Rebel Technologies Series Seed Negotiation: Emperor Information SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
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Strategy / MBA Resources
Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of Rebel Technologies Series Seed Negotiation: Emperor Information
Supplement to case SCG534. Students engage in a high-stakes seed stage investment negotiation between Empire Ventures, a leading venture capital firm, and Rebel Technologies, a cutting-edge virtual reality game developer. The parties must quickly hash out the size of the investment, board composition, founder vesting provisions and other issues or risk falling behind in a fast-moving marketplace. This document contains general information and coonfidential information and instructions for Emperor Ventures.
Authors :: Scott Lenet, Laju Obasaju, Selina Troesch
Swot Analysis of "Rebel Technologies Series Seed Negotiation: Emperor Information" written by Scott Lenet, Laju Obasaju, Selina Troesch includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Emperor Rebel facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Rebel Technologies Series Seed Negotiation: Emperor Information case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Venture capital and Communication.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Rebel Technologies Series Seed Negotiation: Emperor Information casestudy better are - – there is backlash against globalization, competitive advantages are harder to sustain because of technology dispersion, increasing government debt because of Covid-19 spendings, increasing commodity prices, geopolitical disruptions, technology disruption, wage bills are increasing,
customer relationship management is fast transforming because of increasing concerns over data privacy, increasing energy prices, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Rebel Technologies Series Seed Negotiation: Emperor Information
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Rebel Technologies Series Seed Negotiation: Emperor Information case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Emperor Rebel, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Emperor Rebel 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 Rebel Technologies Series Seed Negotiation: Emperor Information can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Rebel Technologies Series Seed Negotiation: Emperor Information case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Emperor Rebel
3. Assessing feasibility of the new initiative in Communication field.
4. Making a Communication topic specific business decision
5. Set goals for the organization
6. Organizational restructuring of Emperor Rebel
Strengths Rebel Technologies Series Seed Negotiation: Emperor Information | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Emperor Rebel in Rebel Technologies Series Seed Negotiation: Emperor Information Harvard Business Review case study are -
Strong track record of project management
– Emperor Rebel is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.
Learning organization
- Emperor Rebel 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 Emperor Rebel is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders in Rebel Technologies Series Seed Negotiation: Emperor Information Harvard Business Review case study emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
Highly skilled collaborators
– Emperor Rebel 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 Rebel Technologies Series Seed Negotiation: Emperor Information HBR case study have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
Effective Research and Development (R&D)
– Emperor Rebel 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 Rebel Technologies Series Seed Negotiation: Emperor Information - staying ahead in the industry in terms of – new product launches, superior customer experience, highly competitive pricing strategies, and great returns to the shareholders.
Cross disciplinary teams
– Horizontal connected teams at the Emperor Rebel 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.
Ability to lead change in Communication field
– Emperor Rebel 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 Emperor Rebel in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.
Operational resilience
– The operational resilience strategy in the Rebel Technologies Series Seed Negotiation: Emperor Information 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 switching costs
– The high switching costs that Emperor Rebel 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.
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of Emperor Rebel in the sector have low bargaining power. Rebel Technologies Series Seed Negotiation: Emperor Information has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Emperor Rebel to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
High brand equity
– Emperor Rebel has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Emperor Rebel to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Communication industry
– Rebel Technologies Series Seed Negotiation: Emperor Information firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Emperor Rebel to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Communication industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Emperor Rebel to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Diverse revenue streams
– Emperor Rebel is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided firm in Rebel Technologies Series Seed Negotiation: Emperor Information 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.
Weaknesses Rebel Technologies Series Seed Negotiation: Emperor Information | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Rebel Technologies Series Seed Negotiation: Emperor Information are -
Interest costs
– Compare to the competition, Emperor Rebel 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.
Slow to strategic competitive environment developments
– As Rebel Technologies Series Seed Negotiation: Emperor Information HBR case study mentions - Emperor Rebel 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.
Aligning sales with marketing
– It come across in the case study Rebel Technologies Series Seed Negotiation: Emperor Information 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 Rebel Technologies Series Seed Negotiation: Emperor Information can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Emperor Rebel is planning to shift buying processes online.
Need for greater diversity
– Emperor Rebel 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.
Ability to respond to the competition
– As the decision making is very deliberative, highlighted in the case study Rebel Technologies Series Seed Negotiation: Emperor Information, in the dynamic environment Emperor Rebel has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. Emperor Rebel has reasonably good record with similar level competitors but it has struggled with new entrants taking away niches of its business.
