Case Study Description of Clocky: The Runaway Alarm Clock
Gauri Nanda is the creator of an innovative new product: an alarm clock named Clocky that, in addition to ringing, rolls around the room in order to force its owner to get out of bed. Beset by media attention and consumer interest but still at least a year away from the ability to debut Clocky, Nanda must navigate a series of challenges and difficult decisions in order to effectively bring her product to market. These include positioning strategies, choosing the proper channel, potential partnerships, manufacturing issues, market analysis, and PR management.
Swot Analysis of "Clocky: The Runaway Alarm Clock" written by Elie Ofek, Eliot Sherman includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Clocky Nanda facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Clocky: The Runaway Alarm Clock case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Product development, Public relations and Innovation & Entrepreneurship.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Clocky: The Runaway Alarm Clock casestudy better are - – digital marketing is dominated by two big players Facebook and Google, there is backlash against globalization, geopolitical disruptions, banking and financial system is disrupted by Bitcoin and other crypto currencies, cloud computing is disrupting traditional business models, increasing household debt because of falling income levels, increasing energy prices,
customer relationship management is fast transforming because of increasing concerns over data privacy, increasing commodity prices, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Clocky: The Runaway Alarm Clock
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Clocky: The Runaway Alarm Clock case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Clocky Nanda, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Clocky Nanda 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 Clocky: The Runaway Alarm Clock can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Clocky: The Runaway Alarm Clock case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Clocky Nanda
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 Clocky Nanda
Strengths Clocky: The Runaway Alarm Clock | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Clocky Nanda in Clocky: The Runaway Alarm Clock Harvard Business Review case study are -
Digital Transformation in Innovation & Entrepreneurship segment
- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For Clocky Nanda digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Clocky Nanda 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.
Organizational Resilience of Clocky Nanda
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing that Clocky Nanda does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
Successful track record of launching new products
– Clocky Nanda has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Clocky Nanda 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.
Diverse revenue streams
– Clocky Nanda is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided firm in Clocky: The Runaway Alarm Clock 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.
Highly skilled collaborators
– Clocky Nanda 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 Clocky: The Runaway Alarm Clock HBR case study have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
Innovation driven organization
– Clocky Nanda is one of the most innovative firm in sector. Manager in Clocky: The Runaway Alarm Clock Harvard Business Review case study can use Clayton Christensen Disruptive Innovation strategies to further increase the scale of innovtions in the organization.
Training and development
– Clocky Nanda has one of the best training and development program in the industry. The effectiveness of the training programs can be measured in Clocky: The Runaway Alarm Clock 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)
– Clocky Nanda 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 Clocky: The Runaway Alarm Clock - staying ahead in the industry in terms of – new product launches, superior customer experience, highly competitive pricing strategies, and great returns to the shareholders.
High switching costs
– The high switching costs that Clocky Nanda 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.
Strong track record of project management
– Clocky Nanda 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
– Clocky: The Runaway Alarm Clock firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Clocky Nanda to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Innovation & Entrepreneurship industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Clocky Nanda to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Analytics focus
– Clocky Nanda 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 Elie Ofek, Eliot Sherman 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.
Weaknesses Clocky: The Runaway Alarm Clock | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Clocky: The Runaway Alarm Clock are -
High dependence on star products
– The top 2 products and services of the firm as mentioned in the Clocky: The Runaway Alarm Clock 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 Clocky Nanda has relatively successful track record of launching new products.
High bargaining power of channel partners
– Because of the regulatory requirements, Elie Ofek, Eliot Sherman suggests that, Clocky Nanda 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.
No frontier risks strategy
– After analyzing the HBR case study Clocky: The Runaway Alarm Clock, 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.
Compensation and incentives
– The revenue per employee as mentioned in the HBR case study Clocky: The Runaway Alarm Clock, is just above the industry average. Clocky Nanda 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.
Low market penetration in new markets
– Outside its home market of Clocky Nanda, firm in the HBR case study Clocky: The Runaway Alarm Clock needs to spend more promotional, marketing, and advertising efforts to penetrate international markets.
Workers concerns about automation
– As automation is fast increasing in the segment, Clocky Nanda 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.
Aligning sales with marketing
– It come across in the case study Clocky: The Runaway Alarm Clock 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 Clocky: The Runaway Alarm Clock can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Clocky Nanda is planning to shift buying processes online.
Products dominated business model
– Even though Clocky Nanda 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 - Clocky: The Runaway Alarm Clock should strive to include more intangible value offerings along with its core products and services.
Skills based hiring
– The stress on hiring functional specialists at Clocky Nanda 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.
Lack of clear differentiation of Clocky Nanda products
– To increase the profitability and margins on the products, Clocky Nanda needs to provide more differentiated products than what it is currently offering in the marketplace.
Ability to respond to the competition
– As the decision making is very deliberative, highlighted in the case study Clocky: The Runaway Alarm Clock, in the dynamic environment Clocky Nanda has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. Clocky Nanda has reasonably good record with similar level competitors but it has struggled with new entrants taking away niches of its business.
Opportunities Clocky: The Runaway Alarm Clock | 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 Clocky: The Runaway Alarm Clock are -
Redefining models of collaboration and team work
– As explained in the weaknesses section, Clocky Nanda is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. Clocky: The Runaway Alarm Clock 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.
Low interest rates
– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Clocky Nanda 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.
Loyalty marketing
– Clocky Nanda 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.
Lowering marketing communication costs
– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Clocky Nanda 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.
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. Clocky Nanda can tie-up with other value chain partners to explore new opportunities regarding meeting customer demands and building a rewarding and engaging relationship.
Buying journey improvements
– Clocky Nanda can improve the customer journey of consumers in the industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. Clocky: The Runaway Alarm Clock 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.
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Clocky Nanda has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Clocky Nanda to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the Clocky: The Runaway Alarm Clock case study. Clocky Nanda can build new products and services such as - data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
Leveraging digital technologies
– Clocky Nanda 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.
Developing new processes and practices
– Clocky Nanda 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.
Increase in government spending
– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Clocky Nanda can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Clocky Nanda operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Innovation & Entrepreneurship sector.
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 Clocky Nanda in the consumer business. Now Clocky Nanda can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.
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 Clocky Nanda 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.
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– Clocky Nanda 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 Clocky: The Runaway Alarm Clock - to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Clocky Nanda to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
Threats Clocky: The Runaway Alarm Clock External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Clocky: The Runaway Alarm Clock are -
Consumer confidence and its impact on Clocky Nanda 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.
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. Clocky Nanda 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.
High dependence on third party suppliers
– Clocky Nanda 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.
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Clocky Nanda is facing in Innovation & Entrepreneurship sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, 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. Clocky Nanda can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
Regulatory challenges
– Clocky Nanda 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.
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry in the industry are lowering. It can presents Clocky Nanda with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the sector.
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. Clocky Nanda needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Innovation & Entrepreneurship industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
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 Clocky Nanda.
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.
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 Clocky Nanda in the Innovation & Entrepreneurship sector and impact the bottomline 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.
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Clocky Nanda 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 Clocky: The Runaway Alarm Clock .
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Clocky: The Runaway Alarm Clock 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 Clocky: The Runaway Alarm Clock 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 Clocky: The Runaway Alarm Clock 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 Clocky: The Runaway Alarm Clock 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 Clocky: The Runaway Alarm Clock 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 Clocky Nanda needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.