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The Counter-Conventional Mindsets of Entrepreneurs SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis

Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution

Case Study Description of The Counter-Conventional Mindsets of Entrepreneurs


These days, it seems, nearly everyone aspires to be an entrepreneur. But many entrepreneurs think and act differently than the way in which most other businesspeople do and the way much of today's business education encourages them to think and act. My in-depth examination of dozens of entrepreneurs I've come to know well over the past 2 decades tells me that their unconventional-or, dare I say, counter-conventional-mindsets and behaviors are marked by six common patterns: (1) 'Yes, we can;' (2) beg, borrow, or steal; (3) think narrow, not broad; (4) problem-first, not product-first logic; (5) 'No' is something waiting to be turned into 'Yes'; and (6) ask for the cash and ride the float. Thankfully, we now know that entrepreneurs are made, not born. These six patterns of entrepreneurial thought and action are eminently learnable. If you want to someday be an entrepreneur, or if you want the people in your company to become more entrepreneurial, then developing-or encouraging and incentivizing your people to develop-such a mindset might constitute a suitable first step toward preparing you to follow a more entrepreneurial path or to foster a more entrepreneurial culture in your company.

Authors :: John Mullins

Topics :: Innovation & Entrepreneurship

Tags :: Innovation, SWOT Analysis, SWOT Matrix, TOWS, Weighted SWOT Analysis

Swot Analysis of "The Counter-Conventional Mindsets of Entrepreneurs" written by John Mullins includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Entrepreneurs Entrepreneurial facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in The Counter-Conventional Mindsets of Entrepreneurs case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Innovation and Innovation & Entrepreneurship.


Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the The Counter-Conventional Mindsets of Entrepreneurs casestudy better are - – increasing inequality as vast percentage of new income is going to the top 1%, banking and financial system is disrupted by Bitcoin and other crypto currencies, wage bills are increasing, increasing commodity prices, challanges to central banks by blockchain based private currencies, technology disruption, supply chains are disrupted by pandemic , central banks are concerned over increasing inflation, digital marketing is dominated by two big players Facebook and Google, etc



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Introduction to SWOT Analysis of The Counter-Conventional Mindsets of Entrepreneurs


SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in The Counter-Conventional Mindsets of Entrepreneurs case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Entrepreneurs Entrepreneurial, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Entrepreneurs Entrepreneurial 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 The Counter-Conventional Mindsets of Entrepreneurs can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in The Counter-Conventional Mindsets of Entrepreneurs case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Entrepreneurs Entrepreneurial
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 Entrepreneurs Entrepreneurial




Strengths The Counter-Conventional Mindsets of Entrepreneurs | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis

The strengths of Entrepreneurs Entrepreneurial in The Counter-Conventional Mindsets of Entrepreneurs Harvard Business Review case study are -

Cross disciplinary teams

– Horizontal connected teams at the Entrepreneurs Entrepreneurial 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.

Organizational Resilience of Entrepreneurs Entrepreneurial

– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing that Entrepreneurs Entrepreneurial does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.

Training and development

– Entrepreneurs Entrepreneurial has one of the best training and development program in the industry. The effectiveness of the training programs can be measured in The Counter-Conventional Mindsets of Entrepreneurs 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.

Superior customer experience

– The customer experience strategy of Entrepreneurs Entrepreneurial in the segment is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.

Operational resilience

– The operational resilience strategy in the The Counter-Conventional Mindsets of Entrepreneurs Harvard Business Review case study comprises – understanding the underlying the factors in the industry, building diversified operations across different geographies so that disruption in one part of the world doesn’t impact the overall performance of the firm, and integrating the various business operations and processes through its digital transformation drive.

High brand equity

– Entrepreneurs Entrepreneurial has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Entrepreneurs Entrepreneurial to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.

Learning organization

- Entrepreneurs Entrepreneurial 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 Entrepreneurs Entrepreneurial is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders in The Counter-Conventional Mindsets of Entrepreneurs Harvard Business Review case study emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.

Digital Transformation in Innovation & Entrepreneurship segment

- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For Entrepreneurs Entrepreneurial digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Entrepreneurs Entrepreneurial 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.

Ability to recruit top talent

– Entrepreneurs Entrepreneurial is one of the leading recruiters in the industry. Managers in the The Counter-Conventional Mindsets of Entrepreneurs are in a position to attract the best talent available. The firm has a robust talent identification program that helps in identifying the brightest.

Ability to lead change in Innovation & Entrepreneurship field

– Entrepreneurs Entrepreneurial 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 Entrepreneurs Entrepreneurial in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.

Innovation driven organization

– Entrepreneurs Entrepreneurial is one of the most innovative firm in sector. Manager in The Counter-Conventional Mindsets of Entrepreneurs 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

– Entrepreneurs Entrepreneurial is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.






Weaknesses The Counter-Conventional Mindsets of Entrepreneurs | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis

The weaknesses of The Counter-Conventional Mindsets of Entrepreneurs are -

High cash cycle compare to competitors

Entrepreneurs Entrepreneurial 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.

Slow to strategic competitive environment developments

– As The Counter-Conventional Mindsets of Entrepreneurs HBR case study mentions - Entrepreneurs Entrepreneurial 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.

