Motorola: Building and Participating in Partnership Ecosystems SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Innovation & Entrepreneurship
Strategy / MBA Resources
Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of Motorola: Building and Participating in Partnership Ecosystems
The case covers the use of partnerships by a business development group of Motorola to gain quick access to new, complementary technologies and highlights how Motorola manages collaborations with smaller, entrepreneurial firms. The case ends with questions about how Motorola will jockey for position in an ecosystem formed by its customer, BT. customer's ecosystem, which regrouped firms such as Vodafone, a mobile operator, and Ericsson and Alcatel, competitors in some of Motorola's markets.
Authors :: Hoang Ha Thi, Abigail Leland, Alan Wright
Swot Analysis of "Motorola: Building and Participating in Partnership Ecosystems" written by Hoang Ha Thi, Abigail Leland, Alan Wright includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Motorola Ecosystem facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Motorola: Building and Participating in Partnership Ecosystems case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Joint ventures and Innovation & Entrepreneurship.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Motorola: Building and Participating in Partnership Ecosystems casestudy better are - – increasing government debt because of Covid-19 spendings, there is increasing trade war between United States & China, talent flight as more people leaving formal jobs, increasing household debt because of falling income levels, increasing inequality as vast percentage of new income is going to the top 1%, increasing transportation and logistics costs, geopolitical disruptions,
competitive advantages are harder to sustain because of technology dispersion, supply chains are disrupted by pandemic , etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Motorola: Building and Participating in Partnership Ecosystems
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Motorola: Building and Participating in Partnership Ecosystems case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Motorola Ecosystem, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Motorola Ecosystem 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 Motorola: Building and Participating in Partnership Ecosystems can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Motorola: Building and Participating in Partnership Ecosystems case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Motorola Ecosystem
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 Motorola Ecosystem
Strengths Motorola: Building and Participating in Partnership Ecosystems | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Motorola Ecosystem in Motorola: Building and Participating in Partnership Ecosystems Harvard Business Review case study are -
Successful track record of launching new products
– Motorola Ecosystem has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Motorola Ecosystem 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.
Superior customer experience
– The customer experience strategy of Motorola Ecosystem in the segment is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.
Effective Research and Development (R&D)
– Motorola Ecosystem 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 Motorola: Building and Participating in Partnership Ecosystems - staying ahead in the industry in terms of – new product launches, superior customer experience, highly competitive pricing strategies, and great returns to the shareholders.
Digital Transformation in Innovation & Entrepreneurship segment
- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For Motorola Ecosystem digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Motorola Ecosystem 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.
Ability to lead change in Innovation & Entrepreneurship field
– Motorola Ecosystem 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 Motorola Ecosystem in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of Motorola Ecosystem in the sector have low bargaining power. Motorola: Building and Participating in Partnership Ecosystems has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Motorola Ecosystem to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
Cross disciplinary teams
– Horizontal connected teams at the Motorola Ecosystem 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.
Learning organization
- Motorola Ecosystem 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 Motorola Ecosystem is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders in Motorola: Building and Participating in Partnership Ecosystems Harvard Business Review case study emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
Ability to recruit top talent
– Motorola Ecosystem is one of the leading recruiters in the industry. Managers in the Motorola: Building and Participating in Partnership Ecosystems are in a position to attract the best talent available. The firm has a robust talent identification program that helps in identifying the brightest.
High brand equity
– Motorola Ecosystem has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Motorola Ecosystem to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Operational resilience
– The operational resilience strategy in the Motorola: Building and Participating in Partnership Ecosystems 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.
Diverse revenue streams
– Motorola Ecosystem is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided firm in Motorola: Building and Participating in Partnership Ecosystems 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.
Weaknesses Motorola: Building and Participating in Partnership Ecosystems | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Motorola: Building and Participating in Partnership Ecosystems are -
Workers concerns about automation
– As automation is fast increasing in the segment, Motorola Ecosystem needs to come up with a strategy to reduce the workers concern regarding automation. Without a clear strategy, it could lead to disruption and uncertainty within the organization.
Lack of clear differentiation of Motorola Ecosystem products
– To increase the profitability and margins on the products, Motorola Ecosystem needs to provide more differentiated products than what it is currently offering in the marketplace.
Increasing silos among functional specialists
– The organizational structure of Motorola Ecosystem is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Innovation & Entrepreneurship segment. Motorola Ecosystem needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Motorola Ecosystem to focus more on services rather than just following the product oriented approach.
