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 - – cloud computing is disrupting traditional business models, there is increasing trade war between United States & China, central banks are concerned over increasing inflation, talent flight as more people leaving formal jobs, competitive advantages are harder to sustain because of technology dispersion, increasing household debt because of falling income levels, banking and financial system is disrupted by Bitcoin and other crypto currencies,
challanges to central banks by blockchain based private currencies, there is backlash against globalization, 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.
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.
Digital Transformation in Innovation & Entrepreneurship segment
- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For Entrepreneurs Millie digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Entrepreneurs Millie 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.
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.
Highly skilled collaborators
– Entrepreneurs Millie 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 Dave and Millie: A Tale of Two Entrepreneurs HBR case study have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
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.
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.
Operational resilience
– The operational resilience strategy in the Dave and Millie: A Tale of Two Entrepreneurs 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.
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.
Strong track record of project management
– Entrepreneurs Millie is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.
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.
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.
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 -
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.
Slow decision making process
– As mentioned earlier in the report, Entrepreneurs Millie 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. Entrepreneurs Millie 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.
Products dominated business model
– Even though Entrepreneurs Millie 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 - Dave and Millie: A Tale of Two Entrepreneurs should strive to include more intangible value offerings along with its core products and services.
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.
Interest costs
– Compare to the competition, Entrepreneurs Millie 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 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.
Slow to strategic competitive environment developments
– As Dave and Millie: A Tale of Two Entrepreneurs HBR case study mentions - Entrepreneurs Millie 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 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.
High cash cycle compare to competitors
Entrepreneurs Millie 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.
Compensation and incentives
– The revenue per employee as mentioned in the HBR case study Dave and Millie: A Tale of Two Entrepreneurs, is just above the industry average. Entrepreneurs Millie 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.
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 -
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.
Better consumer reach
– The expansion of the 5G network will help Entrepreneurs Millie to increase its market reach. Entrepreneurs Millie will be able to reach out to new customers. Secondly 5G will also provide technology framework to build new tools and products that can help more immersive consumer experience and faster consumer journey.
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.
Building a culture of innovation
– managers at Entrepreneurs Millie 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.
Loyalty marketing
– Entrepreneurs Millie has focused on building a highly responsive customer relationship management platform. This platform is built on in-house data and driven by analytics and artificial intelligence. The customer analytics can help the organization to fine tune its loyalty marketing efforts, increase the wallet share of the organization, reduce wastage on mainstream advertising spending, build better pricing strategies using personalization, etc.
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Entrepreneurs Millie has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Entrepreneurs Millie to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the Dave and Millie: A Tale of Two Entrepreneurs case study. Entrepreneurs Millie 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, 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.
Buying journey improvements
– Entrepreneurs Millie can improve the customer journey of consumers in the industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. Dave and Millie: A Tale of Two Entrepreneurs 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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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 -
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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. Entrepreneurs Millie needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Innovation & Entrepreneurship industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
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.
High dependence on third party suppliers
– Entrepreneurs Millie 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.
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.
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Entrepreneurs Millie has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Innovation & Entrepreneurship industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Entrepreneurs Millie 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.
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.
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Entrepreneurs Millie 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 Dave and Millie: A Tale of Two Entrepreneurs .
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.
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.