Low market penetration in new markets
– Outside its home market of Emperor Rebel, firm in the HBR case study Rebel Technologies Series Seed Negotiation: Emperor Information 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 Rebel Technologies Series Seed Negotiation: Emperor Information 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 Emperor Rebel has relatively successful track record of launching new products.
High bargaining power of channel partners
– Because of the regulatory requirements, Scott Lenet, Laju Obasaju, Selina Troesch suggests that, Emperor Rebel 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.
Employees’ incomplete understanding of strategy
– From the instances in the HBR case study Rebel Technologies Series Seed Negotiation: Emperor Information, it seems that the employees of Emperor Rebel 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.
Products dominated business model
– Even though Emperor Rebel 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 - Rebel Technologies Series Seed Negotiation: Emperor Information should strive to include more intangible value offerings along with its core products and services.
Increasing silos among functional specialists
– The organizational structure of Emperor Rebel is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Communication segment. Emperor Rebel needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Emperor Rebel to focus more on services rather than just following the product oriented approach.
Opportunities Rebel Technologies Series Seed Negotiation: Emperor Information | 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 Rebel Technologies Series Seed Negotiation: Emperor Information are -
Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains
– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Emperor Rebel 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, Rebel Technologies Series Seed Negotiation: Emperor Information, to buy more products closer to the markets, and it can leverage its size and influence to get better deal from the local markets.
Developing new processes and practices
– Emperor Rebel can develop new processes and procedures in Communication 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.
Increase in government spending
– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Emperor Rebel can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Emperor Rebel operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Communication sector.
Manufacturing automation
– Emperor Rebel can use the latest technology developments to improve its manufacturing and designing process in Communication 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.
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. Emperor Rebel can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.
Buying journey improvements
– Emperor Rebel can improve the customer journey of consumers in the industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. Rebel Technologies Series Seed Negotiation: Emperor Information 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.
Redefining models of collaboration and team work
– As explained in the weaknesses section, Emperor Rebel is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. Rebel Technologies Series Seed Negotiation: Emperor Information 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.
Building a culture of innovation
– managers at Emperor Rebel 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 Communication segment.
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Emperor Rebel has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Emperor Rebel to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the Rebel Technologies Series Seed Negotiation: Emperor Information case study. Emperor Rebel can build new products and services such as - data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
Better consumer reach
– The expansion of the 5G network will help Emperor Rebel to increase its market reach. Emperor Rebel 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 Communication industry because of Covid-19 restrictions. Some of this behavior will stay once things get back to normal. Emperor Rebel 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. Emperor Rebel can further use this consumer data to build better customer loyalty, provide better products and service collection, and improve the value proposition in inflationary times.
Loyalty marketing
– Emperor Rebel 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.
Reforming the budgeting process
- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects Emperor Rebel can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.
Threats Rebel Technologies Series Seed Negotiation: Emperor Information External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Rebel Technologies Series Seed Negotiation: Emperor Information are -
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.
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, as highlighted in case study Rebel Technologies Series Seed Negotiation: Emperor Information, Emperor Rebel may face longer learning curve for training and development of existing employees. This can open space for more nimble competitors in the field of Communication .
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Emperor Rebel in the Communication industry. The Communication 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.
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 Emperor Rebel.
Easy access to finance
– Easy access to finance in Communication field will also reduce the barriers to entry in the industry, thus putting downward pressure on the prices because of increasing competition. Emperor Rebel can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Emperor Rebel is facing in Communication 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 Emperor Rebel in the Communication sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
Regulatory challenges
– Emperor Rebel 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 Communication industry regulations.
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. Emperor Rebel needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Communication industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
Environmental challenges
– Emperor Rebel 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. Emperor Rebel can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Communication industry.
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Emperor Rebel 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 Rebel Technologies Series Seed Negotiation: Emperor Information .
Technology disruption because of hacks, piracy etc
– The colonial pipeline illustrated, how vulnerable modern organization are to international hackers, miscreants, and disruptors. The cyber security interruption, data leaks, etc can seriously jeopardize the future growth of the organization.
High dependence on third party suppliers
– Emperor Rebel 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.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Rebel Technologies Series Seed Negotiation: Emperor Information 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 Rebel Technologies Series Seed Negotiation: Emperor Information 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 Rebel Technologies Series Seed Negotiation: Emperor Information 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 Rebel Technologies Series Seed Negotiation: Emperor Information 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 Rebel Technologies Series Seed Negotiation: Emperor Information 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 Emperor Rebel needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.
