Fred Khosravi and AccessClosure (B) SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Innovation & Entrepreneurship
Strategy / MBA Resources
Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of Fred Khosravi and AccessClosure (B)
It was January 2013, and Fred Khosravi, chairman of the board of AccessClosure Inc., wondered what the new year had in store for him and AccessClosure, the company he founded in late 2002. Khosravi was cautiously optimistic-the Mountain View, California-based medical device company had been cash flow positive for seven consecutive quarters with annual revenues over $70 million. Since 2007, it had shipped well over 1.5 million of its vascular closure device (VCD), the Mynx, which was stocked in more than 1,200 catheter labs worldwide. However, a 2008 patent infringement lawsuit filed by St. Jude Medical, the VCD market leader, loomed large. The case was on appeal, and a three-judge panel would hear arguments in March 2013. If AccessClosure lost its appeal, it faced a $27.1 million judgment for patent infringement and a permanent injunction from selling its Mynx family of VCDs, its sole source of revenue.
Swot Analysis of "Fred Khosravi and AccessClosure (B)" written by Richard G. Hamermesh, Lauren Barley includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Accessclosure Khosravi facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Fred Khosravi and AccessClosure (B) case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Entrepreneurial management, Growth strategy, Intellectual property, Product development, Technology, Venture capital and Innovation & Entrepreneurship.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Fred Khosravi and AccessClosure (B) casestudy better are - – increasing household debt because of falling income levels, supply chains are disrupted by pandemic , increasing transportation and logistics costs, central banks are concerned over increasing inflation, there is backlash against globalization, increasing inequality as vast percentage of new income is going to the top 1%, increasing energy prices,
customer relationship management is fast transforming because of increasing concerns over data privacy, geopolitical disruptions, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Fred Khosravi and AccessClosure (B)
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Fred Khosravi and AccessClosure (B) case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Accessclosure Khosravi, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Accessclosure Khosravi 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 Fred Khosravi and AccessClosure (B) can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Fred Khosravi and AccessClosure (B) case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Accessclosure Khosravi
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 Accessclosure Khosravi
Strengths Fred Khosravi and AccessClosure (B) | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Accessclosure Khosravi in Fred Khosravi and AccessClosure (B) Harvard Business Review case study are -
Innovation driven organization
– Accessclosure Khosravi is one of the most innovative firm in sector. Manager in Fred Khosravi and AccessClosure (B) Harvard Business Review case study can use Clayton Christensen Disruptive Innovation strategies to further increase the scale of innovtions in the organization.
Superior customer experience
– The customer experience strategy of Accessclosure Khosravi in the segment is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.
Cross disciplinary teams
– Horizontal connected teams at the Accessclosure Khosravi 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.
Learning organization
- Accessclosure Khosravi 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 Accessclosure Khosravi is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders in Fred Khosravi and AccessClosure (B) Harvard Business Review case study emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
High switching costs
– The high switching costs that Accessclosure Khosravi 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.
Training and development
– Accessclosure Khosravi has one of the best training and development program in the industry. The effectiveness of the training programs can be measured in Fred Khosravi and AccessClosure (B) 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.
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Innovation & Entrepreneurship industry
– Fred Khosravi and AccessClosure (B) firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Accessclosure Khosravi to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Innovation & Entrepreneurship industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Accessclosure Khosravi to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Operational resilience
– The operational resilience strategy in the Fred Khosravi and AccessClosure (B) 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.
Effective Research and Development (R&D)
– Accessclosure Khosravi 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 Fred Khosravi and AccessClosure (B) - 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 lead change in Innovation & Entrepreneurship field
– Accessclosure Khosravi 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 Accessclosure Khosravi in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of Accessclosure Khosravi in the sector have low bargaining power. Fred Khosravi and AccessClosure (B) has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Accessclosure Khosravi to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
High brand equity
– Accessclosure Khosravi has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Accessclosure Khosravi to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Weaknesses Fred Khosravi and AccessClosure (B) | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Fred Khosravi and AccessClosure (B) are -
Slow to strategic competitive environment developments
– As Fred Khosravi and AccessClosure (B) HBR case study mentions - Accessclosure Khosravi 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.
Low market penetration in new markets
– Outside its home market of Accessclosure Khosravi, firm in the HBR case study Fred Khosravi and AccessClosure (B) needs to spend more promotional, marketing, and advertising efforts to penetrate international markets.
