Case Study Description of Trolltech (Norway)--Will Cenapio Steal Christmas?
Describes the creation of an open source software venture in Norway, Australia, and the United States that lands a strategic OEM deal with a leading Japanese manufacturer of embedded devices (PDAs in this instance). Details the evolution of the two companies' relationship and the differences in mindset and culture--Norwegian/Japanese as well as small venture/big venture and software company/hardware company. There are also conflicts with a U.S. software venture that is serving as the general contractor for the project. The co-founders must decide how to deal with certain requests by the Japanese partner.
Swot Analysis of "Trolltech (Norway)--Will Cenapio Steal Christmas?" written by Daniel J. Isenberg includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Norway Japanese facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Trolltech (Norway)--Will Cenapio Steal Christmas? case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Globalization, Joint ventures, Strategic planning, Technology and Innovation & Entrepreneurship.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Trolltech (Norway)--Will Cenapio Steal Christmas? casestudy better are - – cloud computing is disrupting traditional business models, geopolitical disruptions, there is increasing trade war between United States & China, customer relationship management is fast transforming because of increasing concerns over data privacy, increasing transportation and logistics costs, increasing inequality as vast percentage of new income is going to the top 1%, increasing household debt because of falling income levels,
digital marketing is dominated by two big players Facebook and Google, competitive advantages are harder to sustain because of technology dispersion, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Trolltech (Norway)--Will Cenapio Steal Christmas?
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Trolltech (Norway)--Will Cenapio Steal Christmas? case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Norway Japanese, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Norway Japanese 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 Trolltech (Norway)--Will Cenapio Steal Christmas? can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Trolltech (Norway)--Will Cenapio Steal Christmas? case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Norway Japanese
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 Norway Japanese
Strengths Trolltech (Norway)--Will Cenapio Steal Christmas? | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Norway Japanese in Trolltech (Norway)--Will Cenapio Steal Christmas? Harvard Business Review case study are -
Innovation driven organization
– Norway Japanese is one of the most innovative firm in sector. Manager in Trolltech (Norway)--Will Cenapio Steal Christmas? Harvard Business Review case study can use Clayton Christensen Disruptive Innovation strategies to further increase the scale of innovtions in the organization.
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of Norway Japanese in the sector have low bargaining power. Trolltech (Norway)--Will Cenapio Steal Christmas? has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Norway Japanese to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
Digital Transformation in Innovation & Entrepreneurship segment
- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For Norway Japanese digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Norway Japanese 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.
Diverse revenue streams
– Norway Japanese is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided firm in Trolltech (Norway)--Will Cenapio Steal Christmas? 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.
Ability to recruit top talent
– Norway Japanese is one of the leading recruiters in the industry. Managers in the Trolltech (Norway)--Will Cenapio Steal Christmas? are in a position to attract the best talent available. The firm has a robust talent identification program that helps in identifying the brightest.
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Innovation & Entrepreneurship industry
– Trolltech (Norway)--Will Cenapio Steal Christmas? firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Norway Japanese to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Innovation & Entrepreneurship industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Norway Japanese to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Training and development
– Norway Japanese has one of the best training and development program in the industry. The effectiveness of the training programs can be measured in Trolltech (Norway)--Will Cenapio Steal Christmas? 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.
High brand equity
– Norway Japanese has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Norway Japanese to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Analytics focus
– Norway Japanese 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 Daniel J. Isenberg 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
– Norway Japanese has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Norway Japanese 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.
Highly skilled collaborators
– Norway Japanese 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 Trolltech (Norway)--Will Cenapio Steal Christmas? HBR case study have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
Cross disciplinary teams
– Horizontal connected teams at the Norway Japanese are driving operational speed, building greater agility, and keeping the organization nimble to compete with new competitors. It helps are organization to ideate new ideas, and execute them swiftly in the marketplace.
Weaknesses Trolltech (Norway)--Will Cenapio Steal Christmas? | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Trolltech (Norway)--Will Cenapio Steal Christmas? are -
High operating costs
– Compare to the competitors, firm in the HBR case study Trolltech (Norway)--Will Cenapio Steal Christmas? 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 Norway Japanese 's lucrative customers.
Lack of clear differentiation of Norway Japanese products
– To increase the profitability and margins on the products, Norway Japanese needs to provide more differentiated products than what it is currently offering in the marketplace.
