Disruptive Technology as an Enabler of the Circular Economy: What Potential Does 3D Printing Hold? SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Leadership & Managing People
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Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of Disruptive Technology as an Enabler of the Circular Economy: What Potential Does 3D Printing Hold?
Three-dimensional (3D) printing has been widely identified as an emerging disruptive technology. This study examines how this technology could enable the circular economy by disrupting the existing materials value chain. Specifically, could this novel technology be used to locally manufacture new goods from local sources of recycled plastic waste, thereby offering benefits for the efficiency and effectiveness of materials cycling? This article uses the London metropolitan area--where system conditions already exist in the form of material flows, technology policy, and facilities--in order to assess 3D printing's viability as an enabler of a circular economy at the local level. An analysis of stakeholder perceptions identifies economic, technological, social, organizational, and regulatory barriers to mainstream implementation, and their likelihood of being overcome.
Authors :: Alysia Garmulewicz, Matthias Holweg, Hans Veldhuis, Aidong Yang
Swot Analysis of "Disruptive Technology as an Enabler of the Circular Economy: What Potential Does 3D Printing Hold?" written by Alysia Garmulewicz, Matthias Holweg, Hans Veldhuis, Aidong Yang includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Circular 3d facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Disruptive Technology as an Enabler of the Circular Economy: What Potential Does 3D Printing Hold? case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Innovation, Sustainability, Technology and Leadership & Managing People.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Disruptive Technology as an Enabler of the Circular Economy: What Potential Does 3D Printing Hold? casestudy better are - – banking and financial system is disrupted by Bitcoin and other crypto currencies, there is backlash against globalization, increasing energy prices, central banks are concerned over increasing inflation, supply chains are disrupted by pandemic , customer relationship management is fast transforming because of increasing concerns over data privacy, geopolitical disruptions,
increasing transportation and logistics costs, talent flight as more people leaving formal jobs, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Disruptive Technology as an Enabler of the Circular Economy: What Potential Does 3D Printing Hold?
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Disruptive Technology as an Enabler of the Circular Economy: What Potential Does 3D Printing Hold? case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Circular 3d, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Circular 3d 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 Disruptive Technology as an Enabler of the Circular Economy: What Potential Does 3D Printing Hold? can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Disruptive Technology as an Enabler of the Circular Economy: What Potential Does 3D Printing Hold? case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Circular 3d
3. Assessing feasibility of the new initiative in Leadership & Managing People field.
4. Making a Leadership & Managing People topic specific business decision
5. Set goals for the organization
6. Organizational restructuring of Circular 3d
Strengths Disruptive Technology as an Enabler of the Circular Economy: What Potential Does 3D Printing Hold? | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Circular 3d in Disruptive Technology as an Enabler of the Circular Economy: What Potential Does 3D Printing Hold? Harvard Business Review case study are -
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Leadership & Managing People industry
– Disruptive Technology as an Enabler of the Circular Economy: What Potential Does 3D Printing Hold? firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Circular 3d to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Leadership & Managing People industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Circular 3d to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Successful track record of launching new products
– Circular 3d has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Circular 3d 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 lead change in Leadership & Managing People field
– Circular 3d 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 Circular 3d in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.
Highly skilled collaborators
– Circular 3d 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 Disruptive Technology as an Enabler of the Circular Economy: What Potential Does 3D Printing Hold? HBR case study have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
Strong track record of project management
– Circular 3d is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of Circular 3d in the sector have low bargaining power. Disruptive Technology as an Enabler of the Circular Economy: What Potential Does 3D Printing Hold? has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Circular 3d to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
Analytics focus
– Circular 3d 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 Alysia Garmulewicz, Matthias Holweg, Hans Veldhuis, Aidong Yang can also help it to harness the power of analytics for – marketing optimization, demand forecasting, customer relationship management, inventory management, information sharing across the value chain etc.
Digital Transformation in Leadership & Managing People segment
- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For Circular 3d digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Circular 3d 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.
Cross disciplinary teams
– Horizontal connected teams at the Circular 3d 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.
Training and development
– Circular 3d has one of the best training and development program in the industry. The effectiveness of the training programs can be measured in Disruptive Technology as an Enabler of the Circular Economy: What Potential Does 3D Printing Hold? 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.
Learning organization
- Circular 3d 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 Circular 3d is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders in Disruptive Technology as an Enabler of the Circular Economy: What Potential Does 3D Printing Hold? Harvard Business Review case study emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
Effective Research and Development (R&D)
– Circular 3d 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 Disruptive Technology as an Enabler of the Circular Economy: What Potential Does 3D Printing Hold? - staying ahead in the industry in terms of – new product launches, superior customer experience, highly competitive pricing strategies, and great returns to the shareholders.
Weaknesses Disruptive Technology as an Enabler of the Circular Economy: What Potential Does 3D Printing Hold? | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Disruptive Technology as an Enabler of the Circular Economy: What Potential Does 3D Printing Hold? are -
Slow to harness new channels of communication
– Even though competitors are using new communication channels such as Instagram, Tiktok, and Snap, Circular 3d is slow explore the new channels of communication. These new channels of communication mentioned in marketing section of case study Disruptive Technology as an Enabler of the Circular Economy: What Potential Does 3D Printing Hold? can help to provide better information regarding products and services. It can also build an online community to further reach out to potential customers.
