Montague Corporation: Unfolding the Future in Cycling SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Innovation & Entrepreneurship
Strategy / MBA Resources
Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of Montague Corporation: Unfolding the Future in Cycling
Montague has developed a major innovation that creates a new sub-category in the bicycle industry: a full-sized, high-quality bicycle that folds. In contrast to existing small-wheeled folding bicycles that are portable, but with inferior performance characteristics, the Montague folding bicycle has the look, feel, and performance of a standard bicycle. However, while the firm has experienced notable success since its founding, it has yet to achieve widespread adoption of its innovation. What should the firm do to increase penetration? How can Montague overcome the reputation of folding bicycles as inferior performers and convince consumers, dealers, and others of its bicycle's quality? How can the firm get consumers to even notice the innovation when the bicycle looks just like a regular bicycle? In other words, how can Montague balance the need to look like a regular bicycle in order to achieve legitimacy with the need to signal value by looking different? What market segment should Montague be targeting - customers looking specifically for a folding bicycle, or consumers interested in a full-sized bicycle but for whom the folding feature might add value? Finally, should Montague license its technology to one of the leading mainstream bicycle manufacturers in order to increase adoption, vs. continuing to go it alone in the product market?
Swot Analysis of "Montague Corporation: Unfolding the Future in Cycling" written by Mary Tripsas includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Bicycle Montague facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Montague Corporation: Unfolding the Future in Cycling case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Innovation, Market research, Sales, Strategy and Innovation & Entrepreneurship.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Montague Corporation: Unfolding the Future in Cycling casestudy better are - – talent flight as more people leaving formal jobs, increasing transportation and logistics costs, challanges to central banks by blockchain based private currencies, there is backlash against globalization, increasing government debt because of Covid-19 spendings, wage bills are increasing, increasing commodity prices,
increasing energy prices, increasing inequality as vast percentage of new income is going to the top 1%, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Montague Corporation: Unfolding the Future in Cycling
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Montague Corporation: Unfolding the Future in Cycling case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Bicycle Montague, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Bicycle Montague 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 Montague Corporation: Unfolding the Future in Cycling can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Montague Corporation: Unfolding the Future in Cycling case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Bicycle Montague
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 Bicycle Montague
Strengths Montague Corporation: Unfolding the Future in Cycling | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Bicycle Montague in Montague Corporation: Unfolding the Future in Cycling Harvard Business Review case study are -
Successful track record of launching new products
– Bicycle Montague has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Bicycle Montague 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.
Digital Transformation in Innovation & Entrepreneurship segment
- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For Bicycle Montague digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Bicycle Montague 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.
Strong track record of project management
– Bicycle Montague is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.
Ability to recruit top talent
– Bicycle Montague is one of the leading recruiters in the industry. Managers in the Montague Corporation: Unfolding the Future in Cycling are in a position to attract the best talent available. The firm has a robust talent identification program that helps in identifying the brightest.
Organizational Resilience of Bicycle Montague
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing that Bicycle Montague does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
Superior customer experience
– The customer experience strategy of Bicycle Montague in the segment is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.
Highly skilled collaborators
– Bicycle Montague 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 Montague Corporation: Unfolding the Future in Cycling 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 Montague Corporation: Unfolding the Future in Cycling 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.
Cross disciplinary teams
– Horizontal connected teams at the Bicycle Montague 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.
Diverse revenue streams
– Bicycle Montague is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided firm in Montague Corporation: Unfolding the Future in Cycling 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.
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of Bicycle Montague in the sector have low bargaining power. Montague Corporation: Unfolding the Future in Cycling has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Bicycle Montague to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
Innovation driven organization
– Bicycle Montague is one of the most innovative firm in sector. Manager in Montague Corporation: Unfolding the Future in Cycling Harvard Business Review case study can use Clayton Christensen Disruptive Innovation strategies to further increase the scale of innovtions in the organization.
Weaknesses Montague Corporation: Unfolding the Future in Cycling | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Montague Corporation: Unfolding the Future in Cycling are -
Slow to harness new channels of communication
– Even though competitors are using new communication channels such as Instagram, Tiktok, and Snap, Bicycle Montague is slow explore the new channels of communication. These new channels of communication mentioned in marketing section of case study Montague Corporation: Unfolding the Future in Cycling can help to provide better information regarding products and services. It can also build an online community to further reach out to potential customers.
