Business Innovation: The MTR's eInstant Bonus Project SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Innovation & Entrepreneurship
Strategy / MBA Resources
Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of Business Innovation: The MTR's eInstant Bonus Project
The "eInstant Bonus" was an interactive advertising concept designed internally by the Mass Transit Railway Corp. Ltd. (MTR) in Hong Kong. Under this scheme, special discount offers from merchants/advertisers were displayed on a 42-inch Plasma TV in the form of a 10-second static slide or a 30-second TV commercial. Passengers could select items on the touch-screen monitor and a discount coupon would be issued. The discount coupon could then be redeemed for products or services purchased at the merchant's premises. For each coupon issued, a transaction fee of $1.00 would be deducted from the passenger's Octopus Card. This case illustrates the use of information technology by a large corporation for strategic alignment and value creation. Multimedia kiosks are a new phenomenon of the 1990s to provide personalized and interactive customer service on-site. Discussion is provided on the concepts and applications of kiosks for a customer service organization. The MTR eInstant Bonus project is considered a successful innovation by various measures. Also provides an understanding of innovation adoption and diffusion, specifically, how the attributes of the innovation relate to its rate of adoption and diffusion.
Swot Analysis of "Business Innovation: The MTR's eInstant Bonus Project" written by Ali F. Farhoomand, Phoebe Ho includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Einstant Coupon facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Business Innovation: The MTR's eInstant Bonus Project case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, IT and Innovation & Entrepreneurship.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Business Innovation: The MTR's eInstant Bonus Project casestudy better are - – increasing transportation and logistics costs, competitive advantages are harder to sustain because of technology dispersion, geopolitical disruptions, increasing government debt because of Covid-19 spendings, increasing commodity prices, there is backlash against globalization, wage bills are increasing,
challanges to central banks by blockchain based private currencies, talent flight as more people leaving formal jobs, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Business Innovation: The MTR's eInstant Bonus Project
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Business Innovation: The MTR's eInstant Bonus Project case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Einstant Coupon, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Einstant Coupon 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 Business Innovation: The MTR's eInstant Bonus Project can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Business Innovation: The MTR's eInstant Bonus Project case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Einstant Coupon
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 Einstant Coupon
Strengths Business Innovation: The MTR's eInstant Bonus Project | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Einstant Coupon in Business Innovation: The MTR's eInstant Bonus Project Harvard Business Review case study are -
Superior customer experience
– The customer experience strategy of Einstant Coupon in the segment is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.
Learning organization
- Einstant Coupon 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 Einstant Coupon is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders in Business Innovation: The MTR's eInstant Bonus Project Harvard Business Review case study emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
Strong track record of project management
– Einstant Coupon is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.
Digital Transformation in Innovation & Entrepreneurship segment
- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For Einstant Coupon digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Einstant Coupon 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.
Highly skilled collaborators
– Einstant Coupon 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 Business Innovation: The MTR's eInstant Bonus Project HBR case study have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
Operational resilience
– The operational resilience strategy in the Business Innovation: The MTR's eInstant Bonus Project 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.
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of Einstant Coupon in the sector have low bargaining power. Business Innovation: The MTR's eInstant Bonus Project has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Einstant Coupon to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
Effective Research and Development (R&D)
– Einstant Coupon 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 Business Innovation: The MTR's eInstant Bonus Project - staying ahead in the industry in terms of – new product launches, superior customer experience, highly competitive pricing strategies, and great returns to the shareholders.
High switching costs
– The high switching costs that Einstant Coupon 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.
High brand equity
– Einstant Coupon has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Einstant Coupon to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Cross disciplinary teams
– Horizontal connected teams at the Einstant Coupon 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.
Innovation driven organization
– Einstant Coupon is one of the most innovative firm in sector. Manager in Business Innovation: The MTR's eInstant Bonus Project Harvard Business Review case study can use Clayton Christensen Disruptive Innovation strategies to further increase the scale of innovtions in the organization.
Weaknesses Business Innovation: The MTR's eInstant Bonus Project | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Business Innovation: The MTR's eInstant Bonus Project are -
Ability to respond to the competition
– As the decision making is very deliberative, highlighted in the case study Business Innovation: The MTR's eInstant Bonus Project, in the dynamic environment Einstant Coupon has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. Einstant Coupon 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 Einstant Coupon is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Innovation & Entrepreneurship segment. Einstant Coupon needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Einstant Coupon to focus more on services rather than just following the product oriented approach.