Increasing silos among functional specialists
– The organizational structure of Circular 3d is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Leadership & Managing People segment. Circular 3d needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Circular 3d to focus more on services rather than just following the product oriented approach.
High dependence on star products
– The top 2 products and services of the firm as mentioned in the Disruptive Technology as an Enabler of the Circular Economy: What Potential Does 3D Printing Hold? 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 Circular 3d has relatively successful track record of launching new products.
Aligning sales with marketing
– It come across in the case study Disruptive Technology as an Enabler of the Circular Economy: What Potential Does 3D Printing Hold? 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 Disruptive Technology as an Enabler of the Circular Economy: What Potential Does 3D Printing Hold? can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Circular 3d is planning to shift buying processes online.
Lack of clear differentiation of Circular 3d products
– To increase the profitability and margins on the products, Circular 3d needs to provide more differentiated products than what it is currently offering in the marketplace.
Workers concerns about automation
– As automation is fast increasing in the segment, Circular 3d 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.
Interest costs
– Compare to the competition, Circular 3d 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 Disruptive Technology as an Enabler of the Circular Economy: What Potential Does 3D Printing Hold? HBR case study mentions - Circular 3d 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.
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 Circular 3d supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes mentioned in the HBR case study - Disruptive Technology as an Enabler of the Circular Economy: What Potential Does 3D Printing Hold?, it is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left Circular 3d vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.
Compensation and incentives
– The revenue per employee as mentioned in the HBR case study Disruptive Technology as an Enabler of the Circular Economy: What Potential Does 3D Printing Hold?, is just above the industry average. Circular 3d 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.
Employees’ incomplete understanding of strategy
– From the instances in the HBR case study Disruptive Technology as an Enabler of the Circular Economy: What Potential Does 3D Printing Hold?, it seems that the employees of Circular 3d 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.
Opportunities Disruptive Technology as an Enabler of the Circular Economy: What Potential Does 3D Printing Hold? | 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 Disruptive Technology as an Enabler of the Circular Economy: What Potential Does 3D Printing Hold? are -
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 Circular 3d in the consumer business. Now Circular 3d can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.
Better consumer reach
– The expansion of the 5G network will help Circular 3d to increase its market reach. Circular 3d 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.
Finding new ways to collaborate
– Covid-19 has not only transformed business models of companies in Leadership & Managing People industry, but it has also influenced the consumer preferences. Circular 3d can tie-up with other value chain partners to explore new opportunities regarding meeting customer demands and building a rewarding and engaging relationship.
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. Circular 3d can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.
Lowering marketing communication costs
– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Circular 3d in the field of marketing communication. It will bring down the cost of doing business, provide technology platform to build new products in the Leadership & Managing People segment, and it will provide faster access to the consumers.
Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities
– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Circular 3d 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 Circular 3d to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
Building a culture of innovation
– managers at Circular 3d 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 Leadership & Managing People segment.
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 Circular 3d 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.
Leveraging digital technologies
– Circular 3d 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.
Reforming the budgeting process
- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects Circular 3d can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.
Low interest rates
– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Circular 3d can still utilize the low interest rates to borrow money for capital investment. Secondly it can also use the increase of government spending in infrastructure projects to get new business.
Loyalty marketing
– Circular 3d 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.
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– Circular 3d 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 Disruptive Technology as an Enabler of the Circular Economy: What Potential Does 3D Printing Hold? - to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Circular 3d to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
Threats Disruptive Technology as an Enabler of the Circular Economy: What Potential Does 3D Printing Hold? External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Disruptive Technology as an Enabler of the Circular Economy: What Potential Does 3D Printing Hold? are -
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry in the industry are lowering. It can presents Circular 3d with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the sector.
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 Circular 3d in the Leadership & Managing People sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Circular 3d 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
– Circular 3d 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.
Increasing wage structure of Circular 3d
– 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 Circular 3d.
Environmental challenges
– Circular 3d 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. Circular 3d can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Leadership & Managing People industry.
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, as highlighted in case study Disruptive Technology as an Enabler of the Circular Economy: What Potential Does 3D Printing Hold?, Circular 3d may face longer learning curve for training and development of existing employees. This can open space for more nimble competitors in the field of Leadership & Managing People .
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.
Consumer confidence and its impact on Circular 3d demand
– There is a high probability of declining consumer confidence, given – high inflammation rate, rise of gig economy, lower job stability, increasing cost of living, higher interest rates, and aging demography. All the factors contribute to people saving higher rate of their income, resulting in lower consumer demand in the industry and other sectors.
High level of anxiety and lack of motivation
– the Great Resignation in United States is the sign of broader dissatisfaction among the workforce in United States. Circular 3d needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Leadership & Managing People industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
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.
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Circular 3d in the Leadership & Managing People industry. The Leadership & Managing People 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.
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. Circular 3d 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.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Disruptive Technology as an Enabler of the Circular Economy: What Potential Does 3D Printing Hold? 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 Disruptive Technology as an Enabler of the Circular Economy: What Potential Does 3D Printing Hold? 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 Disruptive Technology as an Enabler of the Circular Economy: What Potential Does 3D Printing Hold? 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 Disruptive Technology as an Enabler of the Circular Economy: What Potential Does 3D Printing Hold? 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 Disruptive Technology as an Enabler of the Circular Economy: What Potential Does 3D Printing Hold? 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 Circular 3d needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.
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