Low market penetration in new markets
– Outside its home market of Norway Japanese, firm in the HBR case study Trolltech (Norway)--Will Cenapio Steal Christmas? needs to spend more promotional, marketing, and advertising efforts to penetrate international markets.
High dependence on existing supply chain
– The disruption in the global supply chains because of the Covid-19 pandemic and blockage of the Suez Canal illustrated the fragile nature of Norway Japanese supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes mentioned in the HBR case study - Trolltech (Norway)--Will Cenapio Steal Christmas?, it is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left Norway Japanese vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.
Increasing silos among functional specialists
– The organizational structure of Norway Japanese is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Innovation & Entrepreneurship segment. Norway Japanese needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Norway Japanese to focus more on services rather than just following the product oriented approach.
High cash cycle compare to competitors
Norway Japanese 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.
Interest costs
– Compare to the competition, Norway Japanese 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.
High bargaining power of channel partners
– Because of the regulatory requirements, Daniel J. Isenberg suggests that, Norway Japanese 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.
Slow to strategic competitive environment developments
– As Trolltech (Norway)--Will Cenapio Steal Christmas? HBR case study mentions - Norway Japanese 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.
Ability to respond to the competition
– As the decision making is very deliberative, highlighted in the case study Trolltech (Norway)--Will Cenapio Steal Christmas?, in the dynamic environment Norway Japanese has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. Norway Japanese has reasonably good record with similar level competitors but it has struggled with new entrants taking away niches of its business.
Capital Spending Reduction
– Even during the low interest decade, Norway Japanese 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.
Opportunities Trolltech (Norway)--Will Cenapio Steal Christmas? | 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 Trolltech (Norway)--Will Cenapio Steal Christmas? are -
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 Norway Japanese 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.
Buying journey improvements
– Norway Japanese can improve the customer journey of consumers in the industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. Trolltech (Norway)--Will Cenapio Steal Christmas? 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.
Better consumer reach
– The expansion of the 5G network will help Norway Japanese to increase its market reach. Norway Japanese 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.
Developing new processes and practices
– Norway Japanese 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.
Increase in government spending
– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Norway Japanese can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Norway Japanese operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Innovation & Entrepreneurship sector.
Changes in consumer behavior post Covid-19
– Consumer behavior has changed in the Innovation & Entrepreneurship industry because of Covid-19 restrictions. Some of this behavior will stay once things get back to normal. Norway Japanese 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. Norway Japanese 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.
Lowering marketing communication costs
– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Norway Japanese 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. Norway Japanese can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.
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. Norway Japanese can tie-up with other value chain partners to explore new opportunities regarding meeting customer demands and building a rewarding and engaging relationship.
Building a culture of innovation
– managers at Norway Japanese 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.
Loyalty marketing
– Norway Japanese 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.
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– Norway Japanese 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 Trolltech (Norway)--Will Cenapio Steal Christmas? - to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Norway Japanese to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
Learning at scale
– Online learning technologies has now opened space for Norway Japanese 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.
Threats Trolltech (Norway)--Will Cenapio Steal Christmas? External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Trolltech (Norway)--Will Cenapio Steal Christmas? are -
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.
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Norway Japanese 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 Trolltech (Norway)--Will Cenapio Steal Christmas? .
Consumer confidence and its impact on Norway Japanese 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.
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Norway Japanese 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.
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Norway Japanese has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Innovation & Entrepreneurship industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Norway Japanese 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
– Norway Japanese 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.
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, as highlighted in case study Trolltech (Norway)--Will Cenapio Steal Christmas?, Norway Japanese 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 .
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 Norway Japanese business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
Increasing wage structure of Norway Japanese
– 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 Norway Japanese.
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. Norway Japanese needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Innovation & Entrepreneurship industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry in the industry are lowering. It can presents Norway Japanese with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the sector.
High dependence on third party suppliers
– Norway Japanese 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.
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 Norway Japanese.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Trolltech (Norway)--Will Cenapio Steal Christmas? 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 Trolltech (Norway)--Will Cenapio Steal Christmas? 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 Trolltech (Norway)--Will Cenapio Steal Christmas? 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 Trolltech (Norway)--Will Cenapio Steal Christmas? 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 Trolltech (Norway)--Will Cenapio Steal Christmas? 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 Norway Japanese needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.