Parachute: Competition and Collaboration in the Market to Save Lives SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Innovation & Entrepreneurship
Strategy / MBA Resources
Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of Parachute: Competition and Collaboration in the Market to Save Lives
Four Canadian non-profit organizations have a mandate to prevent injuries and face similar and worsening problems. Each organization is spending an escalating amount of time fundraising to support its operations. Key stakeholders are expressing confusion because injury prevention is a crowded space and many non-profit organizations are seeking both dollars and partnerships. Most troubling, the four non-profit organizations are struggling to assess whether they are actually making a difference by preventing injuries and saving lives. The leaders of the four organizations must decide how to proceed - and whether the best solution is offered by collaborative or competitive strategies. Use role play supplements.
Swot Analysis of "Parachute: Competition and Collaboration in the Market to Save Lives" written by Pratima Bansal, Pam Laughland includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Injuries Organizations facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Parachute: Competition and Collaboration in the Market to Save Lives case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Leadership, Mergers & acquisitions, Social responsibility, Sustainability and Innovation & Entrepreneurship.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Parachute: Competition and Collaboration in the Market to Save Lives casestudy better are - – increasing transportation and logistics costs, increasing energy prices, wage bills are increasing, central banks are concerned over increasing inflation, challanges to central banks by blockchain based private currencies, technology disruption, there is backlash against globalization,
competitive advantages are harder to sustain because of technology dispersion, geopolitical disruptions, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Parachute: Competition and Collaboration in the Market to Save Lives
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Parachute: Competition and Collaboration in the Market to Save Lives case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Injuries Organizations, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Injuries Organizations 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 Parachute: Competition and Collaboration in the Market to Save Lives can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Parachute: Competition and Collaboration in the Market to Save Lives case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Injuries Organizations
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 Injuries Organizations
Strengths Parachute: Competition and Collaboration in the Market to Save Lives | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Injuries Organizations in Parachute: Competition and Collaboration in the Market to Save Lives Harvard Business Review case study are -
Strong track record of project management
– Injuries Organizations is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Innovation & Entrepreneurship industry
– Parachute: Competition and Collaboration in the Market to Save Lives firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Injuries Organizations to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Innovation & Entrepreneurship industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Injuries Organizations to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Innovation driven organization
– Injuries Organizations is one of the most innovative firm in sector. Manager in Parachute: Competition and Collaboration in the Market to Save Lives Harvard Business Review case study can use Clayton Christensen Disruptive Innovation strategies to further increase the scale of innovtions in the organization.
Superior customer experience
– The customer experience strategy of Injuries Organizations in the segment is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.
Analytics focus
– Injuries Organizations 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 Pratima Bansal, Pam Laughland 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.
Ability to recruit top talent
– Injuries Organizations is one of the leading recruiters in the industry. Managers in the Parachute: Competition and Collaboration in the Market to Save Lives are in a position to attract the best talent available. The firm has a robust talent identification program that helps in identifying the brightest.
Successful track record of launching new products
– Injuries Organizations has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Injuries Organizations 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.
Training and development
– Injuries Organizations has one of the best training and development program in the industry. The effectiveness of the training programs can be measured in Parachute: Competition and Collaboration in the Market to Save Lives 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.
Highly skilled collaborators
– Injuries Organizations 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 Parachute: Competition and Collaboration in the Market to Save Lives HBR case study have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
Organizational Resilience of Injuries Organizations
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing that Injuries Organizations does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
Cross disciplinary teams
– Horizontal connected teams at the Injuries Organizations 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.
High brand equity
– Injuries Organizations has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Injuries Organizations to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Weaknesses Parachute: Competition and Collaboration in the Market to Save Lives | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Parachute: Competition and Collaboration in the Market to Save Lives are -
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 Injuries Organizations supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes mentioned in the HBR case study - Parachute: Competition and Collaboration in the Market to Save Lives, it is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left Injuries Organizations vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.
Increasing silos among functional specialists
– The organizational structure of Injuries Organizations is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Innovation & Entrepreneurship segment. Injuries Organizations needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Injuries Organizations to focus more on services rather than just following the product oriented approach.
