Bill Gates and Steve Jobs SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Innovation & Entrepreneurship
Strategy / MBA Resources
Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of Bill Gates and Steve Jobs
Bill Gates and Steve Jobs, founders of Microsoft and Apple respectively, have revolutionized the relationship between the individual and computer technology. Once the exclusive domain of academia and research facilities, computers can now be found in every area of business, government, and personal entertainment. Gates and Jobs facilitated this revolution, introducing a generation to the practice of personal computing and laying the foundation for the Information Age. Gates and Jobs turned their curiosity about electronics into a multi-billion dollar industry. From early experiments like the Apple II and DOS to the X-box and the iPod, Gates and Jobs have been committed to pioneering all avenues of technology and distributing them to wide audiences. The journey wasn't without its trials for both CEOs. Gates' antitrust lawsuit of the mid-90s and Jobs' separation from Apple in the late 80s provided challenges to both companies. However, both leaders used these periods of uncertainty as motivation to innovate, taking digital technology into new territory. Pixar Studios, MSNBC, the Xbox, and the phenomena of "infotainment" all arose from the ashes of the corporate controversies. The stories of Bill Gates and Steve Jobs are ultimately one story--it is the story of the personal computer, its software, and its impact upon society. From two college drop-outs based on the West Coast came a revolution which fundamentally influenced the global practice of business.
Swot Analysis of "Bill Gates and Steve Jobs" written by Anthony J. Mayo, Mark Benson includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Gates Jobs facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Bill Gates and Steve Jobs case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Business law, Entrepreneurship, IT, Leadership and Innovation & Entrepreneurship.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Bill Gates and Steve Jobs casestudy better are - – increasing inequality as vast percentage of new income is going to the top 1%, there is increasing trade war between United States & China, increasing commodity prices, supply chains are disrupted by pandemic , competitive advantages are harder to sustain because of technology dispersion, increasing energy prices, increasing transportation and logistics costs,
increasing government debt because of Covid-19 spendings, customer relationship management is fast transforming because of increasing concerns over data privacy, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Bill Gates and Steve Jobs
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Bill Gates and Steve Jobs case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Gates Jobs, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Gates Jobs 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 Bill Gates and Steve Jobs can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Bill Gates and Steve Jobs case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Gates Jobs
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 Gates Jobs
Strengths Bill Gates and Steve Jobs | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Gates Jobs in Bill Gates and Steve Jobs Harvard Business Review case study are -
Ability to lead change in Innovation & Entrepreneurship field
– Gates Jobs 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 Gates Jobs in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.
Analytics focus
– Gates Jobs is putting a lot of focus on utilizing the power of analytics in business decision making. This has put it among the leading players in the industry. The technology infrastructure suggested by Anthony J. Mayo, Mark Benson can also help it to harness the power of analytics for – marketing optimization, demand forecasting, customer relationship management, inventory management, information sharing across the value chain etc.
Successful track record of launching new products
– Gates Jobs has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Gates Jobs 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.
Diverse revenue streams
– Gates Jobs is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided firm in Bill Gates and Steve Jobs 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.
Effective Research and Development (R&D)
– Gates Jobs 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 Bill Gates and Steve Jobs - staying ahead in the industry in terms of – new product launches, superior customer experience, highly competitive pricing strategies, and great returns to the shareholders.
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Innovation & Entrepreneurship industry
– Bill Gates and Steve Jobs firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Gates Jobs to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Innovation & Entrepreneurship industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Gates Jobs to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Digital Transformation in Innovation & Entrepreneurship segment
- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For Gates Jobs digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Gates Jobs 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.
Learning organization
- Gates Jobs 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 Gates Jobs is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders in Bill Gates and Steve Jobs Harvard Business Review case study emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
Ability to recruit top talent
– Gates Jobs is one of the leading recruiters in the industry. Managers in the Bill Gates and Steve Jobs are in a position to attract the best talent available. The firm has a robust talent identification program that helps in identifying the brightest.
Operational resilience
– The operational resilience strategy in the Bill Gates and Steve Jobs 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.
Highly skilled collaborators
– Gates Jobs 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 Bill Gates and Steve Jobs HBR case study have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
Innovation driven organization
– Gates Jobs is one of the most innovative firm in sector. Manager in Bill Gates and Steve Jobs Harvard Business Review case study can use Clayton Christensen Disruptive Innovation strategies to further increase the scale of innovtions in the organization.
