Swot Analysis of "Night-Lights and Nearsightedness (B)" written by Phillip E. Pfeifer, Karla Zadnik includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Nearsightedness Lights facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Night-Lights and Nearsightedness (B) case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, and Innovation & Entrepreneurship.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Night-Lights and Nearsightedness (B) casestudy better are - – central banks are concerned over increasing inflation, there is backlash against globalization, increasing energy prices, increasing government debt because of Covid-19 spendings, supply chains are disrupted by pandemic , banking and financial system is disrupted by Bitcoin and other crypto currencies, there is increasing trade war between United States & China,
digital marketing is dominated by two big players Facebook and Google, increasing household debt because of falling income levels, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Night-Lights and Nearsightedness (B)
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Night-Lights and Nearsightedness (B) case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Nearsightedness Lights, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Nearsightedness Lights 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 Night-Lights and Nearsightedness (B) can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Night-Lights and Nearsightedness (B) case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Nearsightedness Lights
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 Nearsightedness Lights
Strengths Night-Lights and Nearsightedness (B) | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Nearsightedness Lights in Night-Lights and Nearsightedness (B) Harvard Business Review case study are -
Digital Transformation in Innovation & Entrepreneurship segment
- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For Nearsightedness Lights digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Nearsightedness Lights 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.
Successful track record of launching new products
– Nearsightedness Lights has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Nearsightedness Lights 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.
Learning organization
- Nearsightedness Lights 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 Nearsightedness Lights is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders in Night-Lights and Nearsightedness (B) Harvard Business Review case study emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
Organizational Resilience of Nearsightedness Lights
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing that Nearsightedness Lights does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
Training and development
– Nearsightedness Lights has one of the best training and development program in the industry. The effectiveness of the training programs can be measured in Night-Lights and Nearsightedness (B) 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
– Nearsightedness Lights 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 Night-Lights and Nearsightedness (B) 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 Nearsightedness Lights 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.
Ability to lead change in Innovation & Entrepreneurship field
– Nearsightedness Lights 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 Nearsightedness Lights 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 Nearsightedness Lights in the sector have low bargaining power. Night-Lights and Nearsightedness (B) has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Nearsightedness Lights to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
Superior customer experience
– The customer experience strategy of Nearsightedness Lights in the segment is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.
High switching costs
– The high switching costs that Nearsightedness Lights has built up over years in its products and services combo offer has resulted in high retention of customers, lower marketing costs, and greater ability of the firm to focus on its customers.
Ability to recruit top talent
– Nearsightedness Lights is one of the leading recruiters in the industry. Managers in the Night-Lights and Nearsightedness (B) are in a position to attract the best talent available. The firm has a robust talent identification program that helps in identifying the brightest.
Weaknesses Night-Lights and Nearsightedness (B) | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Night-Lights and Nearsightedness (B) are -
Slow decision making process
– As mentioned earlier in the report, Nearsightedness Lights 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. Nearsightedness Lights 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.
Slow to harness new channels of communication
– Even though competitors are using new communication channels such as Instagram, Tiktok, and Snap, Nearsightedness Lights is slow explore the new channels of communication. These new channels of communication mentioned in marketing section of case study Night-Lights and Nearsightedness (B) can help to provide better information regarding products and services. It can also build an online community to further reach out to potential customers.
Compensation and incentives
– The revenue per employee as mentioned in the HBR case study Night-Lights and Nearsightedness (B), is just above the industry average. Nearsightedness Lights 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.
Ability to respond to the competition
– As the decision making is very deliberative, highlighted in the case study Night-Lights and Nearsightedness (B), in the dynamic environment Nearsightedness Lights has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. Nearsightedness Lights has reasonably good record with similar level competitors but it has struggled with new entrants taking away niches of its business.
Slow to strategic competitive environment developments
– As Night-Lights and Nearsightedness (B) HBR case study mentions - Nearsightedness Lights 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.
Need for greater diversity
– Nearsightedness Lights 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.
Lack of clear differentiation of Nearsightedness Lights products
– To increase the profitability and margins on the products, Nearsightedness Lights needs to provide more differentiated products than what it is currently offering in the marketplace.
Skills based hiring
– The stress on hiring functional specialists at Nearsightedness Lights 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.
Increasing silos among functional specialists
– The organizational structure of Nearsightedness Lights is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Innovation & Entrepreneurship segment. Nearsightedness Lights needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Nearsightedness Lights to focus more on services rather than just following the product oriented approach.
Interest costs
– Compare to the competition, Nearsightedness Lights 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, Phillip E. Pfeifer, Karla Zadnik suggests that, Nearsightedness Lights 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.
Opportunities Night-Lights and Nearsightedness (B) | 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 Night-Lights and Nearsightedness (B) are -
Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities
– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Nearsightedness Lights 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 Nearsightedness Lights to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– Nearsightedness Lights 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 Night-Lights and Nearsightedness (B) - to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Nearsightedness Lights 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, Nearsightedness Lights 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, Night-Lights and Nearsightedness (B), to buy more products closer to the markets, and it can leverage its size and influence to get better deal from the local markets.
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Nearsightedness Lights has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Nearsightedness Lights to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the Night-Lights and Nearsightedness (B) case study. Nearsightedness Lights can build new products and services such as - data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
Manufacturing automation
– Nearsightedness Lights 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.
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. Nearsightedness Lights 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 Nearsightedness Lights 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.
Learning at scale
– Online learning technologies has now opened space for Nearsightedness Lights 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.
Low interest rates
– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Nearsightedness Lights 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.
Lowering marketing communication costs
– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Nearsightedness Lights 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.
Developing new processes and practices
– Nearsightedness Lights 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.
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 Nearsightedness Lights in the consumer business. Now Nearsightedness Lights can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.
Buying journey improvements
– Nearsightedness Lights can improve the customer journey of consumers in the industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. Night-Lights and Nearsightedness (B) 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.
Threats Night-Lights and Nearsightedness (B) External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Night-Lights and Nearsightedness (B) are -
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 Nearsightedness Lights.
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 Nearsightedness Lights 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. Nearsightedness Lights can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
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 Nearsightedness Lights business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
High dependence on third party suppliers
– Nearsightedness Lights 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.
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Nearsightedness Lights has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Innovation & Entrepreneurship industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Nearsightedness Lights 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.
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Nearsightedness Lights 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 Night-Lights and Nearsightedness (B) .
Consumer confidence and its impact on Nearsightedness Lights 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.
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry in the industry are lowering. It can presents Nearsightedness Lights with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the sector.
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, as highlighted in case study Night-Lights and Nearsightedness (B), Nearsightedness Lights 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 .
Increasing wage structure of Nearsightedness Lights
– 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 Nearsightedness Lights.
Environmental challenges
– Nearsightedness Lights 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. Nearsightedness Lights can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Innovation & Entrepreneurship industry.
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Nearsightedness Lights is facing in Innovation & Entrepreneurship sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Night-Lights and Nearsightedness (B) 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 Night-Lights and Nearsightedness (B) 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 Night-Lights and Nearsightedness (B) 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 Night-Lights and Nearsightedness (B) 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 Night-Lights and Nearsightedness (B) 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 Nearsightedness Lights needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.