Where is the Power in Numbers? Understanding Firm and Consumer Power when Crowdsourcing SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Innovation & Entrepreneurship
Strategy / MBA Resources
Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of Where is the Power in Numbers? Understanding Firm and Consumer Power when Crowdsourcing
This work utilizes the theory of social power as a lens through which to analyze the power structure of firms and consumers involved in crowdsourcing and discusses the managerial implications of this power balance. The results of this analysis reveal how power is structured differently in each form of crowdsourcing, with consumer power being strongest in the case of idea crowdsourcing and weakest in the case of microtask crowdsourcing. These differences in power have implications for managers who initiate and maintain crowdsourcing endeavors. Understanding the structure of consumer power in different types of crowdsourcing allows firms to better prepare for the wide range of possible outcomes as consumers inevitably push their own agendas regardless of whether or not these agendas are aligned with those of the firm.
Swot Analysis of "Where is the Power in Numbers? Understanding Firm and Consumer Power when Crowdsourcing" written by Matthew Wilson includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Crowdsourcing Power facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Where is the Power in Numbers? Understanding Firm and Consumer Power when Crowdsourcing case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Influence, Social platforms and Innovation & Entrepreneurship.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Where is the Power in Numbers? Understanding Firm and Consumer Power when Crowdsourcing casestudy better are - – there is increasing trade war between United States & China, customer relationship management is fast transforming because of increasing concerns over data privacy, supply chains are disrupted by pandemic , increasing household debt because of falling income levels, there is backlash against globalization, competitive advantages are harder to sustain because of technology dispersion, technology disruption,
digital marketing is dominated by two big players Facebook and Google, increasing energy prices, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Where is the Power in Numbers? Understanding Firm and Consumer Power when Crowdsourcing
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Where is the Power in Numbers? Understanding Firm and Consumer Power when Crowdsourcing case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Crowdsourcing Power, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Crowdsourcing Power 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 Where is the Power in Numbers? Understanding Firm and Consumer Power when Crowdsourcing can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Where is the Power in Numbers? Understanding Firm and Consumer Power when Crowdsourcing case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Crowdsourcing Power
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 Crowdsourcing Power
Strengths Where is the Power in Numbers? Understanding Firm and Consumer Power when Crowdsourcing | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Crowdsourcing Power in Where is the Power in Numbers? Understanding Firm and Consumer Power when Crowdsourcing Harvard Business Review case study are -
Superior customer experience
– The customer experience strategy of Crowdsourcing Power in the segment is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of Crowdsourcing Power in the sector have low bargaining power. Where is the Power in Numbers? Understanding Firm and Consumer Power when Crowdsourcing has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Crowdsourcing Power to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
High brand equity
– Crowdsourcing Power has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Crowdsourcing Power to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Cross disciplinary teams
– Horizontal connected teams at the Crowdsourcing Power 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.
Highly skilled collaborators
– Crowdsourcing Power 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 Where is the Power in Numbers? Understanding Firm and Consumer Power when Crowdsourcing HBR case study have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
Diverse revenue streams
– Crowdsourcing Power is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided firm in Where is the Power in Numbers? Understanding Firm and Consumer Power when Crowdsourcing 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.
Successful track record of launching new products
– Crowdsourcing Power has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Crowdsourcing Power 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 recruit top talent
– Crowdsourcing Power is one of the leading recruiters in the industry. Managers in the Where is the Power in Numbers? Understanding Firm and Consumer Power when Crowdsourcing are in a position to attract the best talent available. The firm has a robust talent identification program that helps in identifying the brightest.
Operational resilience
– The operational resilience strategy in the Where is the Power in Numbers? Understanding Firm and Consumer Power when Crowdsourcing 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.
Analytics focus
– Crowdsourcing Power 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 Matthew Wilson 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.
Effective Research and Development (R&D)
– Crowdsourcing Power 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 Where is the Power in Numbers? Understanding Firm and Consumer Power when Crowdsourcing - staying ahead in the industry in terms of – new product launches, superior customer experience, highly competitive pricing strategies, and great returns to the shareholders.
Digital Transformation in Innovation & Entrepreneurship segment
- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For Crowdsourcing Power digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Crowdsourcing Power 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.
Weaknesses Where is the Power in Numbers? Understanding Firm and Consumer Power when Crowdsourcing | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Where is the Power in Numbers? Understanding Firm and Consumer Power when Crowdsourcing are -
Interest costs
– Compare to the competition, Crowdsourcing Power 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.
High dependence on star products
– The top 2 products and services of the firm as mentioned in the Where is the Power in Numbers? Understanding Firm and Consumer Power when Crowdsourcing 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 Crowdsourcing Power has relatively successful track record of launching new products.
Skills based hiring
– The stress on hiring functional specialists at Crowdsourcing Power has created an environment where the organization is dominated by functional specialists rather than management generalist. This has resulted into product oriented approach rather than marketing oriented approach or consumers oriented approach.
