrough Innovation in Established Organizations - to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Moonshot Moon to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
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 Moonshot Moon in the consumer business. Now Moonshot Moon can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.
Finding new ways to collaborate
– Covid-19 has not only transformed business models of companies in Strategy & Execution industry, but it has also influenced the consumer preferences. Moonshot Moon can tie-up with other value chain partners to explore new opportunities regarding meeting customer demands and building a rewarding and engaging relationship.
Leveraging digital technologies
– Moonshot Moon 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.
Threats Moonshots: Achieving Breakthrough Innovation in Established Organizations External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Moonshots: Achieving Breakthrough Innovation in Established Organizations are -
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Moonshot Moon in the Strategy & Execution industry. The Strategy & Execution industry is already at various protected from local competition in China, with the rise of trade war the protection levels may go up. This presents a clear threat of current business model in Chinese market.
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Moonshot Moon 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.
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Moonshot Moon 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 Moonshots: Achieving Breakthrough Innovation in Established Organizations .
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 Moonshot Moon in the Strategy & Execution sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
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 Moonshot Moon.
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Moonshot Moon has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Strategy & Execution industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Moonshot Moon needs to keep up with the evolution of technology in the Strategy & Execution 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.
Environmental challenges
– Moonshot Moon 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. Moonshot Moon can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Strategy & Execution industry.
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.
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. Moonshot Moon needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Strategy & Execution industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, as highlighted in case study Moonshots: Achieving Breakthrough Innovation in Established Organizations, Moonshot Moon may face longer learning curve for training and development of existing employees. This can open space for more nimble competitors in the field of Strategy & Execution .
Easy access to finance
– Easy access to finance in Strategy & Execution field will also reduce the barriers to entry in the industry, thus putting downward pressure on the prices because of increasing competition. Moonshot Moon can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
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 Moonshot Moon business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
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.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Moonshots: Achieving Breakthrough Innovation in Established Organizations 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 Moonshots: Achieving Breakthrough Innovation in Established Organizations 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 Moonshots: Achieving Breakthrough Innovation in Established Organizations 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 Moonshots: Achieving Breakthrough Innovation in Established Organizations 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 Moonshots: Achieving Breakthrough Innovation in Established Organizations 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 Moonshot Moon needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.
