Dave and Millie: A Tale of Two Entrepreneurs SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Innovation & Entrepreneurship
Strategy / MBA Resources
Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of Dave and Millie: A Tale of Two Entrepreneurs
Two entrepreneurs have just been told by their venture capital backer to prepare a list of possible cuts to help them weather the 2008-2009 economic downturn. The impact on each firm is very different: one is a later-stage company with revenues in excess of $100 million; the other a pre-revenue company trying to raise its first institutional round. The entrepreneurs must consider their options and the impact on their companies' growth and, perhaps, survival.
Swot Analysis of "Dave and Millie: A Tale of Two Entrepreneurs" written by G. Felda Hardymon, Ann Leamon includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Entrepreneurs Millie facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Dave and Millie: A Tale of Two Entrepreneurs case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Financial management, Growth strategy, Recession, Technology, Venture capital and Innovation & Entrepreneurship.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Dave and Millie: A Tale of Two Entrepreneurs casestudy better are - – increasing energy prices, challanges to central banks by blockchain based private currencies, increasing inequality as vast percentage of new income is going to the top 1%, increasing transportation and logistics costs, banking and financial system is disrupted by Bitcoin and other crypto currencies, geopolitical disruptions, supply chains are disrupted by pandemic ,
wage bills are increasing, digital marketing is dominated by two big players Facebook and Google, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Dave and Millie: A Tale of Two Entrepreneurs
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Dave and Millie: A Tale of Two Entrepreneurs case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Entrepreneurs Millie, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Entrepreneurs Millie 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 Dave and Millie: A Tale of Two Entrepreneurs can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Dave and Millie: A Tale of Two Entrepreneurs case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Entrepreneurs Millie
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 Entrepreneurs Millie
Strengths Dave and Millie: A Tale of Two Entrepreneurs | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Entrepreneurs Millie in Dave and Millie: A Tale of Two Entrepreneurs Harvard Business Review case study are -
Effective Research and Development (R&D)
– Entrepreneurs Millie 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 Dave and Millie: A Tale of Two Entrepreneurs - staying ahead in the industry in terms of – new product launches, superior customer experience, highly competitive pricing strategies, and great returns to the shareholders.
High brand equity
– Entrepreneurs Millie has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Entrepreneurs Millie to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of Entrepreneurs Millie in the sector have low bargaining power. Dave and Millie: A Tale of Two Entrepreneurs has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Entrepreneurs Millie to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
Innovation driven organization
– Entrepreneurs Millie is one of the most innovative firm in sector. Manager in Dave and Millie: A Tale of Two Entrepreneurs Harvard Business Review case study can use Clayton Christensen Disruptive Innovation strategies to further increase the scale of innovtions in the organization.
Ability to recruit top talent
– Entrepreneurs Millie is one of the leading recruiters in the industry. Managers in the Dave and Millie: A Tale of Two Entrepreneurs are in a position to attract the best talent available. The firm has a robust talent identification program that helps in identifying the brightest.
High switching costs
– The high switching costs that Entrepreneurs Millie 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.
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Innovation & Entrepreneurship industry
– Dave and Millie: A Tale of Two Entrepreneurs firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Entrepreneurs Millie to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Innovation & Entrepreneurship industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Entrepreneurs Millie to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Learning organization
- Entrepreneurs Millie 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 Entrepreneurs Millie is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders in Dave and Millie: A Tale of Two Entrepreneurs Harvard Business Review case study emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
Training and development
– Entrepreneurs Millie has one of the best training and development program in the industry. The effectiveness of the training programs can be measured in Dave and Millie: A Tale of Two Entrepreneurs Harvard Business Review case study by analyzing – employees retention, in-house promotion, loyalty, new venture initiation, lack of conflict, and high level of both employees and customer engagement.
Superior customer experience
– The customer experience strategy of Entrepreneurs Millie in the segment is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.
Successful track record of launching new products
– Entrepreneurs Millie has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Entrepreneurs Millie has effective processes in place that helps in exploring new product needs, doing quick pilot testing, and then launching the products quickly using its extensive distribution network.
Diverse revenue streams
– Entrepreneurs Millie is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided firm in Dave and Millie: A Tale of Two Entrepreneurs 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.
Weaknesses Dave and Millie: A Tale of Two Entrepreneurs | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Dave and Millie: A Tale of Two Entrepreneurs are -
No frontier risks strategy
– After analyzing the HBR case study Dave and Millie: A Tale of Two Entrepreneurs, 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.
High operating costs
– Compare to the competitors, firm in the HBR case study Dave and Millie: A Tale of Two Entrepreneurs 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 Entrepreneurs Millie 's lucrative customers.
