Westeron: Rallying "The Crowd" To Reboot Innovation SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Innovation & Entrepreneurship
Strategy / MBA Resources
Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of Westeron: Rallying "The Crowd" To Reboot Innovation
Westeron, a well-known kitchen, bath and home products retailer, created the "Takeoff" program in 2015 to enhance its product pipeline by connecting emerging entrepreneurs-including college students-to Westeron's innovation team. The Takeoff program offered entrepreneurs powerful resources, including manufacturing, marketing, and legal support. Westeron seeks to capitalize on this corporate entrepreneurship program as it seeks to bolster its financial performance and brand after a bankruptcy.
Swot Analysis of "Westeron: Rallying "The Crowd" To Reboot Innovation" written by Marianne Szymanski, Emily Hazlett, Jacqueline Orr includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Westeron Takeoff facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Westeron: Rallying "The Crowd" To Reboot Innovation case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Entrepreneurial management, Product development and Innovation & Entrepreneurship.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Westeron: Rallying "The Crowd" To Reboot Innovation casestudy better are - – cloud computing is disrupting traditional business models, there is backlash against globalization, digital marketing is dominated by two big players Facebook and Google, increasing household debt because of falling income levels, banking and financial system is disrupted by Bitcoin and other crypto currencies, challanges to central banks by blockchain based private currencies, increasing transportation and logistics costs,
wage bills are increasing, increasing government debt because of Covid-19 spendings, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Westeron: Rallying "The Crowd" To Reboot Innovation
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Westeron: Rallying "The Crowd" To Reboot Innovation case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Westeron Takeoff, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Westeron Takeoff 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 Westeron: Rallying "The Crowd" To Reboot Innovation can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Westeron: Rallying "The Crowd" To Reboot Innovation case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Westeron Takeoff
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 Westeron Takeoff
Strengths Westeron: Rallying "The Crowd" To Reboot Innovation | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Westeron Takeoff in Westeron: Rallying "The Crowd" To Reboot Innovation Harvard Business Review case study are -
Highly skilled collaborators
– Westeron Takeoff 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 Westeron: Rallying "The Crowd" To Reboot Innovation HBR case study have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
Superior customer experience
– The customer experience strategy of Westeron Takeoff in the segment is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.
Analytics focus
– Westeron Takeoff 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 Marianne Szymanski, Emily Hazlett, Jacqueline Orr 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.
High switching costs
– The high switching costs that Westeron Takeoff 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.
Successful track record of launching new products
– Westeron Takeoff has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Westeron Takeoff 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.
Diverse revenue streams
– Westeron Takeoff is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided firm in Westeron: Rallying "The Crowd" To Reboot Innovation 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.
Learning organization
- Westeron Takeoff 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 Westeron Takeoff is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders in Westeron: Rallying "The Crowd" To Reboot Innovation Harvard Business Review case study emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
Organizational Resilience of Westeron Takeoff
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing that Westeron Takeoff does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
Effective Research and Development (R&D)
– Westeron Takeoff 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 Westeron: Rallying "The Crowd" To Reboot Innovation - staying ahead in the industry in terms of – new product launches, superior customer experience, highly competitive pricing strategies, and great returns to the shareholders.
Training and development
– Westeron Takeoff has one of the best training and development program in the industry. The effectiveness of the training programs can be measured in Westeron: Rallying "The Crowd" To Reboot Innovation 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.
High brand equity
– Westeron Takeoff has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Westeron Takeoff to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Operational resilience
– The operational resilience strategy in the Westeron: Rallying "The Crowd" To Reboot Innovation 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.
Weaknesses Westeron: Rallying "The Crowd" To Reboot Innovation | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Westeron: Rallying "The Crowd" To Reboot Innovation are -
Slow to harness new channels of communication
– Even though competitors are using new communication channels such as Instagram, Tiktok, and Snap, Westeron Takeoff is slow explore the new channels of communication. These new channels of communication mentioned in marketing section of case study Westeron: Rallying "The Crowd" To Reboot Innovation can help to provide better information regarding products and services. It can also build an online community to further reach out to potential customers.
High bargaining power of channel partners
– Because of the regulatory requirements, Marianne Szymanski, Emily Hazlett, Jacqueline Orr suggests that, Westeron Takeoff 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.