Slow to strategic competitive environment developments
– As Montague Corporation: Unfolding the Future in Cycling HBR case study mentions - Bicycle Montague 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.
Employees’ incomplete understanding of strategy
– From the instances in the HBR case study Montague Corporation: Unfolding the Future in Cycling, it seems that the employees of Bicycle Montague 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.
No frontier risks strategy
– After analyzing the HBR case study Montague Corporation: Unfolding the Future in Cycling, 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 cash cycle compare to competitors
Bicycle Montague 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.
Low market penetration in new markets
– Outside its home market of Bicycle Montague, firm in the HBR case study Montague Corporation: Unfolding the Future in Cycling needs to spend more promotional, marketing, and advertising efforts to penetrate international markets.
Products dominated business model
– Even though Bicycle Montague 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 - Montague Corporation: Unfolding the Future in Cycling should strive to include more intangible value offerings along with its core products and services.
Ability to respond to the competition
– As the decision making is very deliberative, highlighted in the case study Montague Corporation: Unfolding the Future in Cycling, in the dynamic environment Bicycle Montague has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. Bicycle Montague has reasonably good record with similar level competitors but it has struggled with new entrants taking away niches of its business.
High operating costs
– Compare to the competitors, firm in the HBR case study Montague Corporation: Unfolding the Future in Cycling 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 Bicycle Montague 's lucrative customers.
Skills based hiring
– The stress on hiring functional specialists at Bicycle Montague has created an environment where the organization is dominated by functional specialists rather than management generalist. This has resulted into product oriented approach rather than marketing oriented approach or consumers oriented approach.
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 Bicycle Montague supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes mentioned in the HBR case study - Montague Corporation: Unfolding the Future in Cycling, it is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left Bicycle Montague vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.
Opportunities Montague Corporation: Unfolding the Future in Cycling | 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 Montague Corporation: Unfolding the Future in Cycling are -
Lowering marketing communication costs
– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Bicycle Montague 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.
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 Bicycle Montague 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.
Reforming the budgeting process
- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects Bicycle Montague can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.
Developing new processes and practices
– Bicycle Montague 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.
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– Bicycle Montague 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 Montague Corporation: Unfolding the Future in Cycling - to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Bicycle Montague to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains
– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Bicycle Montague 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, Montague Corporation: Unfolding the Future in Cycling, 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 Bicycle Montague to increase its market reach. Bicycle Montague 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.
Loyalty marketing
– Bicycle Montague 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.
Leveraging digital technologies
– Bicycle Montague 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.
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. Bicycle Montague 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. Bicycle Montague 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.
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. Bicycle Montague can tie-up with other value chain partners to explore new opportunities regarding meeting customer demands and building a rewarding and engaging relationship.
Low interest rates
– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Bicycle Montague 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 Bicycle Montague 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 Montague Corporation: Unfolding the Future in Cycling External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Montague Corporation: Unfolding the Future in Cycling are -
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Bicycle Montague 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 Montague Corporation: Unfolding the Future in Cycling .
Environmental challenges
– Bicycle Montague 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. Bicycle Montague 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. Bicycle Montague 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.
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. Bicycle Montague can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Bicycle Montague 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.
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 Bicycle Montague.
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Bicycle Montague is facing in Innovation & Entrepreneurship sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.
Regulatory challenges
– Bicycle Montague 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.
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Bicycle Montague has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Innovation & Entrepreneurship industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Bicycle Montague 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.
High dependence on third party suppliers
– Bicycle Montague high dependence on third party suppliers can disrupt its processes and delivery mechanism. For example -the current troubles of car makers because of chip shortage is because the chip companies started producing chips for electronic companies rather than car manufacturers.
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry in the industry are lowering. It can presents Bicycle Montague with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the sector.
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Bicycle Montague 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.
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 Bicycle Montague in the Innovation & Entrepreneurship sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Montague Corporation: Unfolding the Future in Cycling 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 Montague Corporation: Unfolding the Future in Cycling 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 Montague Corporation: Unfolding the Future in Cycling 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 Montague Corporation: Unfolding the Future in Cycling 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 Montague Corporation: Unfolding the Future in Cycling 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 Bicycle Montague needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.