High operating costs
– Compare to the competitors, firm in the HBR case study Parachute: Competition and Collaboration in the Market to Save Lives 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 Injuries Organizations 's lucrative customers.
Capital Spending Reduction
– Even during the low interest decade, Injuries Organizations 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.
Compensation and incentives
– The revenue per employee as mentioned in the HBR case study Parachute: Competition and Collaboration in the Market to Save Lives, is just above the industry average. Injuries Organizations needs to redesign the compensation structure and incentives to increase the revenue per employees. Some of the steps that it can take are – hiring more specialists on project basis, etc.
Slow to strategic competitive environment developments
– As Parachute: Competition and Collaboration in the Market to Save Lives HBR case study mentions - Injuries Organizations 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 Parachute: Competition and Collaboration in the Market to Save Lives, in the dynamic environment Injuries Organizations has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. Injuries Organizations has reasonably good record with similar level competitors but it has struggled with new entrants taking away niches of its business.
Workers concerns about automation
– As automation is fast increasing in the segment, Injuries Organizations 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.
High dependence on star products
– The top 2 products and services of the firm as mentioned in the Parachute: Competition and Collaboration in the Market to Save Lives 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 Injuries Organizations has relatively successful track record of launching new products.
Skills based hiring
– The stress on hiring functional specialists at Injuries Organizations 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.
Employees’ incomplete understanding of strategy
– From the instances in the HBR case study Parachute: Competition and Collaboration in the Market to Save Lives, it seems that the employees of Injuries Organizations 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.
Opportunities Parachute: Competition and Collaboration in the Market to Save Lives | 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 Parachute: Competition and Collaboration in the Market to Save Lives are -
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. Injuries Organizations can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.
Reconfiguring business model
– The expansion of digital payment system, the bringing down of international transactions costs using Bitcoin and other blockchain based currencies, etc can help Injuries Organizations 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.
Loyalty marketing
– Injuries Organizations 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. Injuries Organizations 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, Injuries Organizations can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Injuries Organizations operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Innovation & Entrepreneurship sector.
Buying journey improvements
– Injuries Organizations can improve the customer journey of consumers in the industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. Parachute: Competition and Collaboration in the Market to Save Lives 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
– Injuries Organizations 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.
Low interest rates
– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Injuries Organizations 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.
Redefining models of collaboration and team work
– As explained in the weaknesses section, Injuries Organizations is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. Parachute: Competition and Collaboration in the Market to Save Lives case study suggests that firm can utilize new technology to build more coordinated teams and streamline operations and communications using tools such as CAD, Zoom, etc.
Reforming the budgeting process
- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects Injuries Organizations can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.
Lowering marketing communication costs
– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Injuries Organizations 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.
Leveraging digital technologies
– Injuries Organizations 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.
Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities
– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Injuries Organizations 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 Injuries Organizations to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
Threats Parachute: Competition and Collaboration in the Market to Save Lives External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Parachute: Competition and Collaboration in the Market to Save Lives are -
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 Injuries Organizations business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
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. Injuries Organizations needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Innovation & Entrepreneurship industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Injuries Organizations 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.
Increasing wage structure of Injuries Organizations
– 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 Injuries Organizations.
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 Injuries Organizations in the Innovation & Entrepreneurship sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
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. Injuries Organizations 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
– Injuries Organizations 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.
Regulatory challenges
– Injuries Organizations 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.
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Injuries Organizations 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 Parachute: Competition and Collaboration in the Market to Save Lives .
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Injuries Organizations is facing in Innovation & Entrepreneurship sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.
Environmental challenges
– Injuries Organizations 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. Injuries Organizations can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Innovation & Entrepreneurship industry.
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.
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, as highlighted in case study Parachute: Competition and Collaboration in the Market to Save Lives, Injuries Organizations 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 .
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Parachute: Competition and Collaboration in the Market to Save Lives 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 Parachute: Competition and Collaboration in the Market to Save Lives 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 Parachute: Competition and Collaboration in the Market to Save Lives 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 Parachute: Competition and Collaboration in the Market to Save Lives 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 Parachute: Competition and Collaboration in the Market to Save Lives 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 Injuries Organizations needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.