Go Boldly! Explore Augmented Reality (AR), Virtual Reality (VR), and Mixed Reality (MR) for Business SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Sales & Marketing
Strategy / MBA Resources
Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of Go Boldly! Explore Augmented Reality (AR), Virtual Reality (VR), and Mixed Reality (MR) for Business
It is not surprising that managers find it hard to distinguish similar-sounding, IT-based concepts such as augmented reality and virtual reality. To many, all of these constructs mean nearly the same and, as a result, the terms are often used interchangeably. This confusion holds back those eager to explore the different opportunities these new technologies present. This Executive Digest presents six different types of reality and virtual reality-(1) reality, (2) augmented reality, (3) virtual reality, (4) mixed reality, (5) augmented virtuality, and (6) virtuality-as part of our actual reality/virtual reality continuum. We then illustrate their differences using a common example and outline business applications for each type.
Authors :: Mana Farshid, Jeannette Paschen, Theresa Eriksson, Jan H. Kietzmann
Swot Analysis of "Go Boldly! Explore Augmented Reality (AR), Virtual Reality (VR), and Mixed Reality (MR) for Business" written by Mana Farshid, Jeannette Paschen, Theresa Eriksson, Jan H. Kietzmann includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Reality Augmented facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Go Boldly! Explore Augmented Reality (AR), Virtual Reality (VR), and Mixed Reality (MR) for Business case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Marketing and Sales & Marketing.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Go Boldly! Explore Augmented Reality (AR), Virtual Reality (VR), and Mixed Reality (MR) for Business casestudy better are - – increasing commodity prices, technology disruption, talent flight as more people leaving formal jobs, increasing inequality as vast percentage of new income is going to the top 1%, increasing transportation and logistics costs, there is backlash against globalization, increasing household debt because of falling income levels,
banking and financial system is disrupted by Bitcoin and other crypto currencies, wage bills are increasing, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Go Boldly! Explore Augmented Reality (AR), Virtual Reality (VR), and Mixed Reality (MR) for Business
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Go Boldly! Explore Augmented Reality (AR), Virtual Reality (VR), and Mixed Reality (MR) for Business case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Reality Augmented, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Reality Augmented 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 Go Boldly! Explore Augmented Reality (AR), Virtual Reality (VR), and Mixed Reality (MR) for Business can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Go Boldly! Explore Augmented Reality (AR), Virtual Reality (VR), and Mixed Reality (MR) for Business case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Reality Augmented
3. Assessing feasibility of the new initiative in Sales & Marketing field.
4. Making a Sales & Marketing topic specific business decision
5. Set goals for the organization
6. Organizational restructuring of Reality Augmented
Strengths Go Boldly! Explore Augmented Reality (AR), Virtual Reality (VR), and Mixed Reality (MR) for Business | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Reality Augmented in Go Boldly! Explore Augmented Reality (AR), Virtual Reality (VR), and Mixed Reality (MR) for Business Harvard Business Review case study are -
Highly skilled collaborators
– Reality Augmented 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 Go Boldly! Explore Augmented Reality (AR), Virtual Reality (VR), and Mixed Reality (MR) for Business HBR case study have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
Diverse revenue streams
– Reality Augmented is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided firm in Go Boldly! Explore Augmented Reality (AR), Virtual Reality (VR), and Mixed Reality (MR) for Business 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.
Innovation driven organization
– Reality Augmented is one of the most innovative firm in sector. Manager in Go Boldly! Explore Augmented Reality (AR), Virtual Reality (VR), and Mixed Reality (MR) for Business Harvard Business Review case study can use Clayton Christensen Disruptive Innovation strategies to further increase the scale of innovtions in the organization.
Superior customer experience
– The customer experience strategy of Reality Augmented in the segment is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.
Organizational Resilience of Reality Augmented
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing that Reality Augmented does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
Analytics focus
– Reality Augmented 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 Mana Farshid, Jeannette Paschen, Theresa Eriksson, Jan H. Kietzmann 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.
