IBM's Reinventing Education (B): West Virginia SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Innovation & Entrepreneurship
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Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of IBM's Reinventing Education (B): West Virginia
Describes IBM's ongoing Reinventing Education initiative to improve K-12 public education via information technology developed by IBM's engineers and consultants. Focuses on one site, West Virginia, to reveal how IBM and the state created a mutually beneficial partnership that provided the basis for the next step of the initiative--Reinventing Education 3.
Swot Analysis of "IBM's Reinventing Education (B): West Virginia" written by Rosabeth Moss Kanter, Daniel Galvin includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Ibm's Reinventing facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in IBM's Reinventing Education (B): West Virginia case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, IT, Joint ventures, Social enterprise and Innovation & Entrepreneurship.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the IBM's Reinventing Education (B): West Virginia casestudy better are - – customer relationship management is fast transforming because of increasing concerns over data privacy, talent flight as more people leaving formal jobs, increasing transportation and logistics costs, banking and financial system is disrupted by Bitcoin and other crypto currencies, central banks are concerned over increasing inflation, supply chains are disrupted by pandemic , competitive advantages are harder to sustain because of technology dispersion,
increasing energy prices, technology disruption, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of IBM's Reinventing Education (B): West Virginia
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in IBM's Reinventing Education (B): West Virginia case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Ibm's Reinventing, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Ibm's Reinventing 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 IBM's Reinventing Education (B): West Virginia can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in IBM's Reinventing Education (B): West Virginia case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Ibm's Reinventing
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 Ibm's Reinventing
Strengths IBM's Reinventing Education (B): West Virginia | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Ibm's Reinventing in IBM's Reinventing Education (B): West Virginia Harvard Business Review case study are -
Cross disciplinary teams
– Horizontal connected teams at the Ibm's Reinventing 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.
High switching costs
– The high switching costs that Ibm's Reinventing 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.
Highly skilled collaborators
– Ibm's Reinventing 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 IBM's Reinventing Education (B): West Virginia HBR case study have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of Ibm's Reinventing in the sector have low bargaining power. IBM's Reinventing Education (B): West Virginia has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Ibm's Reinventing to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
Innovation driven organization
– Ibm's Reinventing is one of the most innovative firm in sector. Manager in IBM's Reinventing Education (B): West Virginia Harvard Business Review case study can use Clayton Christensen Disruptive Innovation strategies to further increase the scale of innovtions in the organization.
Effective Research and Development (R&D)
– Ibm's Reinventing 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 IBM's Reinventing Education (B): West Virginia - staying ahead in the industry in terms of – new product launches, superior customer experience, highly competitive pricing strategies, and great returns to the shareholders.
Digital Transformation in Innovation & Entrepreneurship segment
- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For Ibm's Reinventing digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Ibm's Reinventing 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.
Operational resilience
– The operational resilience strategy in the IBM's Reinventing Education (B): West Virginia 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.
Diverse revenue streams
– Ibm's Reinventing is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided firm in IBM's Reinventing Education (B): West Virginia 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.
Successful track record of launching new products
– Ibm's Reinventing has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Ibm's Reinventing 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.
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Innovation & Entrepreneurship industry
– IBM's Reinventing Education (B): West Virginia firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Ibm's Reinventing to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Innovation & Entrepreneurship industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Ibm's Reinventing to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Ability to lead change in Innovation & Entrepreneurship field
– Ibm's Reinventing 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 Ibm's Reinventing in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.
Weaknesses IBM's Reinventing Education (B): West Virginia | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of IBM's Reinventing Education (B): West Virginia are -
High operating costs
– Compare to the competitors, firm in the HBR case study IBM's Reinventing Education (B): West Virginia 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 Ibm's Reinventing 's lucrative customers.
Employees’ incomplete understanding of strategy
– From the instances in the HBR case study IBM's Reinventing Education (B): West Virginia, it seems that the employees of Ibm's Reinventing 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 strategic competitive environment developments
– As IBM's Reinventing Education (B): West Virginia HBR case study mentions - Ibm's Reinventing 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.
No frontier risks strategy
– After analyzing the HBR case study IBM's Reinventing Education (B): West Virginia, it seems that company is thinking about the frontier risks that can impact Innovation & Entrepreneurship 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.
