Lapdesk Company: A South African FOPSE SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Innovation & Entrepreneurship
Strategy / MBA Resources
Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of Lapdesk Company: A South African FOPSE
To maximize their effectiveness, color cases should be printed in color.Shane Immelman, founding CEO of Lapdesk (South Africa), is facing several acute problems: a conflict between his director of marketing and his director of field operations; a dramatic increase in prices by a key supplier; and a major strategic alliance that does not seem to be moving forward. Lapdesk is a for profit social enterprise (FOPSE) dedicated to eradicating the shortage of classroom desks in public schools. What should Immelman do? Will Lapdesk achieve its mission?
Swot Analysis of "Lapdesk Company: A South African FOPSE" written by Daniel J. Isenberg includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Lapdesk Fopse facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Lapdesk Company: A South African FOPSE case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Entrepreneurial finance, Entrepreneurial management, Social enterprise and Innovation & Entrepreneurship.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Lapdesk Company: A South African FOPSE casestudy better are - – there is increasing trade war between United States & China, increasing household debt because of falling income levels, challanges to central banks by blockchain based private currencies, wage bills are increasing, talent flight as more people leaving formal jobs, technology disruption, increasing inequality as vast percentage of new income is going to the top 1%,
competitive advantages are harder to sustain because of technology dispersion, increasing commodity prices, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Lapdesk Company: A South African FOPSE
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Lapdesk Company: A South African FOPSE case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Lapdesk Fopse, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Lapdesk Fopse 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 Lapdesk Company: A South African FOPSE can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Lapdesk Company: A South African FOPSE case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Lapdesk Fopse
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 Lapdesk Fopse
Strengths Lapdesk Company: A South African FOPSE | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Lapdesk Fopse in Lapdesk Company: A South African FOPSE Harvard Business Review case study are -
Digital Transformation in Innovation & Entrepreneurship segment
- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For Lapdesk Fopse digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Lapdesk Fopse 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.
Ability to lead change in Innovation & Entrepreneurship field
– Lapdesk Fopse 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 Lapdesk Fopse in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.
Ability to recruit top talent
– Lapdesk Fopse is one of the leading recruiters in the industry. Managers in the Lapdesk Company: A South African FOPSE are in a position to attract the best talent available. The firm has a robust talent identification program that helps in identifying the brightest.
Organizational Resilience of Lapdesk Fopse
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing that Lapdesk Fopse does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
Superior customer experience
– The customer experience strategy of Lapdesk Fopse in the segment is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.
Diverse revenue streams
– Lapdesk Fopse is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided firm in Lapdesk Company: A South African FOPSE 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.
Innovation driven organization
– Lapdesk Fopse is one of the most innovative firm in sector. Manager in Lapdesk Company: A South African FOPSE Harvard Business Review case study can use Clayton Christensen Disruptive Innovation strategies to further increase the scale of innovtions in the organization.
Effective Research and Development (R&D)
– Lapdesk Fopse 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 Lapdesk Company: A South African FOPSE - staying ahead in the industry in terms of – new product launches, superior customer experience, highly competitive pricing strategies, and great returns to the shareholders.
Operational resilience
– The operational resilience strategy in the Lapdesk Company: A South African FOPSE 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.
High brand equity
– Lapdesk Fopse has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Lapdesk Fopse to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Learning organization
- Lapdesk Fopse 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 Lapdesk Fopse is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders in Lapdesk Company: A South African FOPSE Harvard Business Review case study emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Innovation & Entrepreneurship industry
– Lapdesk Company: A South African FOPSE firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Lapdesk Fopse to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Innovation & Entrepreneurship industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Lapdesk Fopse to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Weaknesses Lapdesk Company: A South African FOPSE | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Lapdesk Company: A South African FOPSE are -
Employees’ incomplete understanding of strategy
– From the instances in the HBR case study Lapdesk Company: A South African FOPSE, it seems that the employees of Lapdesk Fopse 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.
High bargaining power of channel partners
– Because of the regulatory requirements, Daniel J. Isenberg suggests that, Lapdesk Fopse 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.