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Sales & Marketing industry
– Go Boldly! Explore Augmented Reality (AR), Virtual Reality (VR), and Mixed Reality (MR) for Business firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Reality Augmented to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Sales & Marketing industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Reality Augmented to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Strong track record of project management
– Reality Augmented is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.
Digital Transformation in Sales & Marketing segment
- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For Reality Augmented digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Reality Augmented 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.
Learning organization
- Reality Augmented 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 Reality Augmented is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders in Go Boldly! Explore Augmented Reality (AR), Virtual Reality (VR), and Mixed Reality (MR) for Business Harvard Business Review case study emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
Successful track record of launching new products
– Reality Augmented has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Reality Augmented has effective processes in place that helps in exploring new product needs, doing quick pilot testing, and then launching the products quickly using its extensive distribution network.
Ability to recruit top talent
– Reality Augmented is one of the leading recruiters in the industry. Managers in the Go Boldly! Explore Augmented Reality (AR), Virtual Reality (VR), and Mixed Reality (MR) for Business are in a position to attract the best talent available. The firm has a robust talent identification program that helps in identifying the brightest.
Weaknesses Go Boldly! Explore Augmented Reality (AR), Virtual Reality (VR), and Mixed Reality (MR) for Business | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Go Boldly! Explore Augmented Reality (AR), Virtual Reality (VR), and Mixed Reality (MR) for Business are -
High bargaining power of channel partners
– Because of the regulatory requirements, Mana Farshid, Jeannette Paschen, Theresa Eriksson, Jan H. Kietzmann suggests that, Reality Augmented 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.
Low market penetration in new markets
– Outside its home market of Reality Augmented, firm in the HBR case study Go Boldly! Explore Augmented Reality (AR), Virtual Reality (VR), and Mixed Reality (MR) for Business needs to spend more promotional, marketing, and advertising efforts to penetrate international markets.
High dependence on star products
– The top 2 products and services of the firm as mentioned in the Go Boldly! Explore Augmented Reality (AR), Virtual Reality (VR), and Mixed Reality (MR) for Business 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 Reality Augmented has relatively successful track record of launching new products.
Slow decision making process
– As mentioned earlier in the report, Reality Augmented 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. Reality Augmented 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.
Lack of clear differentiation of Reality Augmented products
– To increase the profitability and margins on the products, Reality Augmented 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, Reality Augmented 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.
Need for greater diversity
– Reality Augmented 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 Go Boldly! Explore Augmented Reality (AR), Virtual Reality (VR), and Mixed Reality (MR) for Business HBR case study mentions - Reality Augmented 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 Reality Augmented supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes mentioned in the HBR case study - Go Boldly! Explore Augmented Reality (AR), Virtual Reality (VR), and Mixed Reality (MR) for Business, it is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left Reality Augmented vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.
Employees’ incomplete understanding of strategy
– From the instances in the HBR case study Go Boldly! Explore Augmented Reality (AR), Virtual Reality (VR), and Mixed Reality (MR) for Business, it seems that the employees of Reality Augmented 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.
Slow to harness new channels of communication
– Even though competitors are using new communication channels such as Instagram, Tiktok, and Snap, Reality Augmented is slow explore the new channels of communication. These new channels of communication mentioned in marketing section of case study Go Boldly! Explore Augmented Reality (AR), Virtual Reality (VR), and Mixed Reality (MR) for Business can help to provide better information regarding products and services. It can also build an online community to further reach out to potential customers.
Opportunities Go Boldly! Explore Augmented Reality (AR), Virtual Reality (VR), and Mixed Reality (MR) for Business | 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 Go Boldly! Explore Augmented Reality (AR), Virtual Reality (VR), and Mixed Reality (MR) for Business are -
Changes in consumer behavior post Covid-19
– Consumer behavior has changed in the Sales & Marketing industry because of Covid-19 restrictions. Some of this behavior will stay once things get back to normal. Reality Augmented 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. Reality Augmented 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.
