Humor: Serious Business - Caselet Studies: Eric Gurian: Humor Ignites Positive Action in Dark Times SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis

Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution

Case Study Description of Humor: Serious Business - Caselet Studies: Eric Gurian: Humor Ignites Positive Action in Dark Times

This set of Humor: Serious Business "Caselet Studies" follows three visionaries (SPANX CEO Sara Blakely, Deloitte Partner Brian Fugere, and Friend of a Friend Productions CEO/Founder Eric Gurian) as they examine their strategic use of humor in the business world. Sara Blakely (in Using Humor to Launch a Company) explores how humor drove her revolutionary startup SPANX from a one-person startup to global phenomenon. Brian Fugere (in Bigger Than Bullsh*t) analyzes how humor helped infuse humanity back to the consulting world. Eric Gurian (in Humor Ignites Positive Action in Dark Times) discusses how humor engaged a community in a serious issue and moved people to action.

Authors :: Jennifer Aaker, Naomi Bagdonas, Peter A. Seibert, Eric Gurian

Topics :: Innovation & Entrepreneurship

Tags :: Leadership, Marketing, Organizational culture, Strategy, SWOT Analysis, SWOT Matrix, TOWS, Weighted SWOT Analysis

Swot Analysis of "Humor: Serious Business - Caselet Studies: Eric Gurian: Humor Ignites Positive Action in Dark Times" written by Jennifer Aaker, Naomi Bagdonas, Peter A. Seibert, Eric Gurian includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Humor Gurian facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Humor: Serious Business - Caselet Studies: Eric Gurian: Humor Ignites Positive Action in Dark Times case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Leadership, Marketing, Organizational culture, Strategy and Innovation & Entrepreneurship.

Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Humor: Serious Business - Caselet Studies: Eric Gurian: Humor Ignites Positive Action in Dark Times casestudy better are - – technology disruption, wage bills are increasing, customer relationship management is fast transforming because of increasing concerns over data privacy, increasing government debt because of Covid-19 spendings, digital marketing is dominated by two big players Facebook and Google, cloud computing is disrupting traditional business models, increasing transportation and logistics costs, competitive advantages are harder to sustain because of technology dispersion, central banks are concerned over increasing inflation, etc

---

---

---

---

Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Humor: Serious Business - Caselet Studies: Eric Gurian: Humor Ignites Positive Action in Dark Times

SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Humor: Serious Business - Caselet Studies: Eric Gurian: Humor Ignites Positive Action in Dark Times case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Humor Gurian, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Humor Gurian 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 Humor: Serious Business - Caselet Studies: Eric Gurian: Humor Ignites Positive Action in Dark Times can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Humor: Serious Business - Caselet Studies: Eric Gurian: Humor Ignites Positive Action in Dark Times case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Humor Gurian
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 Humor Gurian

---

Strengths Humor: Serious Business - Caselet Studies: Eric Gurian: Humor Ignites Positive Action in Dark Times | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis

The strengths of Humor Gurian in Humor: Serious Business - Caselet Studies: Eric Gurian: Humor Ignites Positive Action in Dark Times Harvard Business Review case study are -

Superior customer experience

– The customer experience strategy of Humor Gurian 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 Humor: Serious Business - Caselet Studies: Eric Gurian: Humor Ignites Positive Action in Dark Times 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.

Diverse revenue streams

– Humor Gurian is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided firm in Humor: Serious Business - Caselet Studies: Eric Gurian: Humor Ignites Positive Action in Dark Times 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.

Analytics focus

– Humor Gurian 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 Jennifer Aaker, Naomi Bagdonas, Peter A. Seibert, Eric Gurian 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.

Digital Transformation in Innovation & Entrepreneurship segment

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

Sustainable margins compare to other players in Innovation & Entrepreneurship industry

– Humor: Serious Business - Caselet Studies: Eric Gurian: Humor Ignites Positive Action in Dark Times firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Humor Gurian to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Innovation & Entrepreneurship industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Humor Gurian to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.

Cross disciplinary teams

– Horizontal connected teams at the Humor Gurian 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.

High brand equity

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

Successful track record of launching new products

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

Organizational Resilience of Humor Gurian

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

Strong track record of project management

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

Low bargaining power of suppliers

– Suppliers of Humor Gurian in the sector have low bargaining power. Humor: Serious Business - Caselet Studies: Eric Gurian: Humor Ignites Positive Action in Dark Times has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Humor Gurian to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.

---

---

Weaknesses Humor: Serious Business - Caselet Studies: Eric Gurian: Humor Ignites Positive Action in Dark Times | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis

The weaknesses of Humor: Serious Business - Caselet Studies: Eric Gurian: Humor Ignites Positive Action in Dark Times are -

Lack of clear differentiation of Humor Gurian products

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

Slow decision making process

– As mentioned earlier in the report, Humor Gurian 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. Humor Gurian 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.

