Internal Entrepreneurship at the Dow Chemical Co. SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Innovation & Entrepreneurship
Strategy / MBA Resources
Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of Internal Entrepreneurship at the Dow Chemical Co.
Describes how a corporate entrepreneur shapes an internal growth venture within the company, mobilizes the resources that are needed to implement the venture, and achieves success. Complementing his entrepreneurial behavior, however, is the support that he receives from several senior managers in the firm. Allows a careful examination of the challenges for corporate entrepreneurship in a large multinational firm and the roles that senior executives have to play to support it.
Swot Analysis of "Internal Entrepreneurship at the Dow Chemical Co." written by Bala Chakravarthy, Hans Huber includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Mobilizes Complementing facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Internal Entrepreneurship at the Dow Chemical Co. case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Entrepreneurial management, Growth strategy, Internet, Leadership and Innovation & Entrepreneurship.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Internal Entrepreneurship at the Dow Chemical Co. casestudy better are - – increasing energy prices, technology disruption, central banks are concerned over increasing inflation, talent flight as more people leaving formal jobs, there is backlash against globalization, digital marketing is dominated by two big players Facebook and Google, increasing government debt because of Covid-19 spendings,
geopolitical disruptions, increasing transportation and logistics costs, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Internal Entrepreneurship at the Dow Chemical Co.
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Internal Entrepreneurship at the Dow Chemical Co. case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Mobilizes Complementing, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Mobilizes Complementing 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 Internal Entrepreneurship at the Dow Chemical Co. can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Internal Entrepreneurship at the Dow Chemical Co. case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Mobilizes Complementing
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 Mobilizes Complementing
Strengths Internal Entrepreneurship at the Dow Chemical Co. | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Mobilizes Complementing in Internal Entrepreneurship at the Dow Chemical Co. Harvard Business Review case study are -
High brand equity
– Mobilizes Complementing has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Mobilizes Complementing to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Diverse revenue streams
– Mobilizes Complementing is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided firm in Internal Entrepreneurship at the Dow Chemical Co. 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
– Mobilizes Complementing has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Mobilizes Complementing 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.
Strong track record of project management
– Mobilizes Complementing is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.
Highly skilled collaborators
– Mobilizes Complementing 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 Internal Entrepreneurship at the Dow Chemical Co. HBR case study have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
Organizational Resilience of Mobilizes Complementing
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing that Mobilizes Complementing does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
Digital Transformation in Innovation & Entrepreneurship segment
- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For Mobilizes Complementing digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Mobilizes Complementing 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.
Superior customer experience
– The customer experience strategy of Mobilizes Complementing in the segment is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.
High switching costs
– The high switching costs that Mobilizes Complementing 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.
Operational resilience
– The operational resilience strategy in the Internal Entrepreneurship at the Dow Chemical Co. 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.
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Innovation & Entrepreneurship industry
– Internal Entrepreneurship at the Dow Chemical Co. firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Mobilizes Complementing to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Innovation & Entrepreneurship industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Mobilizes Complementing to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Training and development
– Mobilizes Complementing has one of the best training and development program in the industry. The effectiveness of the training programs can be measured in Internal Entrepreneurship at the Dow Chemical Co. 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.
Weaknesses Internal Entrepreneurship at the Dow Chemical Co. | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Internal Entrepreneurship at the Dow Chemical Co. are -
Slow to harness new channels of communication
– Even though competitors are using new communication channels such as Instagram, Tiktok, and Snap, Mobilizes Complementing is slow explore the new channels of communication. These new channels of communication mentioned in marketing section of case study Internal Entrepreneurship at the Dow Chemical Co. can help to provide better information regarding products and services. It can also build an online community to further reach out to potential customers.
Ability to respond to the competition
– As the decision making is very deliberative, highlighted in the case study Internal Entrepreneurship at the Dow Chemical Co., in the dynamic environment Mobilizes Complementing has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. Mobilizes Complementing 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, Mobilizes Complementing 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.
Capital Spending Reduction
– Even during the low interest decade, Mobilizes Complementing 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.
