Swot Analysis of "Imation Corp.: An Activist Proxy Battle (Handout 1)" written by Kenneth Eades includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Uv7587 Imation facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Imation Corp.: An Activist Proxy Battle (Handout 1) case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Financial management and Finance & Accounting.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Imation Corp.: An Activist Proxy Battle (Handout 1) casestudy better are - – increasing inequality as vast percentage of new income is going to the top 1%, digital marketing is dominated by two big players Facebook and Google, banking and financial system is disrupted by Bitcoin and other crypto currencies, challanges to central banks by blockchain based private currencies, supply chains are disrupted by pandemic , talent flight as more people leaving formal jobs, increasing household debt because of falling income levels,
increasing commodity prices, there is backlash against globalization, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Imation Corp.: An Activist Proxy Battle (Handout 1)
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Imation Corp.: An Activist Proxy Battle (Handout 1) case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Uv7587 Imation, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Uv7587 Imation 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 Imation Corp.: An Activist Proxy Battle (Handout 1) can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Imation Corp.: An Activist Proxy Battle (Handout 1) case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Uv7587 Imation
3. Assessing feasibility of the new initiative in Finance & Accounting field.
4. Making a Finance & Accounting topic specific business decision
5. Set goals for the organization
6. Organizational restructuring of Uv7587 Imation
Strengths Imation Corp.: An Activist Proxy Battle (Handout 1) | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Uv7587 Imation in Imation Corp.: An Activist Proxy Battle (Handout 1) Harvard Business Review case study are -
Analytics focus
– Uv7587 Imation 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 Kenneth Eades 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)
– Uv7587 Imation 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 Imation Corp.: An Activist Proxy Battle (Handout 1) - staying ahead in the industry in terms of – new product launches, superior customer experience, highly competitive pricing strategies, and great returns to the shareholders.
Operational resilience
– The operational resilience strategy in the Imation Corp.: An Activist Proxy Battle (Handout 1) 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.
Highly skilled collaborators
– Uv7587 Imation 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 Imation Corp.: An Activist Proxy Battle (Handout 1) HBR case study have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
High brand equity
– Uv7587 Imation has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Uv7587 Imation to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of Uv7587 Imation in the sector have low bargaining power. Imation Corp.: An Activist Proxy Battle (Handout 1) has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Uv7587 Imation to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
Ability to recruit top talent
– Uv7587 Imation is one of the leading recruiters in the industry. Managers in the Imation Corp.: An Activist Proxy Battle (Handout 1) are in a position to attract the best talent available. The firm has a robust talent identification program that helps in identifying the brightest.
Organizational Resilience of Uv7587 Imation
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing that Uv7587 Imation does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
Learning organization
- Uv7587 Imation 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 Uv7587 Imation is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders in Imation Corp.: An Activist Proxy Battle (Handout 1) Harvard Business Review case study emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
High switching costs
– The high switching costs that Uv7587 Imation 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.
Digital Transformation in Finance & Accounting segment
- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For Uv7587 Imation digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Uv7587 Imation 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
– Uv7587 Imation is one of the most innovative firm in sector. Manager in Imation Corp.: An Activist Proxy Battle (Handout 1) Harvard Business Review case study can use Clayton Christensen Disruptive Innovation strategies to further increase the scale of innovtions in the organization.
Weaknesses Imation Corp.: An Activist Proxy Battle (Handout 1) | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Imation Corp.: An Activist Proxy Battle (Handout 1) are -
Interest costs
– Compare to the competition, Uv7587 Imation 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.
Compensation and incentives
– The revenue per employee as mentioned in the HBR case study Imation Corp.: An Activist Proxy Battle (Handout 1), is just above the industry average. Uv7587 Imation 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.
High cash cycle compare to competitors
Uv7587 Imation 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.
High bargaining power of channel partners
– Because of the regulatory requirements, Kenneth Eades suggests that, Uv7587 Imation 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.
Slow decision making process
– As mentioned earlier in the report, Uv7587 Imation 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. Uv7587 Imation 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.
No frontier risks strategy
– After analyzing the HBR case study Imation Corp.: An Activist Proxy Battle (Handout 1), it seems that company is thinking about the frontier risks that can impact Finance & Accounting strategy. But it has very little resources allocation to manage the risks emerging from events such as natural disasters, climate change, melting of permafrost, tacking the rise of artificial intelligence, opportunities and threats emerging from commercialization of space etc.
