This case focuses on what an entrepreneur who has developed and marketed a soccer board game (KickShot), should do next. The case lays out the approach of the entrepreneur, who at age 59 had considerable previous experience with tech startups, and highlights some of the challenges faced. The focal point of the case is for students to recommend future courses of actions. Specifically, should the entrepreneur continue to market the game in hopes of increasing sales and profitability or should he accept one of the two buyout offers in front of him? Students will need to link these recommended actions to the entrepreneurs' goals and objectives, including his personality. Within this context, the case highlights the need for an entrepreneur to have an exit, or harvest strategy from the very start. Given that the entrepreneur has realized his initial exit strategy by having before him two buyout offers, the case allows students to evaluate two distinct exit strategies that in many ways mirror those common for any startup, a pure cash buyout versus an offer with a smaller amount up front but a royalty on future sales. Finally, the case provides an opportunity for students to wrestle with the margin structure of online retailing via Amazon.com.
Swot Analysis of "KickShot: GOOOOOOOOOAL!" written by Michael McCollough includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Entrepreneur Kickshot facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in KickShot: GOOOOOOOOOAL! case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Strategic planning and Innovation & Entrepreneurship.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the KickShot: GOOOOOOOOOAL! casestudy better are - – increasing inequality as vast percentage of new income is going to the top 1%, increasing government debt because of Covid-19 spendings, increasing commodity prices, banking and financial system is disrupted by Bitcoin and other crypto currencies, customer relationship management is fast transforming because of increasing concerns over data privacy, increasing household debt because of falling income levels, talent flight as more people leaving formal jobs,
competitive advantages are harder to sustain because of technology dispersion, increasing energy prices, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of KickShot: GOOOOOOOOOAL!
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in KickShot: GOOOOOOOOOAL! case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Entrepreneur Kickshot, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Entrepreneur Kickshot 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 KickShot: GOOOOOOOOOAL! can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in KickShot: GOOOOOOOOOAL! case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Entrepreneur Kickshot
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 Entrepreneur Kickshot
Strengths KickShot: GOOOOOOOOOAL! | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Entrepreneur Kickshot in KickShot: GOOOOOOOOOAL! Harvard Business Review case study are -
Ability to recruit top talent
– Entrepreneur Kickshot is one of the leading recruiters in the industry. Managers in the KickShot: GOOOOOOOOOAL! are in a position to attract the best talent available. The firm has a robust talent identification program that helps in identifying the brightest.
Learning organization
- Entrepreneur Kickshot 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 Entrepreneur Kickshot is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders in KickShot: GOOOOOOOOOAL! Harvard Business Review case study emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
Ability to lead change in Innovation & Entrepreneurship field
– Entrepreneur Kickshot 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 Entrepreneur Kickshot in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of Entrepreneur Kickshot in the sector have low bargaining power. KickShot: GOOOOOOOOOAL! has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Entrepreneur Kickshot to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
Highly skilled collaborators
– Entrepreneur Kickshot 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 KickShot: GOOOOOOOOOAL! HBR case study have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
Effective Research and Development (R&D)
– Entrepreneur Kickshot 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 KickShot: GOOOOOOOOOAL! - staying ahead in the industry in terms of – new product launches, superior customer experience, highly competitive pricing strategies, and great returns to the shareholders.
Cross disciplinary teams
– Horizontal connected teams at the Entrepreneur Kickshot 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.
Strong track record of project management
– Entrepreneur Kickshot is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.
Operational resilience
– The operational resilience strategy in the KickShot: GOOOOOOOOOAL! 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.
High switching costs
– The high switching costs that Entrepreneur Kickshot 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.
Innovation driven organization
– Entrepreneur Kickshot is one of the most innovative firm in sector. Manager in KickShot: GOOOOOOOOOAL! 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 Entrepreneur Kickshot in the segment is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.
Weaknesses KickShot: GOOOOOOOOOAL! | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of KickShot: GOOOOOOOOOAL! are -
Slow decision making process
– As mentioned earlier in the report, Entrepreneur Kickshot 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. Entrepreneur Kickshot 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.
Need for greater diversity
– Entrepreneur Kickshot 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.
