Driving the Future: How Autonomous Vehicles Will Change Industries and Strategy SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Strategy & Execution
Strategy / MBA Resources
Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of Driving the Future: How Autonomous Vehicles Will Change Industries and Strategy
Waymo, the self-driving car division of Google, has ordered 82,000 self-driving cars for delivery through 2020. Cruise Automation, from General Motors, is perfecting their own fleet. Countless companies are driving full-throttle into the future. This case explores whether self-driving cars (autonomous vehicles or AVs) are a red oean or blue ocean opportunity, and explains the difference between technological innovation and value innovation. It will prompt students to think about disruptive innovation and nondisruptive market creation, and why inventors of major technological innovations throughout history have often failed to meaningfully monetize their inventions.
Authors :: W. Chan Kim, Renee Mauborgne, Guoli Chen, Michael Olenick
Swot Analysis of "Driving the Future: How Autonomous Vehicles Will Change Industries and Strategy" written by W. Chan Kim, Renee Mauborgne, Guoli Chen, Michael Olenick includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Driving Autonomous facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Driving the Future: How Autonomous Vehicles Will Change Industries and Strategy case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Disruptive innovation, Technology and Strategy & Execution.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Driving the Future: How Autonomous Vehicles Will Change Industries and Strategy casestudy better are - – customer relationship management is fast transforming because of increasing concerns over data privacy, technology disruption, talent flight as more people leaving formal jobs, increasing transportation and logistics costs, wage bills are increasing, increasing government debt because of Covid-19 spendings, banking and financial system is disrupted by Bitcoin and other crypto currencies,
cloud computing is disrupting traditional business models, competitive advantages are harder to sustain because of technology dispersion, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Driving the Future: How Autonomous Vehicles Will Change Industries and Strategy
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Driving the Future: How Autonomous Vehicles Will Change Industries and Strategy case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Driving Autonomous, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Driving Autonomous 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 Driving the Future: How Autonomous Vehicles Will Change Industries and Strategy can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Driving the Future: How Autonomous Vehicles Will Change Industries and Strategy case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Driving Autonomous
3. Assessing feasibility of the new initiative in Strategy & Execution field.
4. Making a Strategy & Execution topic specific business decision
5. Set goals for the organization
6. Organizational restructuring of Driving Autonomous
Strengths Driving the Future: How Autonomous Vehicles Will Change Industries and Strategy | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Driving Autonomous in Driving the Future: How Autonomous Vehicles Will Change Industries and Strategy Harvard Business Review case study are -
Ability to lead change in Strategy & Execution field
– Driving Autonomous 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 Driving Autonomous in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.
Organizational Resilience of Driving Autonomous
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing that Driving Autonomous does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
Successful track record of launching new products
– Driving Autonomous has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Driving Autonomous 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.
Learning organization
- Driving Autonomous 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 Driving Autonomous is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders in Driving the Future: How Autonomous Vehicles Will Change Industries and Strategy Harvard Business Review case study emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
Ability to recruit top talent
– Driving Autonomous is one of the leading recruiters in the industry. Managers in the Driving the Future: How Autonomous Vehicles Will Change Industries and Strategy are in a position to attract the best talent available. The firm has a robust talent identification program that helps in identifying the brightest.
Digital Transformation in Strategy & Execution segment
- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For Driving Autonomous digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Driving Autonomous 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.
Innovation driven organization
– Driving Autonomous is one of the most innovative firm in sector. Manager in Driving the Future: How Autonomous Vehicles Will Change Industries and Strategy Harvard Business Review case study can use Clayton Christensen Disruptive Innovation strategies to further increase the scale of innovtions in the organization.
Cross disciplinary teams
– Horizontal connected teams at the Driving Autonomous 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.
Effective Research and Development (R&D)
– Driving Autonomous 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 Driving the Future: How Autonomous Vehicles Will Change Industries and Strategy - staying ahead in the industry in terms of – new product launches, superior customer experience, highly competitive pricing strategies, and great returns to the shareholders.
High switching costs
– The high switching costs that Driving Autonomous 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.
Superior customer experience
– The customer experience strategy of Driving Autonomous in the segment is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.
Diverse revenue streams
– Driving Autonomous is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided firm in Driving the Future: How Autonomous Vehicles Will Change Industries and Strategy 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 Driving the Future: How Autonomous Vehicles Will Change Industries and Strategy | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Driving the Future: How Autonomous Vehicles Will Change Industries and Strategy are -
Slow decision making process
– As mentioned earlier in the report, Driving Autonomous 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. Driving Autonomous 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.
Aligning sales with marketing
– It come across in the case study Driving the Future: How Autonomous Vehicles Will Change Industries and Strategy 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 Driving the Future: How Autonomous Vehicles Will Change Industries and Strategy can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Driving Autonomous is planning to shift buying processes online.
Lack of clear differentiation of Driving Autonomous products
– To increase the profitability and margins on the products, Driving Autonomous needs to provide more differentiated products than what it is currently offering in the marketplace.
Compensation and incentives
– The revenue per employee as mentioned in the HBR case study Driving the Future: How Autonomous Vehicles Will Change Industries and Strategy, is just above the industry average. Driving Autonomous 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 Driving Autonomous, firm in the HBR case study Driving the Future: How Autonomous Vehicles Will Change Industries and Strategy needs to spend more promotional, marketing, and advertising efforts to penetrate international markets.