High bargaining power of channel partners
– Because of the regulatory requirements, Ali F. Farhoomand, Phoebe Ho suggests that, Einstant Coupon 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.
High dependence on star products
– The top 2 products and services of the firm as mentioned in the Business Innovation: The MTR's eInstant Bonus Project 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 Einstant Coupon has relatively successful track record of launching new products.
No frontier risks strategy
– After analyzing the HBR case study Business Innovation: The MTR's eInstant Bonus Project, 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.
High operating costs
– Compare to the competitors, firm in the HBR case study Business Innovation: The MTR's eInstant Bonus Project 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 Einstant Coupon 's lucrative customers.
Aligning sales with marketing
– It come across in the case study Business Innovation: The MTR's eInstant Bonus Project 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 Business Innovation: The MTR's eInstant Bonus Project can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Einstant Coupon is planning to shift buying processes online.
Slow to harness new channels of communication
– Even though competitors are using new communication channels such as Instagram, Tiktok, and Snap, Einstant Coupon is slow explore the new channels of communication. These new channels of communication mentioned in marketing section of case study Business Innovation: The MTR's eInstant Bonus Project can help to provide better information regarding products and services. It can also build an online community to further reach out to potential customers.
Compensation and incentives
– The revenue per employee as mentioned in the HBR case study Business Innovation: The MTR's eInstant Bonus Project, is just above the industry average. Einstant Coupon 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.
Products dominated business model
– Even though Einstant Coupon 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 - Business Innovation: The MTR's eInstant Bonus Project should strive to include more intangible value offerings along with its core products and services.
Need for greater diversity
– Einstant Coupon 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.
Opportunities Business Innovation: The MTR's eInstant Bonus Project | 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 Business Innovation: The MTR's eInstant Bonus Project are -
Building a culture of innovation
– managers at Einstant Coupon 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.
Low interest rates
– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Einstant Coupon 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.
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 Einstant Coupon in the consumer business. Now Einstant Coupon can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.
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. Einstant Coupon can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.
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 Einstant Coupon 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.
Lowering marketing communication costs
– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Einstant Coupon 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.
Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities
– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Einstant Coupon 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 Einstant Coupon to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
Developing new processes and practices
– Einstant Coupon can develop new processes and procedures in Innovation & Entrepreneurship industry using technology such as automation using artificial intelligence, real time transportation and products tracking, 3D modeling for concept development and new products pilot testing etc.
Learning at scale
– Online learning technologies has now opened space for Einstant Coupon 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.
Redefining models of collaboration and team work
– As explained in the weaknesses section, Einstant Coupon is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. Business Innovation: The MTR's eInstant Bonus Project 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.
Reforming the budgeting process
- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects Einstant Coupon can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.
Buying journey improvements
– Einstant Coupon can improve the customer journey of consumers in the industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. Business Innovation: The MTR's eInstant Bonus Project 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.
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. Einstant Coupon can tie-up with other value chain partners to explore new opportunities regarding meeting customer demands and building a rewarding and engaging relationship.
Threats Business Innovation: The MTR's eInstant Bonus Project External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Business Innovation: The MTR's eInstant Bonus Project are -
Increasing wage structure of Einstant Coupon
– 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 Einstant Coupon.
Environmental challenges
– Einstant Coupon 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. Einstant Coupon can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Innovation & Entrepreneurship industry.
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 Einstant Coupon in the Innovation & Entrepreneurship sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Einstant Coupon has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Innovation & Entrepreneurship industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Einstant Coupon needs to keep up with the evolution of technology in the Innovation & Entrepreneurship sector. According to Mckinsey study top managers believe that the adoption of technology in operations, communications is 20-25 times faster than what they planned in the beginning of 2019.
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Einstant Coupon 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 Business Innovation: The MTR's eInstant Bonus Project .
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.
Regulatory challenges
– Einstant Coupon 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.
High dependence on third party suppliers
– Einstant Coupon 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.
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.
Consumer confidence and its impact on Einstant Coupon 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.
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. Einstant Coupon can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
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 Einstant Coupon.
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 Einstant Coupon business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Business Innovation: The MTR's eInstant Bonus Project 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 Business Innovation: The MTR's eInstant Bonus Project 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 Business Innovation: The MTR's eInstant Bonus Project 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 Business Innovation: The MTR's eInstant Bonus Project 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 Business Innovation: The MTR's eInstant Bonus Project 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 Einstant Coupon needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.
