Case Study Description of Poseidon Concepts Corporation: Boom to Bust
On February 25, 2013, the chief investment officer at University of Regina Investing (URI) was reviewing the draft copy of the annual report for 2012 that was to be submitted to the client, the University of Regina. One investment that stood out was Poseidon Concepts Corporation, which the fund had bought at $14.02 per share in April 2012, had reached a high of CA$16.02 in September 2012, and had eventually lost all stock value. The chief investment officer decided to review the transaction to identify any warning signs or red flags indicating that Poseidon Concepts Corporation's management was involved in earnings manipulation. If there were signs, and if they had been identified earlier, could URI have avoided incurred losses?
Authors :: Walid Busaba, Nourhene Ben Youssef, Saqib A. Khan
Swot Analysis of "Poseidon Concepts Corporation: Boom to Bust" written by Walid Busaba, Nourhene Ben Youssef, Saqib A. Khan includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Poseidon Uri facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Poseidon Concepts Corporation: Boom to Bust case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Ethics, Financial management and Finance & Accounting.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Poseidon Concepts Corporation: Boom to Bust casestudy better are - – supply chains are disrupted by pandemic , increasing commodity prices, challanges to central banks by blockchain based private currencies, wage bills are increasing, geopolitical disruptions, cloud computing is disrupting traditional business models, increasing energy prices,
technology disruption, there is backlash against globalization, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Poseidon Concepts Corporation: Boom to Bust
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Poseidon Concepts Corporation: Boom to Bust case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Poseidon Uri, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Poseidon Uri 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 Poseidon Concepts Corporation: Boom to Bust can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Poseidon Concepts Corporation: Boom to Bust case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Poseidon Uri
3. Assessing feasibility of the new initiative in Finance & Accounting field.
4. Making a Finance & Accounting topic specific business decision
5. Set goals for the organization
6. Organizational restructuring of Poseidon Uri
Strengths Poseidon Concepts Corporation: Boom to Bust | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Poseidon Uri in Poseidon Concepts Corporation: Boom to Bust Harvard Business Review case study are -
Organizational Resilience of Poseidon Uri
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing that Poseidon Uri does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
Operational resilience
– The operational resilience strategy in the Poseidon Concepts Corporation: Boom to Bust 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.
Digital Transformation in Finance & Accounting segment
- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For Poseidon Uri digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Poseidon Uri 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 lead change in Finance & Accounting field
– Poseidon Uri 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 Poseidon Uri in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.
High brand equity
– Poseidon Uri has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Poseidon Uri to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
High switching costs
– The high switching costs that Poseidon Uri has built up over years in its products and services combo offer has resulted in high retention of customers, lower marketing costs, and greater ability of the firm to focus on its customers.
Innovation driven organization
– Poseidon Uri is one of the most innovative firm in sector. Manager in Poseidon Concepts Corporation: Boom to Bust 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
– Poseidon Uri is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.
Diverse revenue streams
– Poseidon Uri is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided firm in Poseidon Concepts Corporation: Boom to Bust 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
– Poseidon Uri 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 Walid Busaba, Nourhene Ben Youssef, Saqib A. Khan 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.
Training and development
– Poseidon Uri has one of the best training and development program in the industry. The effectiveness of the training programs can be measured in Poseidon Concepts Corporation: Boom to Bust 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.
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of Poseidon Uri in the sector have low bargaining power. Poseidon Concepts Corporation: Boom to Bust has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Poseidon Uri to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
Weaknesses Poseidon Concepts Corporation: Boom to Bust | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Poseidon Concepts Corporation: Boom to Bust are -
High cash cycle compare to competitors
Poseidon Uri 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.
Workers concerns about automation
– As automation is fast increasing in the segment, Poseidon Uri 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, Poseidon Uri is slow explore the new channels of communication. These new channels of communication mentioned in marketing section of case study Poseidon Concepts Corporation: Boom to Bust can help to provide better information regarding products and services. It can also build an online community to further reach out to potential customers.
Interest costs
– Compare to the competition, Poseidon Uri 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.
Aligning sales with marketing
– It come across in the case study Poseidon Concepts Corporation: Boom to Bust 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 Poseidon Concepts Corporation: Boom to Bust can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Poseidon Uri is planning to shift buying processes online.