Weaknesses Bill Gates and Steve Jobs | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Bill Gates and Steve Jobs are -
Increasing silos among functional specialists
– The organizational structure of Gates Jobs is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Innovation & Entrepreneurship segment. Gates Jobs needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Gates Jobs to focus more on services rather than just following the product oriented approach.
Slow to strategic competitive environment developments
– As Bill Gates and Steve Jobs HBR case study mentions - Gates Jobs 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.
High cash cycle compare to competitors
Gates Jobs 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 Bill Gates and Steve Jobs, in the dynamic environment Gates Jobs has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. Gates Jobs has reasonably good record with similar level competitors but it has struggled with new entrants taking away niches of its business.
Need for greater diversity
– Gates Jobs 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.
High dependence on star products
– The top 2 products and services of the firm as mentioned in the Bill Gates and Steve Jobs 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 Gates Jobs has relatively successful track record of launching new products.
Slow decision making process
– As mentioned earlier in the report, Gates Jobs 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. Gates Jobs 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.
Aligning sales with marketing
– It come across in the case study Bill Gates and Steve Jobs that the firm needs to have more collaboration between its sales team and marketing team. Sales professionals in the industry have deep experience in developing customer relationships. Marketing department in the case Bill Gates and Steve Jobs can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Gates Jobs is planning to shift buying processes online.
Compensation and incentives
– The revenue per employee as mentioned in the HBR case study Bill Gates and Steve Jobs, is just above the industry average. Gates Jobs 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.
Interest costs
– Compare to the competition, Gates Jobs 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.
Employees’ incomplete understanding of strategy
– From the instances in the HBR case study Bill Gates and Steve Jobs, it seems that the employees of Gates Jobs 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 Bill Gates and Steve Jobs | 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 Bill Gates and Steve Jobs are -
Buying journey improvements
– Gates Jobs can improve the customer journey of consumers in the industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. Bill Gates and Steve Jobs 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.
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 Gates Jobs 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.
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– Gates Jobs 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 Bill Gates and Steve Jobs - to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Gates Jobs to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
Leveraging digital technologies
– Gates Jobs 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, Gates Jobs is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. Bill Gates and Steve Jobs case study suggests that firm can utilize new technology to build more coordinated teams and streamline operations and communications using tools such as CAD, Zoom, etc.
Better consumer reach
– The expansion of the 5G network will help Gates Jobs to increase its market reach. Gates Jobs 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.
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. Gates Jobs 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
– Gates Jobs 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.
Manufacturing automation
– Gates Jobs 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.
Lowering marketing communication costs
– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Gates Jobs in the field of marketing communication. It will bring down the cost of doing business, provide technology platform to build new products in the Innovation & Entrepreneurship segment, and it will provide faster access to the consumers.
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. Gates Jobs can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.
Learning at scale
– Online learning technologies has now opened space for Gates Jobs 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.
Increase in government spending
– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Gates Jobs can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Gates Jobs operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Innovation & Entrepreneurship sector.
Threats Bill Gates and Steve Jobs External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Bill Gates and Steve Jobs are -
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry in the industry are lowering. It can presents Gates Jobs with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the sector.
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Gates Jobs 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 Bill Gates and Steve Jobs .
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 Gates Jobs in the Innovation & Entrepreneurship sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
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 Gates Jobs business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
High dependence on third party suppliers
– Gates Jobs 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.
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Gates Jobs 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 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.
Easy access to finance
– Easy access to finance in Innovation & Entrepreneurship field will also reduce the barriers to entry in the industry, thus putting downward pressure on the prices because of increasing competition. Gates Jobs can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
Increasing wage structure of Gates Jobs
– 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 Gates Jobs.
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Gates Jobs is facing in Innovation & Entrepreneurship sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.
Regulatory challenges
– Gates Jobs 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.
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Gates Jobs 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.
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, as highlighted in case study Bill Gates and Steve Jobs, Gates Jobs 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 .
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Bill Gates and Steve Jobs 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 Bill Gates and Steve Jobs 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 Bill Gates and Steve Jobs 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 Bill Gates and Steve Jobs 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 Bill Gates and Steve Jobs 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 Gates Jobs needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.