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 Mobilizes Complementing supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes mentioned in the HBR case study - Internal Entrepreneurship at the Dow Chemical Co., it is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left Mobilizes Complementing vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.
High bargaining power of channel partners
– Because of the regulatory requirements, Bala Chakravarthy, Hans Huber suggests that, Mobilizes Complementing 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.
Products dominated business model
– Even though Mobilizes Complementing 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 - Internal Entrepreneurship at the Dow Chemical Co. should strive to include more intangible value offerings along with its core products and services.
High cash cycle compare to competitors
Mobilizes Complementing 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.
No frontier risks strategy
– After analyzing the HBR case study Internal Entrepreneurship at the Dow Chemical Co., 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.
Increasing silos among functional specialists
– The organizational structure of Mobilizes Complementing is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Innovation & Entrepreneurship segment. Mobilizes Complementing needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Mobilizes Complementing to focus more on services rather than just following the product oriented approach.
Employees’ incomplete understanding of strategy
– From the instances in the HBR case study Internal Entrepreneurship at the Dow Chemical Co., it seems that the employees of Mobilizes Complementing 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.
Opportunities Internal Entrepreneurship at the Dow Chemical Co. | 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 Internal Entrepreneurship at the Dow Chemical Co. are -
Better consumer reach
– The expansion of the 5G network will help Mobilizes Complementing to increase its market reach. Mobilizes Complementing 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.
Learning at scale
– Online learning technologies has now opened space for Mobilizes Complementing 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.
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. Mobilizes Complementing can tie-up with other value chain partners to explore new opportunities regarding meeting customer demands and building a rewarding and engaging relationship.
Buying journey improvements
– Mobilizes Complementing can improve the customer journey of consumers in the industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. Internal Entrepreneurship at the Dow Chemical Co. 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.
Loyalty marketing
– Mobilizes Complementing 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.
Redefining models of collaboration and team work
– As explained in the weaknesses section, Mobilizes Complementing is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. Internal Entrepreneurship at the Dow Chemical Co. 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.
Use of Bitcoin and other crypto currencies for transactions
– The popularity of Bitcoin and other crypto currencies as asset class and medium of transaction has opened new opportunities for Mobilizes Complementing in the consumer business. Now Mobilizes Complementing can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.
Building a culture of innovation
– managers at Mobilizes Complementing 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
– Mobilizes Complementing 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.
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. Mobilizes Complementing 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. Mobilizes Complementing 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.
Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains
– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Mobilizes Complementing 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, Internal Entrepreneurship at the Dow Chemical Co., to buy more products closer to the markets, and it can leverage its size and influence to get better deal from the local markets.
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. Mobilizes Complementing can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Mobilizes Complementing has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Mobilizes Complementing to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the Internal Entrepreneurship at the Dow Chemical Co. case study. Mobilizes Complementing can build new products and services such as - data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
Threats Internal Entrepreneurship at the Dow Chemical Co. External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Internal Entrepreneurship at the Dow Chemical Co. are -
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Mobilizes Complementing has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Innovation & Entrepreneurship industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Mobilizes Complementing 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.
Increasing wage structure of Mobilizes Complementing
– 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 Mobilizes Complementing.
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, as highlighted in case study Internal Entrepreneurship at the Dow Chemical Co., Mobilizes Complementing 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 .
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 Mobilizes Complementing business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
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. Mobilizes Complementing needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Innovation & Entrepreneurship industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
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.
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 Mobilizes Complementing.
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 Mobilizes Complementing in the Innovation & Entrepreneurship sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Mobilizes Complementing 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.
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Mobilizes Complementing 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.
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Mobilizes Complementing 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 Internal Entrepreneurship at the Dow Chemical Co. .
High dependence on third party suppliers
– Mobilizes Complementing 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.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Internal Entrepreneurship at the Dow Chemical Co. 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 Internal Entrepreneurship at the Dow Chemical Co. 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 Internal Entrepreneurship at the Dow Chemical Co. 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 Internal Entrepreneurship at the Dow Chemical Co. 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 Internal Entrepreneurship at the Dow Chemical Co. 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 Mobilizes Complementing needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.
