Polaroid: Managing Environmental Responsibilities and Their Costs SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Finance & Accounting
Strategy / MBA Resources
Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of Polaroid: Managing Environmental Responsibilities and Their Costs
Costs relating to companies' impact on the environment are increasing at a dramatic rate. Thus, managing, measuring, and reporting of these costs has become an important issue for managers. Accounting for environmental responsibilities is one of the largest and most challenging issues facing accountants today. This case provides an example of how one company is reacting to the increased pressures for environmental responsibility and how environmental responsibilities affect management accounting, financial reporting, and management control.
Authors :: Mary E. Barth, Marc J. Epstein, Richard D. Stark
Swot Analysis of "Polaroid: Managing Environmental Responsibilities and Their Costs" written by Mary E. Barth, Marc J. Epstein, Richard D. Stark includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Environmental Responsibilities facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Polaroid: Managing Environmental Responsibilities and Their Costs case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Financial management, Social responsibility, Sustainability and Finance & Accounting.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Polaroid: Managing Environmental Responsibilities and Their Costs casestudy better are - – increasing government debt because of Covid-19 spendings, technology disruption, central banks are concerned over increasing inflation, wage bills are increasing, customer relationship management is fast transforming because of increasing concerns over data privacy, digital marketing is dominated by two big players Facebook and Google, cloud computing is disrupting traditional business models,
challanges to central banks by blockchain based private currencies, increasing energy prices, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Polaroid: Managing Environmental Responsibilities and Their Costs
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Polaroid: Managing Environmental Responsibilities and Their Costs case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Environmental Responsibilities, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Environmental Responsibilities 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 Polaroid: Managing Environmental Responsibilities and Their Costs can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Polaroid: Managing Environmental Responsibilities and Their Costs case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Environmental Responsibilities
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 Environmental Responsibilities
Strengths Polaroid: Managing Environmental Responsibilities and Their Costs | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Environmental Responsibilities in Polaroid: Managing Environmental Responsibilities and Their Costs Harvard Business Review case study are -
Ability to lead change in Finance & Accounting field
– Environmental Responsibilities 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 Environmental Responsibilities in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.
Innovation driven organization
– Environmental Responsibilities is one of the most innovative firm in sector. Manager in Polaroid: Managing Environmental Responsibilities and Their Costs Harvard Business Review case study can use Clayton Christensen Disruptive Innovation strategies to further increase the scale of innovtions in the organization.
Analytics focus
– Environmental Responsibilities 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 Mary E. Barth, Marc J. Epstein, Richard D. Stark 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 Environmental Responsibilities 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.
Diverse revenue streams
– Environmental Responsibilities is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided firm in Polaroid: Managing Environmental Responsibilities and Their Costs 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.
Highly skilled collaborators
– Environmental Responsibilities 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 Polaroid: Managing Environmental Responsibilities and Their Costs HBR case study have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
High brand equity
– Environmental Responsibilities has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Environmental Responsibilities to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Cross disciplinary teams
– Horizontal connected teams at the Environmental Responsibilities 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.
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Finance & Accounting industry
– Polaroid: Managing Environmental Responsibilities and Their Costs firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Environmental Responsibilities to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Finance & Accounting industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Environmental Responsibilities to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Effective Research and Development (R&D)
– Environmental Responsibilities 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 Polaroid: Managing Environmental Responsibilities and Their Costs - staying ahead in the industry in terms of – new product launches, superior customer experience, highly competitive pricing strategies, and great returns to the shareholders.
Ability to recruit top talent
– Environmental Responsibilities is one of the leading recruiters in the industry. Managers in the Polaroid: Managing Environmental Responsibilities and Their Costs are in a position to attract the best talent available. The firm has a robust talent identification program that helps in identifying the brightest.
Strong track record of project management
– Environmental Responsibilities is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.
Weaknesses Polaroid: Managing Environmental Responsibilities and Their Costs | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Polaroid: Managing Environmental Responsibilities and Their Costs are -
Skills based hiring
– The stress on hiring functional specialists at Environmental Responsibilities 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.
Products dominated business model
– Even though Environmental Responsibilities has some of the most successful products in the industry, this business model has made each new product launch extremely critical for continuous financial growth of the organization. firm in the HBR case study - Polaroid: Managing Environmental Responsibilities and Their Costs should strive to include more intangible value offerings along with its core products and services.
