Case Study Description of MBA Entrepreneurs: Crowdfunding Wipebook (C) Epilogue
Supplement to case HEC143. The Wipebook case follows a start-up company over a two-year period. The company originated from a product idea proposed by a student as part of an MBA entrepreneurship course: an erasable, reusable notebook. Two other students joined him in what was to become the "Wipebook" project. Twelve months into the project, the team had realized one of the most successful crowd-funding campaigns in Canadian history: $424,314 for over 10,000 pre-orders. The partners then went on to appear on a television show, Dragons' Den, where they accepted an offer of $300,000 for a 25% stake in the company. As the reality of the entrepreneurial process set in, following the initial euphoria, a number of challenges arose.
Swot Analysis of "MBA Entrepreneurs: Crowdfunding Wipebook (C) Epilogue" written by Brian King, Franck Bares includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Wipebook Hec143 facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in MBA Entrepreneurs: Crowdfunding Wipebook (C) Epilogue case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Entrepreneurial management, Leading teams, Venture capital and Innovation & Entrepreneurship.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the MBA Entrepreneurs: Crowdfunding Wipebook (C) Epilogue casestudy better are - – cloud computing is disrupting traditional business models, supply chains are disrupted by pandemic , increasing transportation and logistics costs, competitive advantages are harder to sustain because of technology dispersion, talent flight as more people leaving formal jobs, central banks are concerned over increasing inflation, increasing household debt because of falling income levels,
increasing energy prices, geopolitical disruptions, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of MBA Entrepreneurs: Crowdfunding Wipebook (C) Epilogue
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in MBA Entrepreneurs: Crowdfunding Wipebook (C) Epilogue case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Wipebook Hec143, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Wipebook Hec143 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 MBA Entrepreneurs: Crowdfunding Wipebook (C) Epilogue can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in MBA Entrepreneurs: Crowdfunding Wipebook (C) Epilogue case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Wipebook Hec143
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 Wipebook Hec143
Strengths MBA Entrepreneurs: Crowdfunding Wipebook (C) Epilogue | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Wipebook Hec143 in MBA Entrepreneurs: Crowdfunding Wipebook (C) Epilogue Harvard Business Review case study are -
Ability to lead change in Innovation & Entrepreneurship field
– Wipebook Hec143 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 Wipebook Hec143 in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.
Training and development
– Wipebook Hec143 has one of the best training and development program in the industry. The effectiveness of the training programs can be measured in MBA Entrepreneurs: Crowdfunding Wipebook (C) Epilogue 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.
Effective Research and Development (R&D)
– Wipebook Hec143 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 MBA Entrepreneurs: Crowdfunding Wipebook (C) Epilogue - staying ahead in the industry in terms of – new product launches, superior customer experience, highly competitive pricing strategies, and great returns to the shareholders.
Highly skilled collaborators
– Wipebook Hec143 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 MBA Entrepreneurs: Crowdfunding Wipebook (C) Epilogue HBR case study have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
Organizational Resilience of Wipebook Hec143
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing that Wipebook Hec143 does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
Innovation driven organization
– Wipebook Hec143 is one of the most innovative firm in sector. Manager in MBA Entrepreneurs: Crowdfunding Wipebook (C) Epilogue 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 Wipebook Hec143 in the segment is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.
Ability to recruit top talent
– Wipebook Hec143 is one of the leading recruiters in the industry. Managers in the MBA Entrepreneurs: Crowdfunding Wipebook (C) Epilogue 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
– Wipebook Hec143 has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Wipebook Hec143 to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Learning organization
- Wipebook Hec143 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 Wipebook Hec143 is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders in MBA Entrepreneurs: Crowdfunding Wipebook (C) Epilogue Harvard Business Review case study emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
Successful track record of launching new products
– Wipebook Hec143 has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Wipebook Hec143 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.
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Innovation & Entrepreneurship industry
– MBA Entrepreneurs: Crowdfunding Wipebook (C) Epilogue firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Wipebook Hec143 to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Innovation & Entrepreneurship industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Wipebook Hec143 to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Weaknesses MBA Entrepreneurs: Crowdfunding Wipebook (C) Epilogue | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of MBA Entrepreneurs: Crowdfunding Wipebook (C) Epilogue are -
Ability to respond to the competition
– As the decision making is very deliberative, highlighted in the case study MBA Entrepreneurs: Crowdfunding Wipebook (C) Epilogue, in the dynamic environment Wipebook Hec143 has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. Wipebook Hec143 has reasonably good record with similar level competitors but it has struggled with new entrants taking away niches of its business.
Slow decision making process
– As mentioned earlier in the report, Wipebook Hec143 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. Wipebook Hec143 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.
