Case Study Description of Sheila Mason & Craig Shepherd
Describes a marketing executive and an engineer who are starting a company together. Each is still at his/her former employer, and each has signed a different employment agreement that, on paper, may prohibit soliciting customers or employees. Focuses on how individuals should think about leaving their employers in general and how these specific legal agreements may impact the situation. Includes issues dealing with venture capitalists, nondisclosure agreements, and selecting a lawyer.
Swot Analysis of "Sheila Mason & Craig Shepherd" written by Michael J. Roberts, Todd Thedinga includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Agreements Nondisclosure facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Sheila Mason & Craig Shepherd case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Regulation, Technology, Venture capital and Innovation & Entrepreneurship.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Sheila Mason & Craig Shepherd casestudy better are - – geopolitical disruptions, increasing household debt because of falling income levels, increasing transportation and logistics costs, central banks are concerned over increasing inflation, supply chains are disrupted by pandemic , wage bills are increasing, competitive advantages are harder to sustain because of technology dispersion,
there is increasing trade war between United States & China, talent flight as more people leaving formal jobs, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Sheila Mason & Craig Shepherd
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Sheila Mason & Craig Shepherd case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Agreements Nondisclosure, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Agreements Nondisclosure 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 Sheila Mason & Craig Shepherd can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Sheila Mason & Craig Shepherd case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Agreements Nondisclosure
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 Agreements Nondisclosure
Strengths Sheila Mason & Craig Shepherd | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Agreements Nondisclosure in Sheila Mason & Craig Shepherd Harvard Business Review case study are -
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Innovation & Entrepreneurship industry
– Sheila Mason & Craig Shepherd firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Agreements Nondisclosure to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Innovation & Entrepreneurship industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Agreements Nondisclosure to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Effective Research and Development (R&D)
– Agreements Nondisclosure 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 Sheila Mason & Craig Shepherd - staying ahead in the industry in terms of – new product launches, superior customer experience, highly competitive pricing strategies, and great returns to the shareholders.
Cross disciplinary teams
– Horizontal connected teams at the Agreements Nondisclosure 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.
Superior customer experience
– The customer experience strategy of Agreements Nondisclosure in the segment is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.
Strong track record of project management
– Agreements Nondisclosure is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.
Innovation driven organization
– Agreements Nondisclosure is one of the most innovative firm in sector. Manager in Sheila Mason & Craig Shepherd Harvard Business Review case study can use Clayton Christensen Disruptive Innovation strategies to further increase the scale of innovtions in the organization.
Training and development
– Agreements Nondisclosure has one of the best training and development program in the industry. The effectiveness of the training programs can be measured in Sheila Mason & Craig Shepherd 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.
Analytics focus
– Agreements Nondisclosure 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 Michael J. Roberts, Todd Thedinga 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.
Digital Transformation in Innovation & Entrepreneurship segment
- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For Agreements Nondisclosure digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Agreements Nondisclosure 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.
Organizational Resilience of Agreements Nondisclosure
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing that Agreements Nondisclosure does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
Ability to lead change in Innovation & Entrepreneurship field
– Agreements Nondisclosure 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 Agreements Nondisclosure 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
– Agreements Nondisclosure is one of the leading recruiters in the industry. Managers in the Sheila Mason & Craig Shepherd are in a position to attract the best talent available. The firm has a robust talent identification program that helps in identifying the brightest.
Weaknesses Sheila Mason & Craig Shepherd | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Sheila Mason & Craig Shepherd are -
Need for greater diversity
– Agreements Nondisclosure 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 operating costs
– Compare to the competitors, firm in the HBR case study Sheila Mason & Craig Shepherd 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 Agreements Nondisclosure 's lucrative customers.
Increasing silos among functional specialists
– The organizational structure of Agreements Nondisclosure is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Innovation & Entrepreneurship segment. Agreements Nondisclosure needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Agreements Nondisclosure to focus more on services rather than just following the product oriented approach.