Ability to respond to the competition
– As the decision making is very deliberative, highlighted in the case study Dave and Millie: A Tale of Two Entrepreneurs, in the dynamic environment Entrepreneurs Millie has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. Entrepreneurs Millie has reasonably good record with similar level competitors but it has struggled with new entrants taking away niches of its business.
Low market penetration in new markets
– Outside its home market of Entrepreneurs Millie, firm in the HBR case study Dave and Millie: A Tale of Two Entrepreneurs needs to spend more promotional, marketing, and advertising efforts to penetrate international markets.
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 Entrepreneurs Millie supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes mentioned in the HBR case study - Dave and Millie: A Tale of Two Entrepreneurs, it is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left Entrepreneurs Millie vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.
High bargaining power of channel partners
– Because of the regulatory requirements, G. Felda Hardymon, Ann Leamon suggests that, Entrepreneurs Millie is facing high bargaining power of the channel partners. So far it has not able to streamline the operations to reduce the bargaining power of the value chain partners in the industry.
Need for greater diversity
– Entrepreneurs Millie 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.
Capital Spending Reduction
– Even during the low interest decade, Entrepreneurs Millie 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.
Aligning sales with marketing
– It come across in the case study Dave and Millie: A Tale of Two Entrepreneurs 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 Dave and Millie: A Tale of Two Entrepreneurs can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Entrepreneurs Millie is planning to shift buying processes online.
Workers concerns about automation
– As automation is fast increasing in the segment, Entrepreneurs Millie 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.
Skills based hiring
– The stress on hiring functional specialists at Entrepreneurs Millie 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.
Opportunities Dave and Millie: A Tale of Two Entrepreneurs | 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 Dave and Millie: A Tale of Two Entrepreneurs are -
Finding new ways to collaborate
– Covid-19 has not only transformed business models of companies in Innovation & Entrepreneurship industry, but it has also influenced the consumer preferences. Entrepreneurs Millie can tie-up with other value chain partners to explore new opportunities regarding meeting customer demands and building a rewarding and engaging relationship.
Leveraging digital technologies
– Entrepreneurs Millie 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.
Lowering marketing communication costs
– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Entrepreneurs Millie 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.
Redefining models of collaboration and team work
– As explained in the weaknesses section, Entrepreneurs Millie is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. Dave and Millie: A Tale of Two Entrepreneurs 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.
Low interest rates
– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Entrepreneurs Millie 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.
Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains
– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Entrepreneurs Millie 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, Dave and Millie: A Tale of Two Entrepreneurs, to buy more products closer to the markets, and it can leverage its size and influence to get better deal from the local markets.
Changes in consumer behavior post Covid-19
– Consumer behavior has changed in the Innovation & Entrepreneurship industry because of Covid-19 restrictions. Some of this behavior will stay once things get back to normal. Entrepreneurs Millie 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. Entrepreneurs Millie 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.
Developing new processes and practices
– Entrepreneurs Millie 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.
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 Entrepreneurs Millie 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.
Increase in government spending
– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Entrepreneurs Millie can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Entrepreneurs Millie operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Innovation & Entrepreneurship sector.
Learning at scale
– Online learning technologies has now opened space for Entrepreneurs Millie 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.
Reforming the budgeting process
- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects Entrepreneurs Millie can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.
Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities
– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Entrepreneurs Millie 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 Entrepreneurs Millie to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
Threats Dave and Millie: A Tale of Two Entrepreneurs External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Dave and Millie: A Tale of Two Entrepreneurs are -
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Entrepreneurs Millie 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. Entrepreneurs Millie 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.
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Entrepreneurs Millie 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.
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.
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 Entrepreneurs Millie.
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 Entrepreneurs Millie business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
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 Entrepreneurs Millie in the Innovation & Entrepreneurship sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry in the industry are lowering. It can presents Entrepreneurs Millie 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 Entrepreneurs Millie 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
– Entrepreneurs Millie 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.
Easy access to finance
– Easy access to finance in Innovation & Entrepreneurship field will also reduce the barriers to entry in the industry, thus putting downward pressure on the prices because of increasing competition. Entrepreneurs Millie can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
Increasing wage structure of Entrepreneurs Millie
– 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 Entrepreneurs Millie.
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, as highlighted in case study Dave and Millie: A Tale of Two Entrepreneurs, Entrepreneurs Millie 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 .
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Dave and Millie: A Tale of Two Entrepreneurs 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 Dave and Millie: A Tale of Two Entrepreneurs 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 Dave and Millie: A Tale of Two Entrepreneurs 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 Dave and Millie: A Tale of Two Entrepreneurs 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 Dave and Millie: A Tale of Two Entrepreneurs 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 Entrepreneurs Millie needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.
