Case Study Description of Jocelyn Chang: Comparing Angel-Investing Models
In late 2004, a cashed-out entrepreneur in the health sciences decides to pursue private-equity angel investing as a means to fulfill her professional, financial, and personal objectives. Jocelyn Chang investigates three different types of angel organizations: the Band of Angels, Tenex Medical Investors, and the Washington Dinner Club. As part of her research into private-equity investing, she explores recent (postbubble) developments in both angel investing and the venture-capital industry.
Authors :: Gregory Fairchild, Dorothy C. Kelly, Susan Chaplinsky, John W. Glynn Jr.
Swot Analysis of "Jocelyn Chang: Comparing Angel-Investing Models" written by Gregory Fairchild, Dorothy C. Kelly, Susan Chaplinsky, John W. Glynn Jr. includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Angel Jocelyn facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Jocelyn Chang: Comparing Angel-Investing Models case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Innovation, Venture capital and Finance & Accounting.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Jocelyn Chang: Comparing Angel-Investing Models casestudy better are - – challanges to central banks by blockchain based private currencies, there is backlash against globalization, central banks are concerned over increasing inflation, customer relationship management is fast transforming because of increasing concerns over data privacy, wage bills are increasing, increasing household debt because of falling income levels, cloud computing is disrupting traditional business models,
increasing commodity prices, there is increasing trade war between United States & China, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Jocelyn Chang: Comparing Angel-Investing Models
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Jocelyn Chang: Comparing Angel-Investing Models case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Angel Jocelyn, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Angel Jocelyn 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 Jocelyn Chang: Comparing Angel-Investing Models can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Jocelyn Chang: Comparing Angel-Investing Models case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Angel Jocelyn
3. Assessing feasibility of the new initiative in Finance & Accounting field.
4. Making a Finance & Accounting topic specific business decision
5. Set goals for the organization
6. Organizational restructuring of Angel Jocelyn
Strengths Jocelyn Chang: Comparing Angel-Investing Models | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Angel Jocelyn in Jocelyn Chang: Comparing Angel-Investing Models Harvard Business Review case study are -
Innovation driven organization
– Angel Jocelyn is one of the most innovative firm in sector. Manager in Jocelyn Chang: Comparing Angel-Investing Models Harvard Business Review case study can use Clayton Christensen Disruptive Innovation strategies to further increase the scale of innovtions in the organization.
Organizational Resilience of Angel Jocelyn
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing that Angel Jocelyn 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 Angel Jocelyn in the segment is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.
Cross disciplinary teams
– Horizontal connected teams at the Angel Jocelyn 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.
High brand equity
– Angel Jocelyn has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Angel Jocelyn to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Training and development
– Angel Jocelyn has one of the best training and development program in the industry. The effectiveness of the training programs can be measured in Jocelyn Chang: Comparing Angel-Investing Models 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.
Operational resilience
– The operational resilience strategy in the Jocelyn Chang: Comparing Angel-Investing Models 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 Finance & Accounting industry
– Jocelyn Chang: Comparing Angel-Investing Models firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Angel Jocelyn to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Finance & Accounting industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Angel Jocelyn to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Learning organization
- Angel Jocelyn 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 Angel Jocelyn is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders in Jocelyn Chang: Comparing Angel-Investing Models Harvard Business Review case study emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
Ability to lead change in Finance & Accounting field
– Angel Jocelyn 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 Angel Jocelyn 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
– Angel Jocelyn is one of the leading recruiters in the industry. Managers in the Jocelyn Chang: Comparing Angel-Investing Models are in a position to attract the best talent available. The firm has a robust talent identification program that helps in identifying the brightest.
Analytics focus
– Angel Jocelyn 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 Gregory Fairchild, Dorothy C. Kelly, Susan Chaplinsky, John W. Glynn Jr. 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.
Weaknesses Jocelyn Chang: Comparing Angel-Investing Models | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Jocelyn Chang: Comparing Angel-Investing Models are -
Employees’ incomplete understanding of strategy
– From the instances in the HBR case study Jocelyn Chang: Comparing Angel-Investing Models, it seems that the employees of Angel Jocelyn 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.
Increasing silos among functional specialists
– The organizational structure of Angel Jocelyn is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Finance & Accounting segment. Angel Jocelyn needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Angel Jocelyn to focus more on services rather than just following the product oriented approach.
Skills based hiring
– The stress on hiring functional specialists at Angel Jocelyn 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, Angel Jocelyn 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. Angel Jocelyn 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 Angel Jocelyn 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 - Jocelyn Chang: Comparing Angel-Investing Models should strive to include more intangible value offerings along with its core products and services.