Low market penetration in new markets

– Outside its home market of Humor Gurian, firm in the HBR case study Humor: Serious Business - Caselet Studies: Eric Gurian: Humor Ignites Positive Action in Dark Times needs to spend more promotional, marketing, and advertising efforts to penetrate international markets.

High dependence on star products

– The top 2 products and services of the firm as mentioned in the Humor: Serious Business - Caselet Studies: Eric Gurian: Humor Ignites Positive Action in Dark Times 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 Humor Gurian has relatively successful track record of launching new products.

Increasing silos among functional specialists

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

Slow to strategic competitive environment developments

– As Humor: Serious Business - Caselet Studies: Eric Gurian: Humor Ignites Positive Action in Dark Times HBR case study mentions - Humor Gurian 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.

Employees’ incomplete understanding of strategy

– From the instances in the HBR case study Humor: Serious Business - Caselet Studies: Eric Gurian: Humor Ignites Positive Action in Dark Times, it seems that the employees of Humor Gurian 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.

Capital Spending Reduction

– Even during the low interest decade, Humor Gurian 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.

High bargaining power of channel partners

– Because of the regulatory requirements, Jennifer Aaker, Naomi Bagdonas, Peter A. Seibert, Eric Gurian suggests that, Humor Gurian 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.

Workers concerns about automation

– As automation is fast increasing in the segment, Humor Gurian 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.

High dependence on existing supply chain

– The disruption in the global supply chains because of the Covid-19 pandemic and blockage of the Suez Canal illustrated the fragile nature of Humor Gurian supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes mentioned in the HBR case study - Humor: Serious Business - Caselet Studies: Eric Gurian: Humor Ignites Positive Action in Dark Times, it is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left Humor Gurian vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.

---

Opportunities Humor: Serious Business - Caselet Studies: Eric Gurian: Humor Ignites Positive Action in Dark Times | 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 Humor: Serious Business - Caselet Studies: Eric Gurian: Humor Ignites Positive Action in Dark Times are -

Increase in government spending

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

Better consumer reach

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

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. Humor Gurian 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. Humor Gurian 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.

Buying journey improvements

– Humor Gurian can improve the customer journey of consumers in the industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. Humor: Serious Business - Caselet Studies: Eric Gurian: Humor Ignites Positive Action in Dark Times 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.

Building a culture of innovation

– managers at Humor Gurian can make experimentation a productive activity and build a culture of innovation using approaches such as – mining transaction data, A/B testing of websites and selling platforms, engaging potential customers over various needs, and building on small ideas in the Innovation & Entrepreneurship segment.

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

Creating value in data economy

– The success of analytics program of Humor Gurian has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Humor Gurian to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the Humor: Serious Business - Caselet Studies: Eric Gurian: Humor Ignites Positive Action in Dark Times case study. Humor Gurian can build new products and services such as - data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.

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

Loyalty marketing

– Humor Gurian 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.

Learning at scale

– Online learning technologies has now opened space for Humor Gurian 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.

Lowering marketing communication costs

– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Humor Gurian 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.

Manufacturing automation

– Humor Gurian can use the latest technology developments to improve its manufacturing and designing process in Innovation & Entrepreneurship 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.

Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains

– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Humor Gurian 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, Humor: Serious Business - Caselet Studies: Eric Gurian: Humor Ignites Positive Action in Dark Times, to buy more products closer to the markets, and it can leverage its size and influence to get better deal from the local markets.

---

Threats Humor: Serious Business - Caselet Studies: Eric Gurian: Humor Ignites Positive Action in Dark Times External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis

The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Humor: Serious Business - Caselet Studies: Eric Gurian: Humor Ignites Positive Action in Dark Times are -

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.

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

Barriers of entry lowering

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

Trade war between China and United States

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

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 Humor Gurian in the Innovation & Entrepreneurship sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.

Stagnating economy with rate increase

– Humor Gurian 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 Humor: Serious Business - Caselet Studies: Eric Gurian: Humor Ignites Positive Action in Dark Times, Humor Gurian 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 .

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.

Shortening product life cycle

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

Consumer confidence and its impact on Humor Gurian 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.

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. Humor Gurian needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Innovation & Entrepreneurship industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.

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 Humor Gurian.

Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution

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

---

Weighted SWOT Analysis of Humor: Serious Business - Caselet Studies: Eric Gurian: Humor Ignites Positive Action in Dark Times 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 Humor: Serious Business - Caselet Studies: Eric Gurian: Humor Ignites Positive Action in Dark Times 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 Humor: Serious Business - Caselet Studies: Eric Gurian: Humor Ignites Positive Action in Dark Times 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 Humor: Serious Business - Caselet Studies: Eric Gurian: Humor Ignites Positive Action in Dark Times 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 Humor: Serious Business - Caselet Studies: Eric Gurian: Humor Ignites Positive Action in Dark Times 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 Humor Gurian needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.

--- ---