Loyalty marketing
– Reality Augmented has focused on building a highly responsive customer relationship management platform. This platform is built on in-house data and driven by analytics and artificial intelligence. The customer analytics can help the organization to fine tune its loyalty marketing efforts, increase the wallet share of the organization, reduce wastage on mainstream advertising spending, build better pricing strategies using personalization, etc.
Learning at scale
– Online learning technologies has now opened space for Reality Augmented 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.
Increase in government spending
– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Reality Augmented can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Reality Augmented operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Sales & Marketing sector.
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. Reality Augmented can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.
Finding new ways to collaborate
– Covid-19 has not only transformed business models of companies in Sales & Marketing industry, but it has also influenced the consumer preferences. Reality Augmented can tie-up with other value chain partners to explore new opportunities regarding meeting customer demands and building a rewarding and engaging relationship.
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– Reality Augmented 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 Go Boldly! Explore Augmented Reality (AR), Virtual Reality (VR), and Mixed Reality (MR) for Business - to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Reality Augmented to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
Manufacturing automation
– Reality Augmented can use the latest technology developments to improve its manufacturing and designing process in Sales & Marketing 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.
Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities
– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Reality Augmented 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 Reality Augmented to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
Buying journey improvements
– Reality Augmented can improve the customer journey of consumers in the industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. Go Boldly! Explore Augmented Reality (AR), Virtual Reality (VR), and Mixed Reality (MR) for Business 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.
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Reality Augmented has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Reality Augmented to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the Go Boldly! Explore Augmented Reality (AR), Virtual Reality (VR), and Mixed Reality (MR) for Business case study. Reality Augmented can build new products and services such as - data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
Leveraging digital technologies
– Reality Augmented 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.
Building a culture of innovation
– managers at Reality Augmented 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 Sales & Marketing segment.
Threats Go Boldly! Explore Augmented Reality (AR), Virtual Reality (VR), and Mixed Reality (MR) for Business External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Go Boldly! Explore Augmented Reality (AR), Virtual Reality (VR), and Mixed Reality (MR) for Business are -
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 Reality Augmented.
Increasing wage structure of Reality Augmented
– 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 Reality Augmented.
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Reality Augmented in the Sales & Marketing industry. The Sales & Marketing 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.
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Reality Augmented has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Sales & Marketing industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Reality Augmented needs to keep up with the evolution of technology in the Sales & Marketing 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.
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.
Environmental challenges
– Reality Augmented 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. Reality Augmented can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Sales & Marketing industry.
Consumer confidence and its impact on Reality Augmented 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 dependence on third party suppliers
– Reality Augmented 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.
Regulatory challenges
– Reality Augmented 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 Sales & Marketing industry regulations.
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 Reality Augmented in the Sales & Marketing sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, as highlighted in case study Go Boldly! Explore Augmented Reality (AR), Virtual Reality (VR), and Mixed Reality (MR) for Business, Reality Augmented may face longer learning curve for training and development of existing employees. This can open space for more nimble competitors in the field of Sales & Marketing .
Easy access to finance
– Easy access to finance in Sales & Marketing field will also reduce the barriers to entry in the industry, thus putting downward pressure on the prices because of increasing competition. Reality Augmented can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
Instability in the European markets
– European Union markets are facing three big challenges post Covid – expanded balance sheets, Brexit related business disruption, and aggressive Russia looking to distract the existing security mechanism. Reality Augmented 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 Go Boldly! Explore Augmented Reality (AR), Virtual Reality (VR), and Mixed Reality (MR) for Business 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 Go Boldly! Explore Augmented Reality (AR), Virtual Reality (VR), and Mixed Reality (MR) for Business 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 Go Boldly! Explore Augmented Reality (AR), Virtual Reality (VR), and Mixed Reality (MR) for Business 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 Go Boldly! Explore Augmented Reality (AR), Virtual Reality (VR), and Mixed Reality (MR) for Business 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 Go Boldly! Explore Augmented Reality (AR), Virtual Reality (VR), and Mixed Reality (MR) for Business 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 Reality Augmented needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.
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