No frontier risks strategy
– After analyzing the HBR case study MBA Entrepreneurs: Crowdfunding Wipebook (C) Epilogue, 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.
Skills based hiring
– The stress on hiring functional specialists at Wipebook Hec143 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.
Aligning sales with marketing
– It come across in the case study MBA Entrepreneurs: Crowdfunding Wipebook (C) Epilogue that the firm needs to have more collaboration between its sales team and marketing team. Sales professionals in the industry have deep experience in developing customer relationships. Marketing department in the case MBA Entrepreneurs: Crowdfunding Wipebook (C) Epilogue can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Wipebook Hec143 is planning to shift buying processes online.
Workers concerns about automation
– As automation is fast increasing in the segment, Wipebook Hec143 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 MBA Entrepreneurs: Crowdfunding Wipebook (C) Epilogue 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 Wipebook Hec143 has relatively successful track record of launching new products.
Slow to strategic competitive environment developments
– As MBA Entrepreneurs: Crowdfunding Wipebook (C) Epilogue HBR case study mentions - Wipebook Hec143 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.
Increasing silos among functional specialists
– The organizational structure of Wipebook Hec143 is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Innovation & Entrepreneurship segment. Wipebook Hec143 needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Wipebook Hec143 to focus more on services rather than just following the product oriented approach.
Capital Spending Reduction
– Even during the low interest decade, Wipebook Hec143 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.
Need for greater diversity
– Wipebook Hec143 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.
Opportunities MBA Entrepreneurs: Crowdfunding Wipebook (C) Epilogue | 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 MBA Entrepreneurs: Crowdfunding Wipebook (C) Epilogue are -
Developing new processes and practices
– Wipebook Hec143 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.
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. Wipebook Hec143 can tie-up with other value chain partners to explore new opportunities regarding meeting customer demands and building a rewarding and engaging relationship.
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 Wipebook Hec143 in the consumer business. Now Wipebook Hec143 can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.
Building a culture of innovation
– managers at Wipebook Hec143 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.
Lowering marketing communication costs
– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Wipebook Hec143 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.
Better consumer reach
– The expansion of the 5G network will help Wipebook Hec143 to increase its market reach. Wipebook Hec143 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.
Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities
– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Wipebook Hec143 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 Wipebook Hec143 to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
Increase in government spending
– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Wipebook Hec143 can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Wipebook Hec143 operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Innovation & Entrepreneurship sector.
Reforming the budgeting process
- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects Wipebook Hec143 can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.
Manufacturing automation
– Wipebook Hec143 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.
Learning at scale
– Online learning technologies has now opened space for Wipebook Hec143 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.
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Wipebook Hec143 has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Wipebook Hec143 to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the MBA Entrepreneurs: Crowdfunding Wipebook (C) Epilogue case study. Wipebook Hec143 can build new products and services such as - data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, 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. Wipebook Hec143 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. Wipebook Hec143 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.
Threats MBA Entrepreneurs: Crowdfunding Wipebook (C) Epilogue External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study MBA Entrepreneurs: Crowdfunding Wipebook (C) Epilogue are -
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.
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.
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Wipebook Hec143 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.
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Wipebook Hec143 is facing in Innovation & Entrepreneurship sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Wipebook Hec143 has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Innovation & Entrepreneurship industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Wipebook Hec143 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.
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry in the industry are lowering. It can presents Wipebook Hec143 with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the sector.
Consumer confidence and its impact on Wipebook Hec143 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.
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, as highlighted in case study MBA Entrepreneurs: Crowdfunding Wipebook (C) Epilogue, Wipebook Hec143 may face longer learning curve for training and development of existing employees. This can open space for more nimble competitors in the field of Innovation & Entrepreneurship .
Backlash against dominant players
– US Congress and other legislative arms of the government are getting tough on big business especially technology companies. The digital arm of Wipebook Hec143 business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
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. Wipebook Hec143 can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
Environmental challenges
– Wipebook Hec143 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. Wipebook Hec143 can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Innovation & Entrepreneurship industry.
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 Wipebook Hec143 in the Innovation & Entrepreneurship sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
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. Wipebook Hec143 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.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of MBA Entrepreneurs: Crowdfunding Wipebook (C) Epilogue 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 MBA Entrepreneurs: Crowdfunding Wipebook (C) Epilogue 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 MBA Entrepreneurs: Crowdfunding Wipebook (C) Epilogue 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 MBA Entrepreneurs: Crowdfunding Wipebook (C) Epilogue 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 MBA Entrepreneurs: Crowdfunding Wipebook (C) Epilogue 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 Wipebook Hec143 needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.