Compensation and incentives
– The revenue per employee as mentioned in the HBR case study Jocelyn Chang: Comparing Angel-Investing Models, is just above the industry average. Angel Jocelyn 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.
Lack of clear differentiation of Angel Jocelyn products
– To increase the profitability and margins on the products, Angel Jocelyn needs to provide more differentiated products than what it is currently offering in the marketplace.
Slow to strategic competitive environment developments
– As Jocelyn Chang: Comparing Angel-Investing Models HBR case study mentions - Angel Jocelyn 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.
Capital Spending Reduction
– Even during the low interest decade, Angel Jocelyn 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 bargaining power of channel partners
– Because of the regulatory requirements, Gregory Fairchild, Dorothy C. Kelly, Susan Chaplinsky, John W. Glynn Jr. suggests that, Angel Jocelyn 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.
Aligning sales with marketing
– It come across in the case study Jocelyn Chang: Comparing Angel-Investing Models 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 Jocelyn Chang: Comparing Angel-Investing Models can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Angel Jocelyn is planning to shift buying processes online.
Opportunities Jocelyn Chang: Comparing Angel-Investing Models | 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 Jocelyn Chang: Comparing Angel-Investing Models are -
Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains
– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Angel Jocelyn 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, Jocelyn Chang: Comparing Angel-Investing Models, to buy more products closer to the markets, and it can leverage its size and influence to get better deal from the local markets.
Manufacturing automation
– Angel Jocelyn can use the latest technology developments to improve its manufacturing and designing process in Finance & Accounting 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.
Reforming the budgeting process
- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects Angel Jocelyn can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.
Building a culture of innovation
– managers at Angel Jocelyn 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 Finance & Accounting segment.
Changes in consumer behavior post Covid-19
– Consumer behavior has changed in the Finance & Accounting industry because of Covid-19 restrictions. Some of this behavior will stay once things get back to normal. Angel Jocelyn 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. Angel Jocelyn 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.
Loyalty marketing
– Angel Jocelyn 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.
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 Angel Jocelyn 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.
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 Angel Jocelyn in the consumer business. Now Angel Jocelyn 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, Angel Jocelyn 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.
Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities
– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Angel Jocelyn 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 Angel Jocelyn to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
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. Angel Jocelyn 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 Angel Jocelyn 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 Finance & Accounting industry, but it has also influenced the consumer preferences. Angel Jocelyn can tie-up with other value chain partners to explore new opportunities regarding meeting customer demands and building a rewarding and engaging relationship.
Threats Jocelyn Chang: Comparing Angel-Investing Models External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Jocelyn Chang: Comparing Angel-Investing Models are -
High dependence on third party suppliers
– Angel Jocelyn 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.
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry in the industry are lowering. It can presents Angel Jocelyn with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the sector.
Increasing wage structure of Angel Jocelyn
– 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 Angel Jocelyn.
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Angel Jocelyn has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Finance & Accounting industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Angel Jocelyn needs to keep up with the evolution of technology in the Finance & Accounting 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.
Technology disruption because of hacks, piracy etc
– The colonial pipeline illustrated, how vulnerable modern organization are to international hackers, miscreants, and disruptors. The cyber security interruption, data leaks, etc can seriously jeopardize the future growth of the organization.
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Angel Jocelyn is facing in Finance & Accounting sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.
New competition
– After the dotcom bust of 2001, financial crisis of 2008-09, the business formation in US economy had declined. But in 2020 alone, there are more than 1.5 million new business applications in United States. This can lead to greater competition for Angel Jocelyn in the Finance & Accounting sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
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. Angel Jocelyn needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Finance & Accounting industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
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. Angel Jocelyn 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.
Consumer confidence and its impact on Angel Jocelyn 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.
Environmental challenges
– Angel Jocelyn 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. Angel Jocelyn can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Finance & Accounting industry.
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Angel Jocelyn 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 Jocelyn Chang: Comparing Angel-Investing Models .
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, as highlighted in case study Jocelyn Chang: Comparing Angel-Investing Models, Angel Jocelyn may face longer learning curve for training and development of existing employees. This can open space for more nimble competitors in the field of Finance & Accounting .
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Jocelyn Chang: Comparing Angel-Investing Models 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 Jocelyn Chang: Comparing Angel-Investing Models 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 Jocelyn Chang: Comparing Angel-Investing Models 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 Jocelyn Chang: Comparing Angel-Investing Models 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 Jocelyn Chang: Comparing Angel-Investing Models 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 Angel Jocelyn needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.