"Make Mine a Russian Short-Hair, and Hold The Allergies, Please." SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Innovation & Entrepreneurship
Strategy / MBA Resources
Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of "Make Mine a Russian Short-Hair, and Hold The Allergies, Please."
Having successfully completed the cloning of a cat, this case discusses the market for pet cloning, specifically allergen-free cats. The case looks at pet cloning from the perspectives of (1) an animal rights activist, (2) a pet lover, and (3) an individual allergic to cats. It also explores the business potential involved in this area.
Authors :: R. Edward Freeman, Will Truslow, Pia Ahmad, Bidhan Parmar
Topics :: Innovation & Entrepreneurship
Tags :: Health, International business, Social responsibility, SWOT Analysis, SWOT Matrix, TOWS, Weighted SWOT Analysis
Swot Analysis of ""Make Mine a Russian Short-Hair, and Hold The Allergies, Please."" written by R. Edward Freeman, Will Truslow, Pia Ahmad, Bidhan Parmar includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Cloning Pet facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in "Make Mine a Russian Short-Hair, and Hold The Allergies, Please." case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Health, International business, Social responsibility and Innovation & Entrepreneurship.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the "Make Mine a Russian Short-Hair, and Hold The Allergies, Please." casestudy better are - – banking and financial system is disrupted by Bitcoin and other crypto currencies, central banks are concerned over increasing inflation, there is increasing trade war between United States & China, increasing household debt because of falling income levels, competitive advantages are harder to sustain because of technology dispersion, increasing inequality as vast percentage of new income is going to the top 1%, wage bills are increasing,
cloud computing is disrupting traditional business models, geopolitical disruptions, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of "Make Mine a Russian Short-Hair, and Hold The Allergies, Please."
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in "Make Mine a Russian Short-Hair, and Hold The Allergies, Please." case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Cloning Pet, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Cloning Pet 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 "Make Mine a Russian Short-Hair, and Hold The Allergies, Please." can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in "Make Mine a Russian Short-Hair, and Hold The Allergies, Please." case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Cloning Pet
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 Cloning Pet
Strengths "Make Mine a Russian Short-Hair, and Hold The Allergies, Please." | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Cloning Pet in "Make Mine a Russian Short-Hair, and Hold The Allergies, Please." Harvard Business Review case study are -
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of Cloning Pet in the sector have low bargaining power. "Make Mine a Russian Short-Hair, and Hold The Allergies, Please." has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Cloning Pet to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
Successful track record of launching new products
– Cloning Pet has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Cloning Pet 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.
Training and development
– Cloning Pet has one of the best training and development program in the industry. The effectiveness of the training programs can be measured in "Make Mine a Russian Short-Hair, and Hold The Allergies, Please." 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.
Ability to lead change in Innovation & Entrepreneurship field
– Cloning Pet 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 Cloning Pet in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.
Organizational Resilience of Cloning Pet
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing that Cloning Pet does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
Strong track record of project management
– Cloning Pet is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.
High switching costs
– The high switching costs that Cloning Pet 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.
Effective Research and Development (R&D)
– Cloning Pet 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 "Make Mine a Russian Short-Hair, and Hold The Allergies, Please." - staying ahead in the industry in terms of – new product launches, superior customer experience, highly competitive pricing strategies, and great returns to the shareholders.
Learning organization
- Cloning Pet 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 Cloning Pet is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders in "Make Mine a Russian Short-Hair, and Hold The Allergies, Please." Harvard Business Review case study emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
Highly skilled collaborators
– Cloning Pet 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 "Make Mine a Russian Short-Hair, and Hold The Allergies, Please." HBR case study have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
High brand equity
– Cloning Pet has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Cloning Pet to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Cross disciplinary teams
– Horizontal connected teams at the Cloning Pet 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.
Weaknesses "Make Mine a Russian Short-Hair, and Hold The Allergies, Please." | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of "Make Mine a Russian Short-Hair, and Hold The Allergies, Please." are -
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 Cloning Pet supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes mentioned in the HBR case study - "Make Mine a Russian Short-Hair, and Hold The Allergies, Please.", it is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left Cloning Pet vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.
