Reshaping Business With Artificial Intelligence: Closing the Gap Between Ambition and Action SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis

Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution

Case Study Description of Reshaping Business With Artificial Intelligence: Closing the Gap Between Ambition and Action

Disruption from artificial intelligence (AI) is here, but many company leaders aren't sure what to expect from AI or how it fits into their business model. Yet with change coming at breakneck speed, the time to identify your company's AI strategy is now. MIT Sloan Management Review has partnered with The Boston Consulting Group to provide baseline information on the strategies used by companies leading in AI, the prospects for its growth, and the steps executives need to take to develop a strategy for their business.

Authors :: Sam Ransbotham, David Kiron, Philipp Gerbert, Martin Reeves

Topics :: Strategy & Execution

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

Swot Analysis of "Reshaping Business With Artificial Intelligence: Closing the Gap Between Ambition and Action" written by Sam Ransbotham, David Kiron, Philipp Gerbert, Martin Reeves includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Ai Artificial facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Reshaping Business With Artificial Intelligence: Closing the Gap Between Ambition and Action case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, and Strategy & Execution.

Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Reshaping Business With Artificial Intelligence: Closing the Gap Between Ambition and Action casestudy better are - – wage bills are increasing, central banks are concerned over increasing inflation, increasing transportation and logistics costs, banking and financial system is disrupted by Bitcoin and other crypto currencies, digital marketing is dominated by two big players Facebook and Google, customer relationship management is fast transforming because of increasing concerns over data privacy, increasing inequality as vast percentage of new income is going to the top 1%, there is backlash against globalization, there is increasing trade war between United States & China, etc

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Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Reshaping Business With Artificial Intelligence: Closing the Gap Between Ambition and Action

SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Reshaping Business With Artificial Intelligence: Closing the Gap Between Ambition and Action case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Ai Artificial, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Ai Artificial 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.

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SWOT Objectives / Importance of SWOT Analysis and SWOT Matrix

SWOT analysis of Reshaping Business With Artificial Intelligence: Closing the Gap Between Ambition and Action can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Reshaping Business With Artificial Intelligence: Closing the Gap Between Ambition and Action case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Ai Artificial
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 Ai Artificial

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Strengths Reshaping Business With Artificial Intelligence: Closing the Gap Between Ambition and Action | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis

The strengths of Ai Artificial in Reshaping Business With Artificial Intelligence: Closing the Gap Between Ambition and Action Harvard Business Review case study are -

Strong track record of project management

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

Highly skilled collaborators

– Ai Artificial 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 Reshaping Business With Artificial Intelligence: Closing the Gap Between Ambition and Action HBR case study have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.

Effective Research and Development (R&D)

– Ai Artificial 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 Reshaping Business With Artificial Intelligence: Closing the Gap Between Ambition and Action - staying ahead in the industry in terms of – new product launches, superior customer experience, highly competitive pricing strategies, and great returns to the shareholders.

Diverse revenue streams

– Ai Artificial is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided firm in Reshaping Business With Artificial Intelligence: Closing the Gap Between Ambition and Action 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.

High brand equity

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

Innovation driven organization

– Ai Artificial is one of the most innovative firm in sector. Manager in Reshaping Business With Artificial Intelligence: Closing the Gap Between Ambition and Action Harvard Business Review case study can use Clayton Christensen Disruptive Innovation strategies to further increase the scale of innovtions in the organization.

Learning organization

- Ai Artificial 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 Ai Artificial is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders in Reshaping Business With Artificial Intelligence: Closing the Gap Between Ambition and Action Harvard Business Review case study emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.

Superior customer experience

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

Successful track record of launching new products

– Ai Artificial has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Ai Artificial 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.

Ability to lead change in Strategy & Execution field

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

Sustainable margins compare to other players in Strategy & Execution industry

– Reshaping Business With Artificial Intelligence: Closing the Gap Between Ambition and Action firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Ai Artificial to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Strategy & Execution industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Ai Artificial to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.

Operational resilience

– The operational resilience strategy in the Reshaping Business With Artificial Intelligence: Closing the Gap Between Ambition and Action 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.

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Weaknesses Reshaping Business With Artificial Intelligence: Closing the Gap Between Ambition and Action | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis

The weaknesses of Reshaping Business With Artificial Intelligence: Closing the Gap Between Ambition and Action are -

Increasing silos among functional specialists

– The organizational structure of Ai Artificial is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Strategy & Execution segment. Ai Artificial needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Ai Artificial to focus more on services rather than just following the product oriented approach.