Lack of clear differentiation of Environmental Responsibilities products
– To increase the profitability and margins on the products, Environmental Responsibilities needs to provide more differentiated products than what it is currently offering in the marketplace.
Increasing silos among functional specialists
– The organizational structure of Environmental Responsibilities is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Finance & Accounting segment. Environmental Responsibilities needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Environmental Responsibilities to focus more on services rather than just following the product oriented approach.
No frontier risks strategy
– After analyzing the HBR case study Polaroid: Managing Environmental Responsibilities and Their Costs, 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.
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 Environmental Responsibilities supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes mentioned in the HBR case study - Polaroid: Managing Environmental Responsibilities and Their Costs, it is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left Environmental Responsibilities vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.
Capital Spending Reduction
– Even during the low interest decade, Environmental Responsibilities 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.
Compensation and incentives
– The revenue per employee as mentioned in the HBR case study Polaroid: Managing Environmental Responsibilities and Their Costs, is just above the industry average. Environmental Responsibilities 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.
Slow to strategic competitive environment developments
– As Polaroid: Managing Environmental Responsibilities and Their Costs HBR case study mentions - Environmental Responsibilities 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.
Slow decision making process
– As mentioned earlier in the report, Environmental Responsibilities 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. Environmental Responsibilities 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.
High operating costs
– Compare to the competitors, firm in the HBR case study Polaroid: Managing Environmental Responsibilities and Their Costs 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 Environmental Responsibilities 's lucrative customers.
Opportunities Polaroid: Managing Environmental Responsibilities and Their Costs | 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 Polaroid: Managing Environmental Responsibilities and Their Costs are -
Changes in consumer behavior post Covid-19
– Consumer behavior has changed in the Finance & Accounting industry because of Covid-19 restrictions. Some of this behavior will stay once things get back to normal. Environmental Responsibilities 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. Environmental Responsibilities 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.
Redefining models of collaboration and team work
– As explained in the weaknesses section, Environmental Responsibilities is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. Polaroid: Managing Environmental Responsibilities and Their Costs 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.
Developing new processes and practices
– Environmental Responsibilities 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.
Building a culture of innovation
– managers at Environmental Responsibilities 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 Finance & Accounting segment.
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– Environmental Responsibilities 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 Polaroid: Managing Environmental Responsibilities and Their Costs - to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Environmental Responsibilities to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
Manufacturing automation
– Environmental Responsibilities 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.
Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities
– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Environmental Responsibilities 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 Environmental Responsibilities to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Environmental Responsibilities has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Environmental Responsibilities to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the Polaroid: Managing Environmental Responsibilities and Their Costs case study. Environmental Responsibilities can build new products and services such as - data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
Increase in government spending
– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Environmental Responsibilities can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Environmental Responsibilities operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Finance & Accounting sector.
Buying journey improvements
– Environmental Responsibilities can improve the customer journey of consumers in the industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. Polaroid: Managing Environmental Responsibilities and Their Costs 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.
Leveraging digital technologies
– Environmental Responsibilities 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.
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 Environmental Responsibilities 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.
Lowering marketing communication costs
– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Environmental Responsibilities 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.
Threats Polaroid: Managing Environmental Responsibilities and Their Costs External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Polaroid: Managing Environmental Responsibilities and Their Costs are -
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Environmental Responsibilities 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 Polaroid: Managing Environmental Responsibilities and Their Costs .
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 Environmental Responsibilities business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
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. Environmental Responsibilities can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
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 Environmental Responsibilities in the Finance & Accounting sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
High dependence on third party suppliers
– Environmental Responsibilities 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.
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Environmental Responsibilities has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Finance & Accounting industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Environmental Responsibilities 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.
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry in the industry are lowering. It can presents Environmental Responsibilities with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the sector.
Consumer confidence and its impact on Environmental Responsibilities 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.
Regulatory challenges
– Environmental Responsibilities 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.
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. Environmental Responsibilities needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Finance & Accounting industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Environmental Responsibilities 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.
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. Environmental Responsibilities 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 Polaroid: Managing Environmental Responsibilities and Their Costs 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 Polaroid: Managing Environmental Responsibilities and Their Costs 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 Polaroid: Managing Environmental Responsibilities and Their Costs 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 Polaroid: Managing Environmental Responsibilities and Their Costs 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 Polaroid: Managing Environmental Responsibilities and Their Costs 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 Environmental Responsibilities needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.