Ability to respond to the competition
– As the decision making is very deliberative, highlighted in the case study "Make Mine a Russian Short-Hair, and Hold The Allergies, Please.", in the dynamic environment Cloning Pet has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. Cloning Pet has reasonably good record with similar level competitors but it has struggled with new entrants taking away niches of its business.
Workers concerns about automation
– As automation is fast increasing in the segment, Cloning Pet needs to come up with a strategy to reduce the workers concern regarding automation. Without a clear strategy, it could lead to disruption and uncertainty within the organization.
Need for greater diversity
– Cloning Pet 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.
Interest costs
– Compare to the competition, Cloning Pet 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.
Slow to harness new channels of communication
– Even though competitors are using new communication channels such as Instagram, Tiktok, and Snap, Cloning Pet is slow explore the new channels of communication. These new channels of communication mentioned in marketing section of case study "Make Mine a Russian Short-Hair, and Hold The Allergies, Please." can help to provide better information regarding products and services. It can also build an online community to further reach out to potential customers.
Lack of clear differentiation of Cloning Pet products
– To increase the profitability and margins on the products, Cloning Pet needs to provide more differentiated products than what it is currently offering in the marketplace.
Skills based hiring
– The stress on hiring functional specialists at Cloning Pet 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, Cloning Pet 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. Cloning Pet 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 Cloning Pet 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 - "Make Mine a Russian Short-Hair, and Hold The Allergies, Please." should strive to include more intangible value offerings along with its core products and services.
Slow to strategic competitive environment developments
– As "Make Mine a Russian Short-Hair, and Hold The Allergies, Please." HBR case study mentions - Cloning Pet 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.
Opportunities "Make Mine a Russian Short-Hair, and Hold The Allergies, Please." | 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 "Make Mine a Russian Short-Hair, and Hold The Allergies, Please." are -
Manufacturing automation
– Cloning Pet 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.
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– Cloning Pet 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 "Make Mine a Russian Short-Hair, and Hold The Allergies, Please." - to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Cloning Pet to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
Buying journey improvements
– Cloning Pet can improve the customer journey of consumers in the industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. "Make Mine a Russian Short-Hair, and Hold The Allergies, Please." 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.
Increase in government spending
– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Cloning Pet can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Cloning Pet operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Innovation & Entrepreneurship sector.
Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities
– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Cloning Pet 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 Cloning Pet to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
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. Cloning Pet 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. Cloning Pet 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.
Better consumer reach
– The expansion of the 5G network will help Cloning Pet to increase its market reach. Cloning Pet 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.
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 Cloning Pet in the consumer business. Now Cloning Pet can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.
Low interest rates
– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Cloning Pet 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.
Reforming the budgeting process
- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects Cloning Pet 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. Cloning Pet can tie-up with other value chain partners to explore new opportunities regarding meeting customer demands and building a rewarding and engaging relationship.
Loyalty marketing
– Cloning Pet 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 Cloning Pet has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Cloning Pet to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the "Make Mine a Russian Short-Hair, and Hold The Allergies, Please." case study. Cloning Pet can build new products and services such as - data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
Threats "Make Mine a Russian Short-Hair, and Hold The Allergies, Please." External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study "Make Mine a Russian Short-Hair, and Hold The Allergies, Please." are -
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Cloning Pet 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 "Make Mine a Russian Short-Hair, and Hold The Allergies, Please." .
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry in the industry are lowering. It can presents Cloning Pet 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 Cloning Pet 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.
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 Cloning Pet business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
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. Cloning Pet 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.
Increasing wage structure of Cloning Pet
– 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 Cloning Pet.
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Cloning Pet is facing in Innovation & Entrepreneurship sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.
Regulatory challenges
– Cloning Pet 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.
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Cloning Pet 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.
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Cloning Pet has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Innovation & Entrepreneurship industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Cloning Pet 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.
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, as highlighted in case study "Make Mine a Russian Short-Hair, and Hold The Allergies, Please.", Cloning Pet 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 .
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 "Make Mine a Russian Short-Hair, and Hold The Allergies, Please." 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 "Make Mine a Russian Short-Hair, and Hold The Allergies, Please." 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 "Make Mine a Russian Short-Hair, and Hold The Allergies, Please." 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 "Make Mine a Russian Short-Hair, and Hold The Allergies, Please." 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 "Make Mine a Russian Short-Hair, and Hold The Allergies, Please." 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 Cloning Pet needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.