Increasing silos among functional specialists
– The organizational structure of Driving Autonomous is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Strategy & Execution segment. Driving Autonomous needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Driving Autonomous to focus more on services rather than just following the product oriented approach.
High bargaining power of channel partners
– Because of the regulatory requirements, W. Chan Kim, Renee Mauborgne, Guoli Chen, Michael Olenick suggests that, Driving Autonomous 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.
Ability to respond to the competition
– As the decision making is very deliberative, highlighted in the case study Driving the Future: How Autonomous Vehicles Will Change Industries and Strategy, in the dynamic environment Driving Autonomous has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. Driving Autonomous has reasonably good record with similar level competitors but it has struggled with new entrants taking away niches of its business.
High cash cycle compare to competitors
Driving Autonomous 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.
Slow to harness new channels of communication
– Even though competitors are using new communication channels such as Instagram, Tiktok, and Snap, Driving Autonomous is slow explore the new channels of communication. These new channels of communication mentioned in marketing section of case study Driving the Future: How Autonomous Vehicles Will Change Industries and Strategy can help to provide better information regarding products and services. It can also build an online community to further reach out to potential customers.
Skills based hiring
– The stress on hiring functional specialists at Driving Autonomous 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.
Opportunities Driving the Future: How Autonomous Vehicles Will Change Industries and Strategy | 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 Driving the Future: How Autonomous Vehicles Will Change Industries and Strategy 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, Driving Autonomous can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Driving Autonomous operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Strategy & Execution sector.
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Driving Autonomous has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Driving Autonomous to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the Driving the Future: How Autonomous Vehicles Will Change Industries and Strategy case study. Driving Autonomous can build new products and services such as - data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
Developing new processes and practices
– Driving Autonomous can develop new processes and procedures in Strategy & Execution industry using technology such as automation using artificial intelligence, real time transportation and products tracking, 3D modeling for concept development and new products pilot testing etc.
Reforming the budgeting process
- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects Driving Autonomous can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– Driving Autonomous 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 Driving the Future: How Autonomous Vehicles Will Change Industries and Strategy - to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Driving Autonomous to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
Manufacturing automation
– Driving Autonomous can use the latest technology developments to improve its manufacturing and designing process in Strategy & Execution 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.
Building a culture of innovation
– managers at Driving Autonomous can make experimentation a productive activity and build a culture of innovation using approaches such as – mining transaction data, A/B testing of websites and selling platforms, engaging potential customers over various needs, and building on small ideas in the Strategy & Execution segment.
Better consumer reach
– The expansion of the 5G network will help Driving Autonomous to increase its market reach. Driving Autonomous 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 Driving Autonomous in the consumer business. Now Driving Autonomous can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.
Changes in consumer behavior post Covid-19
– Consumer behavior has changed in the Strategy & Execution industry because of Covid-19 restrictions. Some of this behavior will stay once things get back to normal. Driving Autonomous 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. Driving Autonomous 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.
Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains
– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Driving Autonomous 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, Driving the Future: How Autonomous Vehicles Will Change Industries and Strategy, to buy more products closer to the markets, and it can leverage its size and influence to get better deal from the local markets.
Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities
– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Driving Autonomous to expand its talent hiring zone. According to McKinsey Global Institute, 20% of the high end workforce in fields such as finance, information technology, can continously work from remote local post Covid-19. This presents a really great opportunity for Driving Autonomous to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
Lowering marketing communication costs
– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Driving Autonomous in the field of marketing communication. It will bring down the cost of doing business, provide technology platform to build new products in the Strategy & Execution segment, and it will provide faster access to the consumers.
Threats Driving the Future: How Autonomous Vehicles Will Change Industries and Strategy External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Driving the Future: How Autonomous Vehicles Will Change Industries and Strategy are -
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Driving Autonomous in the Strategy & Execution industry. The Strategy & Execution 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.
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Driving Autonomous 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.
High dependence on third party suppliers
– Driving Autonomous 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.
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Driving Autonomous has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Strategy & Execution industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Driving Autonomous needs to keep up with the evolution of technology in the Strategy & Execution sector. According to Mckinsey study top managers believe that the adoption of technology in operations, communications is 20-25 times faster than what they planned in the beginning of 2019.
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Driving Autonomous is facing in Strategy & Execution 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 Strategy & Execution field will also reduce the barriers to entry in the industry, thus putting downward pressure on the prices because of increasing competition. Driving Autonomous can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
Increasing wage structure of Driving Autonomous
– 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 Driving Autonomous.
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, as highlighted in case study Driving the Future: How Autonomous Vehicles Will Change Industries and Strategy, Driving Autonomous may face longer learning curve for training and development of existing employees. This can open space for more nimble competitors in the field of Strategy & Execution .
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 Driving Autonomous business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
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 Driving Autonomous.
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry in the industry are lowering. It can presents Driving Autonomous 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, Driving Autonomous 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 Driving the Future: How Autonomous Vehicles Will Change Industries and Strategy .
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. Driving Autonomous needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Strategy & Execution industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Driving the Future: How Autonomous Vehicles Will Change Industries and Strategy 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 Driving the Future: How Autonomous Vehicles Will Change Industries and Strategy 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 Driving the Future: How Autonomous Vehicles Will Change Industries and Strategy 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 Driving the Future: How Autonomous Vehicles Will Change Industries and Strategy 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 Driving the Future: How Autonomous Vehicles Will Change Industries and Strategy 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 Driving Autonomous needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.