Capital Spending Reduction

– Even during the low interest decade, Ai Artificial 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.

No frontier risks strategy

– After analyzing the HBR case study Reshaping Business With Artificial Intelligence: Closing the Gap Between Ambition and Action, 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.

Interest costs

– Compare to the competition, Ai Artificial 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.

Products dominated business model

– Even though Ai Artificial 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 - Reshaping Business With Artificial Intelligence: Closing the Gap Between Ambition and Action should strive to include more intangible value offerings along with its core products and services.

Workers concerns about automation

– As automation is fast increasing in the segment, Ai Artificial 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 strategic competitive environment developments

– As Reshaping Business With Artificial Intelligence: Closing the Gap Between Ambition and Action HBR case study mentions - Ai Artificial 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.

Need for greater diversity

– Ai Artificial 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.

Aligning sales with marketing

– It come across in the case study Reshaping Business With Artificial Intelligence: Closing the Gap Between Ambition and Action 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 Reshaping Business With Artificial Intelligence: Closing the Gap Between Ambition and Action can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Ai Artificial is planning to shift buying processes online.

Slow decision making process

– As mentioned earlier in the report, Ai Artificial 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. Ai Artificial 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.

Employees’ incomplete understanding of strategy

– From the instances in the HBR case study Reshaping Business With Artificial Intelligence: Closing the Gap Between Ambition and Action, it seems that the employees of Ai Artificial 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.

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Opportunities Reshaping Business With Artificial Intelligence: Closing the Gap Between Ambition and Action | 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 Reshaping Business With Artificial Intelligence: Closing the Gap Between Ambition and Action are -

Building a culture of innovation

– managers at Ai Artificial 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.

Creating value in data economy

– The success of analytics program of Ai Artificial has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Ai Artificial to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the Reshaping Business With Artificial Intelligence: Closing the Gap Between Ambition and Action case study. Ai Artificial 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, Ai Artificial 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, Reshaping Business With Artificial Intelligence: Closing the Gap Between Ambition and Action, to buy more products closer to the markets, and it can leverage its size and influence to get better deal from the local markets.

Low interest rates

– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Ai Artificial can still utilize the low interest rates to borrow money for capital investment. Secondly it can also use the increase of government spending in infrastructure projects to get new business.

Leveraging digital technologies

– Ai Artificial 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.

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. Ai Artificial can tie-up with other value chain partners to explore new opportunities regarding meeting customer demands and building a rewarding and engaging relationship.

Learning at scale

– Online learning technologies has now opened space for Ai Artificial 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.

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. Ai Artificial can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.

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 Ai Artificial 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.

Developing new processes and practices

– Ai Artificial can develop new processes and procedures in Strategy & Execution 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.

Better consumer reach

– The expansion of the 5G network will help Ai Artificial to increase its market reach. Ai Artificial 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.

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 Ai Artificial in the consumer business. Now Ai Artificial can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.

Using analytics as competitive advantage

– Ai Artificial 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 Reshaping Business With Artificial Intelligence: Closing the Gap Between Ambition and Action - to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Ai Artificial to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.

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Threats Reshaping Business With Artificial Intelligence: Closing the Gap Between Ambition and Action External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis

The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Reshaping Business With Artificial Intelligence: Closing the Gap Between Ambition and Action are -

Regulatory challenges

– Ai Artificial 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 Strategy & Execution industry regulations.

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. Ai Artificial 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.

Increasing wage structure of Ai Artificial

– 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 Ai Artificial.

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 Ai Artificial.

High dependence on third party suppliers

– Ai Artificial 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 Ai Artificial is facing in Strategy & Execution sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.

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 Ai Artificial in the Strategy & Execution sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.

Consumer confidence and its impact on Ai Artificial 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.

Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution

– Ai Artificial has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Strategy & Execution industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Ai Artificial 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.

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

Environmental challenges

– Ai Artificial 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. Ai Artificial 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.

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.

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Weighted SWOT Analysis of Reshaping Business With Artificial Intelligence: Closing the Gap Between Ambition and Action 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 Reshaping Business With Artificial Intelligence: Closing the Gap Between Ambition and Action 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 Reshaping Business With Artificial Intelligence: Closing the Gap Between Ambition and Action 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 Reshaping Business With Artificial Intelligence: Closing the Gap Between Ambition and Action 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 Reshaping Business With Artificial Intelligence: Closing the Gap Between Ambition and Action 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 Ai Artificial needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.

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