High bargaining power of channel partners
– Because of the regulatory requirements, Hoang Ha Thi, Abigail Leland, Alan Wright suggests that, Motorola Ecosystem 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.
Need for greater diversity
– Motorola Ecosystem 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.
Capital Spending Reduction
– Even during the low interest decade, Motorola Ecosystem 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.
Low market penetration in new markets
– Outside its home market of Motorola Ecosystem, firm in the HBR case study Motorola: Building and Participating in Partnership Ecosystems needs to spend more promotional, marketing, and advertising efforts to penetrate international markets.
No frontier risks strategy
– After analyzing the HBR case study Motorola: Building and Participating in Partnership Ecosystems, 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.
Slow to strategic competitive environment developments
– As Motorola: Building and Participating in Partnership Ecosystems HBR case study mentions - Motorola Ecosystem 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 decision making process
– As mentioned earlier in the report, Motorola Ecosystem 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. Motorola Ecosystem 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 Motorola Ecosystem 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 - Motorola: Building and Participating in Partnership Ecosystems should strive to include more intangible value offerings along with its core products and services.
Opportunities Motorola: Building and Participating in Partnership Ecosystems | 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 Motorola: Building and Participating in Partnership Ecosystems are -
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. Motorola Ecosystem 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. Motorola Ecosystem 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.
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Motorola Ecosystem has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Motorola Ecosystem to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the Motorola: Building and Participating in Partnership Ecosystems case study. Motorola Ecosystem can build new products and services such as - data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
Buying journey improvements
– Motorola Ecosystem can improve the customer journey of consumers in the industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. Motorola: Building and Participating in Partnership Ecosystems 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.
Learning at scale
– Online learning technologies has now opened space for Motorola Ecosystem 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.
Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains
– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Motorola Ecosystem 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, Motorola: Building and Participating in Partnership Ecosystems, to buy more products closer to the markets, and it can leverage its size and influence to get better deal from the local markets.
Better consumer reach
– The expansion of the 5G network will help Motorola Ecosystem to increase its market reach. Motorola Ecosystem 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.
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– Motorola Ecosystem 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 Motorola: Building and Participating in Partnership Ecosystems - to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Motorola Ecosystem to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
Manufacturing automation
– Motorola Ecosystem can use the latest technology developments to improve its manufacturing and designing process in Innovation & Entrepreneurship segment. It can use CAD and 3D printing to build a quick prototype and pilot testing products. It can leverage automation using machine learning and artificial intelligence to do faster production at lowers costs, and it can leverage the growth in satellite and tracking technologies to improve inventory management, transportation, and shipping.
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 Motorola Ecosystem in the consumer business. Now Motorola Ecosystem can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.
Building a culture of innovation
– managers at Motorola Ecosystem 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.
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 Motorola Ecosystem 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 Motorola Ecosystem 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.
Low interest rates
– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Motorola Ecosystem 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.
Threats Motorola: Building and Participating in Partnership Ecosystems External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Motorola: Building and Participating in Partnership Ecosystems are -
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Motorola Ecosystem 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, Motorola Ecosystem 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 Motorola: Building and Participating in Partnership Ecosystems .
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Motorola Ecosystem can face lack of demand in the market place because of Fed actions to reduce inflation. This can lead to sluggish growth in the economy, lower demands, lower investments, higher borrowing costs, and consolidation in the field.
Technology disruption because of hacks, piracy etc
– The colonial pipeline illustrated, how vulnerable modern organization are to international hackers, miscreants, and disruptors. The cyber security interruption, data leaks, etc can seriously jeopardize the future growth of the organization.
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 Motorola Ecosystem business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
High dependence on third party suppliers
– Motorola Ecosystem 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.
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, as highlighted in case study Motorola: Building and Participating in Partnership Ecosystems, Motorola Ecosystem 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 .
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.
Environmental challenges
– Motorola Ecosystem 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. Motorola Ecosystem can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Innovation & Entrepreneurship industry.
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. Motorola Ecosystem 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.
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 Motorola Ecosystem in the Innovation & Entrepreneurship 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. Motorola Ecosystem 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 Motorola Ecosystem 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.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Motorola: Building and Participating in Partnership Ecosystems 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 Motorola: Building and Participating in Partnership Ecosystems 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 Motorola: Building and Participating in Partnership Ecosystems 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 Motorola: Building and Participating in Partnership Ecosystems 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 Motorola: Building and Participating in Partnership Ecosystems 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 Motorola Ecosystem needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.