Interest costs
– Compare to the competition, Agreements Nondisclosure 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.
No frontier risks strategy
– After analyzing the HBR case study Sheila Mason & Craig Shepherd, 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.
Low market penetration in new markets
– Outside its home market of Agreements Nondisclosure, firm in the HBR case study Sheila Mason & Craig Shepherd needs to spend more promotional, marketing, and advertising efforts to penetrate international markets.
Ability to respond to the competition
– As the decision making is very deliberative, highlighted in the case study Sheila Mason & Craig Shepherd, in the dynamic environment Agreements Nondisclosure has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. Agreements Nondisclosure has reasonably good record with similar level competitors but it has struggled with new entrants taking away niches of its business.
Employees’ incomplete understanding of strategy
– From the instances in the HBR case study Sheila Mason & Craig Shepherd, it seems that the employees of Agreements Nondisclosure 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.
Slow to strategic competitive environment developments
– As Sheila Mason & Craig Shepherd HBR case study mentions - Agreements Nondisclosure 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.
Slow to harness new channels of communication
– Even though competitors are using new communication channels such as Instagram, Tiktok, and Snap, Agreements Nondisclosure is slow explore the new channels of communication. These new channels of communication mentioned in marketing section of case study Sheila Mason & Craig Shepherd can help to provide better information regarding products and services. It can also build an online community to further reach out to potential customers.
High dependence on star products
– The top 2 products and services of the firm as mentioned in the Sheila Mason & Craig Shepherd 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 Agreements Nondisclosure has relatively successful track record of launching new products.
Opportunities Sheila Mason & Craig Shepherd | 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 Sheila Mason & Craig Shepherd are -
Low interest rates
– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Agreements Nondisclosure 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.
Learning at scale
– Online learning technologies has now opened space for Agreements Nondisclosure 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.
Buying journey improvements
– Agreements Nondisclosure can improve the customer journey of consumers in the industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. Sheila Mason & Craig Shepherd 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.
Developing new processes and practices
– Agreements Nondisclosure 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.
Leveraging digital technologies
– Agreements Nondisclosure 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.
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Agreements Nondisclosure has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Agreements Nondisclosure to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the Sheila Mason & Craig Shepherd case study. Agreements Nondisclosure can build new products and services such as - data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
Loyalty marketing
– Agreements Nondisclosure 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.
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. Agreements Nondisclosure can tie-up with other value chain partners to explore new opportunities regarding meeting customer demands and building a rewarding and engaging relationship.
Increase in government spending
– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Agreements Nondisclosure can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Agreements Nondisclosure 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 Agreements Nondisclosure 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 Agreements Nondisclosure to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
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 Agreements Nondisclosure 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.
Building a culture of innovation
– managers at Agreements Nondisclosure 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.
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. Agreements Nondisclosure can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.
Threats Sheila Mason & Craig Shepherd External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Sheila Mason & Craig Shepherd are -
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. Agreements Nondisclosure 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.
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry in the industry are lowering. It can presents Agreements Nondisclosure with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the sector.
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Agreements Nondisclosure 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.
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Agreements Nondisclosure 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.
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. Agreements Nondisclosure can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Agreements Nondisclosure is facing in Innovation & Entrepreneurship sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Agreements Nondisclosure 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 Sheila Mason & Craig Shepherd .
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, as highlighted in case study Sheila Mason & Craig Shepherd, Agreements Nondisclosure 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.
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. Agreements Nondisclosure needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Innovation & Entrepreneurship industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
Consumer confidence and its impact on Agreements Nondisclosure 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.
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Agreements Nondisclosure has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Innovation & Entrepreneurship industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Agreements Nondisclosure 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.
Regulatory challenges
– Agreements Nondisclosure 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.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Sheila Mason & Craig Shepherd 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 Sheila Mason & Craig Shepherd 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 Sheila Mason & Craig Shepherd 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 Sheila Mason & Craig Shepherd 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 Sheila Mason & Craig Shepherd 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 Agreements Nondisclosure needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.