Slow to strategic competitive environment developments
– As Poseidon Concepts Corporation: Boom to Bust HBR case study mentions - Poseidon Uri 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 Poseidon Concepts Corporation: Boom to Bust, it seems that the employees of Poseidon Uri 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.
Compensation and incentives
– The revenue per employee as mentioned in the HBR case study Poseidon Concepts Corporation: Boom to Bust, is just above the industry average. Poseidon Uri 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.
Low market penetration in new markets
– Outside its home market of Poseidon Uri, firm in the HBR case study Poseidon Concepts Corporation: Boom to Bust needs to spend more promotional, marketing, and advertising efforts to penetrate international markets.
Slow decision making process
– As mentioned earlier in the report, Poseidon Uri 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. Poseidon Uri 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.
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 Poseidon Uri supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes mentioned in the HBR case study - Poseidon Concepts Corporation: Boom to Bust, it is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left Poseidon Uri vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.
Opportunities Poseidon Concepts Corporation: Boom to Bust | 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 Poseidon Concepts Corporation: Boom to Bust are -
Finding new ways to collaborate
– Covid-19 has not only transformed business models of companies in Finance & Accounting industry, but it has also influenced the consumer preferences. Poseidon Uri 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 Poseidon Uri 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.
Better consumer reach
– The expansion of the 5G network will help Poseidon Uri to increase its market reach. Poseidon Uri 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 Poseidon Uri in the consumer business. Now Poseidon Uri can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.
Leveraging digital technologies
– Poseidon Uri 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.
Lowering marketing communication costs
– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Poseidon Uri in the field of marketing communication. It will bring down the cost of doing business, provide technology platform to build new products in the Finance & Accounting segment, and it will provide faster access to the consumers.
Building a culture of innovation
– managers at Poseidon Uri 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 Finance & Accounting segment.
Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains
– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Poseidon Uri 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, Poseidon Concepts Corporation: Boom to Bust, to buy more products closer to the markets, and it can leverage its size and influence to get better deal from the local markets.
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Poseidon Uri has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Poseidon Uri to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the Poseidon Concepts Corporation: Boom to Bust case study. Poseidon Uri can build new products and services such as - data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
Increase in government spending
– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Poseidon Uri can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Poseidon Uri operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Finance & Accounting sector.
Redefining models of collaboration and team work
– As explained in the weaknesses section, Poseidon Uri is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. Poseidon Concepts Corporation: Boom to Bust case study suggests that firm can utilize new technology to build more coordinated teams and streamline operations and communications using tools such as CAD, Zoom, etc.
Developing new processes and practices
– Poseidon Uri can develop new processes and procedures in Finance & Accounting 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.
Changes in consumer behavior post Covid-19
– Consumer behavior has changed in the Finance & Accounting industry because of Covid-19 restrictions. Some of this behavior will stay once things get back to normal. Poseidon Uri 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. Poseidon Uri 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.
Threats Poseidon Concepts Corporation: Boom to Bust External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Poseidon Concepts Corporation: Boom to Bust are -
Easy access to finance
– Easy access to finance in Finance & Accounting field will also reduce the barriers to entry in the industry, thus putting downward pressure on the prices because of increasing competition. Poseidon Uri can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
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 Poseidon Uri.
High dependence on third party suppliers
– Poseidon Uri 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.
Environmental challenges
– Poseidon Uri 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. Poseidon Uri can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Finance & Accounting industry.
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 Poseidon Uri business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, 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 Poseidon Uri in the Finance & Accounting sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, as highlighted in case study Poseidon Concepts Corporation: Boom to Bust, Poseidon Uri may face longer learning curve for training and development of existing employees. This can open space for more nimble competitors in the field of Finance & Accounting .
Increasing wage structure of Poseidon Uri
– 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 Poseidon Uri.
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Poseidon Uri in the Finance & Accounting industry. The Finance & Accounting 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.
Regulatory challenges
– Poseidon Uri 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 Finance & Accounting industry regulations.
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry in the industry are lowering. It can presents Poseidon Uri with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the sector.
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Poseidon Uri 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 Poseidon Concepts Corporation: Boom to Bust .
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 Poseidon Concepts Corporation: Boom to Bust 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 Poseidon Concepts Corporation: Boom to Bust 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 Poseidon Concepts Corporation: Boom to Bust 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 Poseidon Concepts Corporation: Boom to Bust 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 Poseidon Concepts Corporation: Boom to Bust 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 Poseidon Uri needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.