Ability to respond to the competition

– As the decision making is very deliberative, highlighted in the case study The Counter-Conventional Mindsets of Entrepreneurs, in the dynamic environment Entrepreneurs Entrepreneurial has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. Entrepreneurs Entrepreneurial has reasonably good record with similar level competitors but it has struggled with new entrants taking away niches of its business.

Skills based hiring

– The stress on hiring functional specialists at Entrepreneurs Entrepreneurial 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.

Compensation and incentives

– The revenue per employee as mentioned in the HBR case study The Counter-Conventional Mindsets of Entrepreneurs, is just above the industry average. Entrepreneurs Entrepreneurial 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 The Counter-Conventional Mindsets of Entrepreneurs 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 The Counter-Conventional Mindsets of Entrepreneurs can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Entrepreneurs Entrepreneurial is planning to shift buying processes online.

Capital Spending Reduction

– Even during the low interest decade, Entrepreneurs Entrepreneurial 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 Entrepreneurs Entrepreneurial products

– To increase the profitability and margins on the products, Entrepreneurs Entrepreneurial needs to provide more differentiated products than what it is currently offering in the marketplace.

Products dominated business model

– Even though Entrepreneurs Entrepreneurial 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 - The Counter-Conventional Mindsets of Entrepreneurs should strive to include more intangible value offerings along with its core products and services.

Low market penetration in new markets

– Outside its home market of Entrepreneurs Entrepreneurial, firm in the HBR case study The Counter-Conventional Mindsets of Entrepreneurs needs to spend more promotional, marketing, and advertising efforts to penetrate international markets.

Interest costs

– Compare to the competition, Entrepreneurs Entrepreneurial 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.




Opportunities The Counter-Conventional Mindsets of Entrepreneurs | 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 The Counter-Conventional Mindsets of Entrepreneurs are -

Creating value in data economy

– The success of analytics program of Entrepreneurs Entrepreneurial has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Entrepreneurs Entrepreneurial to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the The Counter-Conventional Mindsets of Entrepreneurs case study. Entrepreneurs Entrepreneurial can build new products and services such as - data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.

Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains

– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Entrepreneurs Entrepreneurial 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, The Counter-Conventional Mindsets of Entrepreneurs, to buy more products closer to the markets, and it can leverage its size and influence to get better deal from the local markets.

Buying journey improvements

– Entrepreneurs Entrepreneurial can improve the customer journey of consumers in the industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. The Counter-Conventional Mindsets of Entrepreneurs 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.

Leveraging digital technologies

– Entrepreneurs Entrepreneurial 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.

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. Entrepreneurs Entrepreneurial can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.

Reforming the budgeting process

- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects Entrepreneurs Entrepreneurial can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.

Lowering marketing communication costs

– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Entrepreneurs Entrepreneurial 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.

Low interest rates

– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Entrepreneurs Entrepreneurial 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.

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. Entrepreneurs Entrepreneurial 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. Entrepreneurs Entrepreneurial 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.

Learning at scale

– Online learning technologies has now opened space for Entrepreneurs Entrepreneurial 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 Entrepreneurs Entrepreneurial in the consumer business. Now Entrepreneurs Entrepreneurial can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.

Increase in government spending

– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Entrepreneurs Entrepreneurial can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Entrepreneurs Entrepreneurial operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Innovation & Entrepreneurship sector.

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 Entrepreneurs Entrepreneurial 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.




Threats The Counter-Conventional Mindsets of Entrepreneurs External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis


The threats mentioned in the HBR case study The Counter-Conventional Mindsets of Entrepreneurs are -

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. Entrepreneurs Entrepreneurial can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.

Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution

– Entrepreneurs Entrepreneurial has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Innovation & Entrepreneurship industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Entrepreneurs Entrepreneurial 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.

Consumer confidence and its impact on Entrepreneurs Entrepreneurial demand

– There is a high probability of declining consumer confidence, given – high inflammation rate, rise of gig economy, lower job stability, increasing cost of living, higher interest rates, and aging demography. All the factors contribute to people saving higher rate of their income, resulting in lower consumer demand in the industry and other sectors.

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 Entrepreneurs Entrepreneurial business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.

High dependence on third party suppliers

– Entrepreneurs Entrepreneurial 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.

Shortening product life cycle

– it is one of the major threat that Entrepreneurs Entrepreneurial is facing in Innovation & Entrepreneurship sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.

Barriers of entry lowering

– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry in the industry are lowering. It can presents Entrepreneurs Entrepreneurial with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the sector.

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.

Trade war between China and United States

– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Entrepreneurs Entrepreneurial 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.

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. Entrepreneurs Entrepreneurial 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.

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 Entrepreneurs Entrepreneurial.

Stagnating economy with rate increase

– Entrepreneurs Entrepreneurial 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.

Learning curve for new practices

– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, as highlighted in case study The Counter-Conventional Mindsets of Entrepreneurs, Entrepreneurs Entrepreneurial 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 .




Weighted SWOT Analysis of The Counter-Conventional Mindsets of Entrepreneurs 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 The Counter-Conventional Mindsets of Entrepreneurs 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 The Counter-Conventional Mindsets of Entrepreneurs 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 The Counter-Conventional Mindsets of Entrepreneurs 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 The Counter-Conventional Mindsets of Entrepreneurs 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 Entrepreneurs Entrepreneurial needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.



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