Slow to harness new channels of communication
– Even though competitors are using new communication channels such as Instagram, Tiktok, and Snap, Accessclosure Khosravi is slow explore the new channels of communication. These new channels of communication mentioned in marketing section of case study Fred Khosravi and AccessClosure (B) can help to provide better information regarding products and services. It can also build an online community to further reach out to potential customers.
High cash cycle compare to competitors
Accessclosure Khosravi 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.
High dependence on star products
– The top 2 products and services of the firm as mentioned in the Fred Khosravi and AccessClosure (B) 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 Accessclosure Khosravi has relatively successful track record of launching new products.
High operating costs
– Compare to the competitors, firm in the HBR case study Fred Khosravi and AccessClosure (B) 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 Accessclosure Khosravi 's lucrative customers.
Lack of clear differentiation of Accessclosure Khosravi products
– To increase the profitability and margins on the products, Accessclosure Khosravi needs to provide more differentiated products than what it is currently offering in the marketplace.
Slow decision making process
– As mentioned earlier in the report, Accessclosure Khosravi 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. Accessclosure Khosravi 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.
Skills based hiring
– The stress on hiring functional specialists at Accessclosure Khosravi 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.
Need for greater diversity
– Accessclosure Khosravi 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.
Increasing silos among functional specialists
– The organizational structure of Accessclosure Khosravi is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Innovation & Entrepreneurship segment. Accessclosure Khosravi needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Accessclosure Khosravi to focus more on services rather than just following the product oriented approach.
Opportunities Fred Khosravi and AccessClosure (B) | 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 Fred Khosravi and AccessClosure (B) are -
Building a culture of innovation
– managers at Accessclosure Khosravi 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.
Manufacturing automation
– Accessclosure Khosravi can use the latest technology developments to improve its manufacturing and designing process in Innovation & Entrepreneurship segment. It can use CAD and 3D printing to build a quick prototype and pilot testing products. It can leverage automation using machine learning and artificial intelligence to do faster production at lowers costs, and it can leverage the growth in satellite and tracking technologies to improve inventory management, transportation, and shipping.
Leveraging digital technologies
– Accessclosure Khosravi 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.
Redefining models of collaboration and team work
– As explained in the weaknesses section, Accessclosure Khosravi is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. Fred Khosravi and AccessClosure (B) 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.
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. Accessclosure Khosravi can tie-up with other value chain partners to explore new opportunities regarding meeting customer demands and building a rewarding and engaging relationship.
Learning at scale
– Online learning technologies has now opened space for Accessclosure Khosravi 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.
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– Accessclosure Khosravi 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 Fred Khosravi and AccessClosure (B) - to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Accessclosure Khosravi to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
Low interest rates
– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Accessclosure Khosravi 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.
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. Accessclosure Khosravi 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. Accessclosure Khosravi 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.
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Accessclosure Khosravi has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Accessclosure Khosravi to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the Fred Khosravi and AccessClosure (B) case study. Accessclosure Khosravi can build new products and services such as - data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
Better consumer reach
– The expansion of the 5G network will help Accessclosure Khosravi to increase its market reach. Accessclosure Khosravi 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.
Loyalty marketing
– Accessclosure Khosravi 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.
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. Accessclosure Khosravi can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.
Threats Fred Khosravi and AccessClosure (B) External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Fred Khosravi and AccessClosure (B) are -
Increasing wage structure of Accessclosure Khosravi
– 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 Accessclosure Khosravi.
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 Accessclosure Khosravi 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 Accessclosure Khosravi 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 Accessclosure Khosravi 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 Accessclosure Khosravi 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.
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Accessclosure Khosravi is facing in Innovation & Entrepreneurship sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.
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.
Consumer confidence and its impact on Accessclosure Khosravi 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.
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Accessclosure Khosravi 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.
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Accessclosure Khosravi 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 Fred Khosravi and AccessClosure (B) .
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. Accessclosure Khosravi needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Innovation & Entrepreneurship industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Accessclosure Khosravi has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Innovation & Entrepreneurship industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Accessclosure Khosravi 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.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Fred Khosravi and AccessClosure (B) 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 Fred Khosravi and AccessClosure (B) 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 Fred Khosravi and AccessClosure (B) 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 Fred Khosravi and AccessClosure (B) 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 Fred Khosravi and AccessClosure (B) 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 Accessclosure Khosravi needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.