Need for greater diversity
– Westeron Takeoff 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.
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 Westeron Takeoff supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes mentioned in the HBR case study - Westeron: Rallying "The Crowd" To Reboot Innovation, it is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left Westeron Takeoff vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.
Increasing silos among functional specialists
– The organizational structure of Westeron Takeoff is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Innovation & Entrepreneurship segment. Westeron Takeoff needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Westeron Takeoff to focus more on services rather than just following the product oriented approach.
Capital Spending Reduction
– Even during the low interest decade, Westeron Takeoff 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.
High operating costs
– Compare to the competitors, firm in the HBR case study Westeron: Rallying "The Crowd" To Reboot Innovation 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 Westeron Takeoff 's lucrative customers.
Low market penetration in new markets
– Outside its home market of Westeron Takeoff, firm in the HBR case study Westeron: Rallying "The Crowd" To Reboot Innovation needs to spend more promotional, marketing, and advertising efforts to penetrate international markets.
Skills based hiring
– The stress on hiring functional specialists at Westeron Takeoff 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.
Interest costs
– Compare to the competition, Westeron Takeoff 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 decision making process
– As mentioned earlier in the report, Westeron Takeoff 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. Westeron Takeoff 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.
Opportunities Westeron: Rallying "The Crowd" To Reboot Innovation | 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 Westeron: Rallying "The Crowd" To Reboot Innovation are -
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. Westeron Takeoff can tie-up with other value chain partners to explore new opportunities regarding meeting customer demands and building a rewarding and engaging relationship.
Better consumer reach
– The expansion of the 5G network will help Westeron Takeoff to increase its market reach. Westeron Takeoff 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.
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– Westeron Takeoff 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 Westeron: Rallying "The Crowd" To Reboot Innovation - to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Westeron Takeoff to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Westeron Takeoff has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Westeron Takeoff to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the Westeron: Rallying "The Crowd" To Reboot Innovation case study. Westeron Takeoff can build new products and services such as - data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
Loyalty marketing
– Westeron Takeoff 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.
Low interest rates
– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Westeron Takeoff 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
– Westeron Takeoff can improve the customer journey of consumers in the industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. Westeron: Rallying "The Crowd" To Reboot Innovation 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.
Manufacturing automation
– Westeron Takeoff 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.
Learning at scale
– Online learning technologies has now opened space for Westeron Takeoff 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.
Leveraging digital technologies
– Westeron Takeoff 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.
Redefining models of collaboration and team work
– As explained in the weaknesses section, Westeron Takeoff is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. Westeron: Rallying "The Crowd" To Reboot Innovation case study suggests that firm can utilize new technology to build more coordinated teams and streamline operations and communications using tools such as CAD, Zoom, etc.
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 Westeron Takeoff 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.
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. Westeron Takeoff can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.
Threats Westeron: Rallying "The Crowd" To Reboot Innovation External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Westeron: Rallying "The Crowd" To Reboot Innovation are -
Consumer confidence and its impact on Westeron Takeoff 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.
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry in the industry are lowering. It can presents Westeron Takeoff with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the sector.
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.
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. Westeron Takeoff 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.
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Westeron Takeoff 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 Westeron: Rallying "The Crowd" To Reboot Innovation .
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Westeron Takeoff 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
– Westeron Takeoff 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.
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Westeron Takeoff 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.
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 Westeron Takeoff business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
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. Westeron Takeoff needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Innovation & Entrepreneurship industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
Regulatory challenges
– Westeron Takeoff 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 Innovation & Entrepreneurship industry regulations.
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, as highlighted in case study Westeron: Rallying "The Crowd" To Reboot Innovation, Westeron Takeoff 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 .
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Westeron Takeoff is facing in Innovation & Entrepreneurship sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Westeron: Rallying "The Crowd" To Reboot Innovation 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 Westeron: Rallying "The Crowd" To Reboot Innovation 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 Westeron: Rallying "The Crowd" To Reboot Innovation 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 Westeron: Rallying "The Crowd" To Reboot Innovation 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 Westeron: Rallying "The Crowd" To Reboot Innovation 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 Westeron Takeoff needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.