Low market penetration in new markets
– Outside its home market of Lapdesk Fopse, firm in the HBR case study Lapdesk Company: A South African FOPSE needs to spend more promotional, marketing, and advertising efforts to penetrate international markets.
High operating costs
– Compare to the competitors, firm in the HBR case study Lapdesk Company: A South African FOPSE 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 Lapdesk Fopse 's lucrative customers.
Compensation and incentives
– The revenue per employee as mentioned in the HBR case study Lapdesk Company: A South African FOPSE, is just above the industry average. Lapdesk Fopse 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.
High dependence on star products
– The top 2 products and services of the firm as mentioned in the Lapdesk Company: A South African FOPSE 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 Lapdesk Fopse has relatively successful track record of launching new products.
High cash cycle compare to competitors
Lapdesk Fopse 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.
Ability to respond to the competition
– As the decision making is very deliberative, highlighted in the case study Lapdesk Company: A South African FOPSE, in the dynamic environment Lapdesk Fopse has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. Lapdesk Fopse has reasonably good record with similar level competitors but it has struggled with new entrants taking away niches of its business.
Increasing silos among functional specialists
– The organizational structure of Lapdesk Fopse is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Innovation & Entrepreneurship segment. Lapdesk Fopse needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Lapdesk Fopse to focus more on services rather than just following the product oriented approach.
No frontier risks strategy
– After analyzing the HBR case study Lapdesk Company: A South African FOPSE, 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.
Interest costs
– Compare to the competition, Lapdesk Fopse 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.
Opportunities Lapdesk Company: A South African FOPSE | 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 Lapdesk Company: A South African FOPSE are -
Manufacturing automation
– Lapdesk Fopse 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.
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Lapdesk Fopse has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Lapdesk Fopse to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the Lapdesk Company: A South African FOPSE case study. Lapdesk Fopse can build new products and services such as - data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, 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 Lapdesk Fopse 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.
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. Lapdesk Fopse 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. Lapdesk Fopse 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.
Leveraging digital technologies
– Lapdesk Fopse 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.
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. Lapdesk Fopse can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.
Building a culture of innovation
– managers at Lapdesk Fopse 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.
Better consumer reach
– The expansion of the 5G network will help Lapdesk Fopse to increase its market reach. Lapdesk Fopse 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 Lapdesk Fopse 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 Lapdesk Fopse can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.
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. Lapdesk Fopse 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
– Lapdesk Fopse can improve the customer journey of consumers in the industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. Lapdesk Company: A South African FOPSE 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
– Lapdesk Fopse 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.
Threats Lapdesk Company: A South African FOPSE External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Lapdesk Company: A South African FOPSE are -
Regulatory challenges
– Lapdesk Fopse 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.
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 Lapdesk Fopse.
High dependence on third party suppliers
– Lapdesk Fopse 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.
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Lapdesk Fopse 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 acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Lapdesk Fopse has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Innovation & Entrepreneurship industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Lapdesk Fopse 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.
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. Lapdesk Fopse 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.
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 Lapdesk Fopse in the Innovation & Entrepreneurship sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
Environmental challenges
– Lapdesk Fopse needs to have a robust strategy against the disruptions arising from climate change and energy requirements. EU has identified it as key priority area and spending 30% of its 880 billion Euros European post Covid-19 recovery funds on green technology. Lapdesk Fopse can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Innovation & Entrepreneurship industry.
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Lapdesk Fopse 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 Lapdesk Company: A South African FOPSE .
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Lapdesk Fopse is facing in Innovation & Entrepreneurship sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.
Consumer confidence and its impact on Lapdesk Fopse 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.
Increasing wage structure of Lapdesk Fopse
– 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 Lapdesk Fopse.
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 Lapdesk Fopse business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Lapdesk Company: A South African FOPSE 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 Lapdesk Company: A South African FOPSE 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 Lapdesk Company: A South African FOPSE 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 Lapdesk Company: A South African FOPSE 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 Lapdesk Company: A South African FOPSE 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 Lapdesk Fopse needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.