Increasing silos among functional specialists
– The organizational structure of Crowdsourcing Power is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Innovation & Entrepreneurship segment. Crowdsourcing Power needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Crowdsourcing Power to focus more on services rather than just following the product oriented approach.
Compensation and incentives
– The revenue per employee as mentioned in the HBR case study Where is the Power in Numbers? Understanding Firm and Consumer Power when Crowdsourcing, is just above the industry average. Crowdsourcing Power 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.
Slow to harness new channels of communication
– Even though competitors are using new communication channels such as Instagram, Tiktok, and Snap, Crowdsourcing Power is slow explore the new channels of communication. These new channels of communication mentioned in marketing section of case study Where is the Power in Numbers? Understanding Firm and Consumer Power when Crowdsourcing can help to provide better information regarding products and services. It can also build an online community to further reach out to potential customers.
Ability to respond to the competition
– As the decision making is very deliberative, highlighted in the case study Where is the Power in Numbers? Understanding Firm and Consumer Power when Crowdsourcing, in the dynamic environment Crowdsourcing Power has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. Crowdsourcing Power has reasonably good record with similar level competitors but it has struggled with new entrants taking away niches of its business.
Aligning sales with marketing
– It come across in the case study Where is the Power in Numbers? Understanding Firm and Consumer Power when Crowdsourcing 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 Where is the Power in Numbers? Understanding Firm and Consumer Power when Crowdsourcing can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Crowdsourcing Power is planning to shift buying processes online.
Need for greater diversity
– Crowdsourcing Power 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.
Low market penetration in new markets
– Outside its home market of Crowdsourcing Power, firm in the HBR case study Where is the Power in Numbers? Understanding Firm and Consumer Power when Crowdsourcing needs to spend more promotional, marketing, and advertising efforts to penetrate international markets.
Capital Spending Reduction
– Even during the low interest decade, Crowdsourcing Power 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.
Opportunities Where is the Power in Numbers? Understanding Firm and Consumer Power when Crowdsourcing | 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 Where is the Power in Numbers? Understanding Firm and Consumer Power when Crowdsourcing are -
Lowering marketing communication costs
– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Crowdsourcing Power 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.
Building a culture of innovation
– managers at Crowdsourcing Power 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.
Leveraging digital technologies
– Crowdsourcing Power 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.
Loyalty marketing
– Crowdsourcing Power 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 Crowdsourcing Power 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.
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– Crowdsourcing Power 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 Where is the Power in Numbers? Understanding Firm and Consumer Power when Crowdsourcing - to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Crowdsourcing Power to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
Developing new processes and practices
– Crowdsourcing Power can develop new processes and procedures in Innovation & Entrepreneurship 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.
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. Crowdsourcing Power can tie-up with other value chain partners to explore new opportunities regarding meeting customer demands and building a rewarding and engaging relationship.
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Crowdsourcing Power has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Crowdsourcing Power to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the Where is the Power in Numbers? Understanding Firm and Consumer Power when Crowdsourcing case study. Crowdsourcing Power can build new products and services such as - data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
Identify volunteer opportunities
– Covid-19 has impacted working population in two ways – it has led to people soul searching about their professional choices, resulting in mass resignation. Secondly it has encouraged people to do things that they are passionate about. This has opened opportunities for businesses to build volunteer oriented socially driven projects. Crowdsourcing Power 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 Crowdsourcing Power 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.
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 Crowdsourcing Power in the consumer business. Now Crowdsourcing Power can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.
Manufacturing automation
– Crowdsourcing Power 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.
Threats Where is the Power in Numbers? Understanding Firm and Consumer Power when Crowdsourcing External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Where is the Power in Numbers? Understanding Firm and Consumer Power when Crowdsourcing are -
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Crowdsourcing Power is facing in Innovation & Entrepreneurship sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.
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. Crowdsourcing Power can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
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. Crowdsourcing Power 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.
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.
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Crowdsourcing Power has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Innovation & Entrepreneurship industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Crowdsourcing Power 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.
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Crowdsourcing Power 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.
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, as highlighted in case study Where is the Power in Numbers? Understanding Firm and Consumer Power when Crowdsourcing, Crowdsourcing Power 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.
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 Crowdsourcing Power in the Innovation & Entrepreneurship sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
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 Crowdsourcing Power business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Crowdsourcing Power 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 Where is the Power in Numbers? Understanding Firm and Consumer Power when Crowdsourcing .
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. Crowdsourcing Power needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Innovation & Entrepreneurship industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
Consumer confidence and its impact on Crowdsourcing Power 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.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Where is the Power in Numbers? Understanding Firm and Consumer Power when Crowdsourcing 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 Where is the Power in Numbers? Understanding Firm and Consumer Power when Crowdsourcing 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 Where is the Power in Numbers? Understanding Firm and Consumer Power when Crowdsourcing 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 Where is the Power in Numbers? Understanding Firm and Consumer Power when Crowdsourcing 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 Where is the Power in Numbers? Understanding Firm and Consumer Power when Crowdsourcing 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 Crowdsourcing Power needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.
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