Aligning sales with marketing
– It come across in the case study Imation Corp.: An Activist Proxy Battle (Handout 1) 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 Imation Corp.: An Activist Proxy Battle (Handout 1) can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Uv7587 Imation is planning to shift buying processes online.
Need for greater diversity
– Uv7587 Imation 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.
Slow to strategic competitive environment developments
– As Imation Corp.: An Activist Proxy Battle (Handout 1) HBR case study mentions - Uv7587 Imation 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 operating costs
– Compare to the competitors, firm in the HBR case study Imation Corp.: An Activist Proxy Battle (Handout 1) has high operating costs in the. This can be harder to sustain given the new emerging competition from nimble players who are using technology to attract Uv7587 Imation 's lucrative customers.
Low market penetration in new markets
– Outside its home market of Uv7587 Imation, firm in the HBR case study Imation Corp.: An Activist Proxy Battle (Handout 1) needs to spend more promotional, marketing, and advertising efforts to penetrate international markets.
Opportunities Imation Corp.: An Activist Proxy Battle (Handout 1) | 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 Imation Corp.: An Activist Proxy Battle (Handout 1) are -
Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities
– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Uv7587 Imation 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 Uv7587 Imation to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
Manufacturing automation
– Uv7587 Imation can use the latest technology developments to improve its manufacturing and designing process in Finance & Accounting 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.
Low interest rates
– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Uv7587 Imation 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.
Buying journey improvements
– Uv7587 Imation can improve the customer journey of consumers in the industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. Imation Corp.: An Activist Proxy Battle (Handout 1) 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.
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. Uv7587 Imation can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.
Increase in government spending
– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Uv7587 Imation can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Uv7587 Imation operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Finance & Accounting sector.
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 Uv7587 Imation in the consumer business. Now Uv7587 Imation can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Uv7587 Imation has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Uv7587 Imation to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the Imation Corp.: An Activist Proxy Battle (Handout 1) case study. Uv7587 Imation can build new products and services such as - data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
Loyalty marketing
– Uv7587 Imation 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.
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 Uv7587 Imation 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.
Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains
– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Uv7587 Imation 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, Imation Corp.: An Activist Proxy Battle (Handout 1), to buy more products closer to the markets, and it can leverage its size and influence to get better deal from the local markets.
Lowering marketing communication costs
– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Uv7587 Imation in the field of marketing communication. It will bring down the cost of doing business, provide technology platform to build new products in the Finance & Accounting segment, and it will provide faster access to the consumers.
Developing new processes and practices
– Uv7587 Imation can develop new processes and procedures in Finance & Accounting industry using technology such as automation using artificial intelligence, real time transportation and products tracking, 3D modeling for concept development and new products pilot testing etc.
Threats Imation Corp.: An Activist Proxy Battle (Handout 1) External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Imation Corp.: An Activist Proxy Battle (Handout 1) are -
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. Uv7587 Imation needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Finance & Accounting industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Uv7587 Imation is facing in Finance & Accounting sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.
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.
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Uv7587 Imation 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 Imation Corp.: An Activist Proxy Battle (Handout 1) .
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Uv7587 Imation in the Finance & Accounting industry. The Finance & Accounting industry is already at various protected from local competition in China, with the rise of trade war the protection levels may go up. This presents a clear threat of current business model in Chinese market.
Easy access to finance
– Easy access to finance in Finance & Accounting field will also reduce the barriers to entry in the industry, thus putting downward pressure on the prices because of increasing competition. Uv7587 Imation can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Uv7587 Imation 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.
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. Uv7587 Imation 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.
Regulatory challenges
– Uv7587 Imation needs to prepare for regulatory challenges as consumer protection groups and other pressure groups are vigorously advocating for more regulations on big business - to reduce inequality, to create a level playing field, to product data privacy and consumer privacy, to reduce the influence of big money on democratic institutions, etc. This can lead to significant changes in the Finance & Accounting industry regulations.
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Uv7587 Imation has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Finance & Accounting industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Uv7587 Imation needs to keep up with the evolution of technology in the Finance & Accounting 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.
Increasing wage structure of Uv7587 Imation
– 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 Uv7587 Imation.
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 Uv7587 Imation 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 Uv7587 Imation.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Imation Corp.: An Activist Proxy Battle (Handout 1) 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 Imation Corp.: An Activist Proxy Battle (Handout 1) 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 Imation Corp.: An Activist Proxy Battle (Handout 1) 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 Imation Corp.: An Activist Proxy Battle (Handout 1) 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 Imation Corp.: An Activist Proxy Battle (Handout 1) 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 Uv7587 Imation needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.