Capital Spending Reduction
– Even during the low interest decade, Ibm's Reinventing 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.
Increasing silos among functional specialists
– The organizational structure of Ibm's Reinventing is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Innovation & Entrepreneurship segment. Ibm's Reinventing needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Ibm's Reinventing to focus more on services rather than just following the product oriented approach.
High dependence on star products
– The top 2 products and services of the firm as mentioned in the IBM's Reinventing Education (B): West Virginia 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 Ibm's Reinventing has relatively successful track record of launching new products.
Ability to respond to the competition
– As the decision making is very deliberative, highlighted in the case study IBM's Reinventing Education (B): West Virginia, in the dynamic environment Ibm's Reinventing has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. Ibm's Reinventing has reasonably good record with similar level competitors but it has struggled with new entrants taking away niches of its business.
Interest costs
– Compare to the competition, Ibm's Reinventing 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.
High cash cycle compare to competitors
Ibm's Reinventing has a high cash cycle compare to other players in the industry. It needs to shorten the cash cycle by 12% to be more competitive in the marketplace, reduce inventory costs, and be more profitable.
Slow to harness new channels of communication
– Even though competitors are using new communication channels such as Instagram, Tiktok, and Snap, Ibm's Reinventing is slow explore the new channels of communication. These new channels of communication mentioned in marketing section of case study IBM's Reinventing Education (B): West Virginia 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 IBM's Reinventing Education (B): West Virginia | 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 IBM's Reinventing Education (B): West Virginia are -
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– Ibm's Reinventing 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 IBM's Reinventing Education (B): West Virginia - to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Ibm's Reinventing to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains
– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Ibm's Reinventing 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, IBM's Reinventing Education (B): West Virginia, to buy more products closer to the markets, and it can leverage its size and influence to get better deal from the local markets.
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 Ibm's Reinventing 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.
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. Ibm's Reinventing can tie-up with other value chain partners to explore new opportunities regarding meeting customer demands and building a rewarding and engaging relationship.
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Ibm's Reinventing has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Ibm's Reinventing to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the IBM's Reinventing Education (B): West Virginia case study. Ibm's Reinventing can build new products and services such as - data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
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. Ibm's Reinventing can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.
Reforming the budgeting process
- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects Ibm's Reinventing can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.
Lowering marketing communication costs
– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Ibm's Reinventing 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.
Low interest rates
– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Ibm's Reinventing 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
– Ibm's Reinventing can improve the customer journey of consumers in the industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. IBM's Reinventing Education (B): West Virginia 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.
Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities
– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Ibm's Reinventing 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 Ibm's Reinventing to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
Increase in government spending
– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Ibm's Reinventing can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Ibm's Reinventing operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Innovation & Entrepreneurship sector.
Leveraging digital technologies
– Ibm's Reinventing 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.
Threats IBM's Reinventing Education (B): West Virginia External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study IBM's Reinventing Education (B): West Virginia 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. Ibm's Reinventing needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Innovation & Entrepreneurship industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, as highlighted in case study IBM's Reinventing Education (B): West Virginia, Ibm's Reinventing 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 .
Regulatory challenges
– Ibm's Reinventing 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.
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Ibm's Reinventing 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 IBM's Reinventing Education (B): West Virginia .
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.
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 Ibm's Reinventing in the Innovation & Entrepreneurship sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
Increasing wage structure of Ibm's Reinventing
– 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 Ibm's Reinventing.
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Ibm's Reinventing is facing in Innovation & Entrepreneurship sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Ibm's Reinventing 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
– Ibm's Reinventing 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
– Ibm's Reinventing has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Innovation & Entrepreneurship industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Ibm's Reinventing needs to keep up with the evolution of technology in the Innovation & Entrepreneurship 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.
Environmental challenges
– Ibm's Reinventing 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. Ibm's Reinventing can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Innovation & Entrepreneurship industry.
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 Ibm's Reinventing business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of IBM's Reinventing Education (B): West Virginia 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 IBM's Reinventing Education (B): West Virginia 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 IBM's Reinventing Education (B): West Virginia 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 IBM's Reinventing Education (B): West Virginia 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 IBM's Reinventing Education (B): West Virginia 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 Ibm's Reinventing needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.