Compensation and incentives
– The revenue per employee as mentioned in the HBR case study KickShot: GOOOOOOOOOAL!, is just above the industry average. Entrepreneur Kickshot 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.
Capital Spending Reduction
– Even during the low interest decade, Entrepreneur Kickshot 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.
Interest costs
– Compare to the competition, Entrepreneur Kickshot 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.
Skills based hiring
– The stress on hiring functional specialists at Entrepreneur Kickshot 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.
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 Entrepreneur Kickshot supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes mentioned in the HBR case study - KickShot: GOOOOOOOOOAL!, it is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left Entrepreneur Kickshot vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.
Slow to strategic competitive environment developments
– As KickShot: GOOOOOOOOOAL! HBR case study mentions - Entrepreneur Kickshot 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.
Aligning sales with marketing
– It come across in the case study KickShot: GOOOOOOOOOAL! 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 KickShot: GOOOOOOOOOAL! can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Entrepreneur Kickshot is planning to shift buying processes online.
Lack of clear differentiation of Entrepreneur Kickshot products
– To increase the profitability and margins on the products, Entrepreneur Kickshot needs to provide more differentiated products than what it is currently offering in the marketplace.
Low market penetration in new markets
– Outside its home market of Entrepreneur Kickshot, firm in the HBR case study KickShot: GOOOOOOOOOAL! needs to spend more promotional, marketing, and advertising efforts to penetrate international markets.
Opportunities KickShot: GOOOOOOOOOAL! | 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 KickShot: GOOOOOOOOOAL! are -
Increase in government spending
– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Entrepreneur Kickshot can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Entrepreneur Kickshot operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Innovation & Entrepreneurship sector.
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 Entrepreneur Kickshot 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, Entrepreneur Kickshot 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, KickShot: GOOOOOOOOOAL!, to buy more products closer to the markets, and it can leverage its size and influence to get better deal from the local markets.
Manufacturing automation
– Entrepreneur Kickshot 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.
Lowering marketing communication costs
– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Entrepreneur Kickshot in the field of marketing communication. It will bring down the cost of doing business, provide technology platform to build new products in the Innovation & Entrepreneurship segment, and it will provide faster access to the consumers.
Leveraging digital technologies
– Entrepreneur Kickshot 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.
Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities
– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Entrepreneur Kickshot 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 Entrepreneur Kickshot to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Entrepreneur Kickshot has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Entrepreneur Kickshot to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the KickShot: GOOOOOOOOOAL! case study. Entrepreneur Kickshot can build new products and services such as - data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
Developing new processes and practices
– Entrepreneur Kickshot can develop new processes and procedures in Innovation & Entrepreneurship 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.
Building a culture of innovation
– managers at Entrepreneur Kickshot 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 Innovation & Entrepreneurship segment.
Low interest rates
– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Entrepreneur Kickshot 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.
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 Entrepreneur Kickshot in the consumer business. Now Entrepreneur Kickshot can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.
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. Entrepreneur Kickshot can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.
Threats KickShot: GOOOOOOOOOAL! External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study KickShot: GOOOOOOOOOAL! 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. Entrepreneur Kickshot needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Innovation & Entrepreneurship 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.
Increasing wage structure of Entrepreneur Kickshot
– 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 Entrepreneur Kickshot.
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 Entrepreneur Kickshot in the Innovation & Entrepreneurship sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
Regulatory challenges
– Entrepreneur Kickshot 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.
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Entrepreneur Kickshot 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. Entrepreneur Kickshot 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.
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, as highlighted in case study KickShot: GOOOOOOOOOAL!, Entrepreneur Kickshot 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 .
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.
High dependence on third party suppliers
– Entrepreneur Kickshot 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.
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Entrepreneur Kickshot is facing in Innovation & Entrepreneurship sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.
Environmental challenges
– Entrepreneur Kickshot 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. Entrepreneur Kickshot can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Innovation & Entrepreneurship industry.
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Entrepreneur Kickshot 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.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of KickShot: GOOOOOOOOOAL! 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 KickShot: GOOOOOOOOOAL! 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 KickShot: GOOOOOOOOOAL! 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 KickShot: GOOOOOOOOOAL! 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 KickShot: GOOOOOOOOOAL! 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 Entrepreneur Kickshot needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.