Open-Plug (A): Surviving a Revenue Blackout in the Mobile Space SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Innovation & Entrepreneurship
Strategy / MBA Resources
Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of Open-Plug (A): Surviving a Revenue Blackout in the Mobile Space
This FocusCase is about a young French venture capital-backed technology firm, which grows from inception rapidly to more than 60 employees and has developed a "Windows light" for mass-market mobile handsets. While the whole firm is set up for strong future growth, they suddenly lose more than 80% of their revenues within a very short time, pushing the company into an unexpected crisis. The CEO and senior management team have to map out a new strategy and future for the company, while trying to retain the core knowledge of the firm.
Authors :: Julia Prats Moreno, Marc Sosna, Dave Darsch
Swot Analysis of "Open-Plug (A): Surviving a Revenue Blackout in the Mobile Space" written by Julia Prats Moreno, Marc Sosna, Dave Darsch includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Blackout Mobile facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Open-Plug (A): Surviving a Revenue Blackout in the Mobile Space case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Emerging markets, Growth strategy, Innovation and Innovation & Entrepreneurship.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Open-Plug (A): Surviving a Revenue Blackout in the Mobile Space casestudy better are - – technology disruption, increasing household debt because of falling income levels, competitive advantages are harder to sustain because of technology dispersion, increasing energy prices, central banks are concerned over increasing inflation, digital marketing is dominated by two big players Facebook and Google, increasing government debt because of Covid-19 spendings,
banking and financial system is disrupted by Bitcoin and other crypto currencies, increasing transportation and logistics costs, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Open-Plug (A): Surviving a Revenue Blackout in the Mobile Space
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Open-Plug (A): Surviving a Revenue Blackout in the Mobile Space case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Blackout Mobile, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Blackout Mobile 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 Open-Plug (A): Surviving a Revenue Blackout in the Mobile Space can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Open-Plug (A): Surviving a Revenue Blackout in the Mobile Space case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Blackout Mobile
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 Blackout Mobile
Strengths Open-Plug (A): Surviving a Revenue Blackout in the Mobile Space | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Blackout Mobile in Open-Plug (A): Surviving a Revenue Blackout in the Mobile Space Harvard Business Review case study are -
Training and development
– Blackout Mobile has one of the best training and development program in the industry. The effectiveness of the training programs can be measured in Open-Plug (A): Surviving a Revenue Blackout in the Mobile Space 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.
Ability to lead change in Innovation & Entrepreneurship field
– Blackout Mobile 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 Blackout Mobile in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.
Superior customer experience
– The customer experience strategy of Blackout Mobile 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 Blackout Mobile 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.
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Innovation & Entrepreneurship industry
– Open-Plug (A): Surviving a Revenue Blackout in the Mobile Space firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Blackout Mobile to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Innovation & Entrepreneurship industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Blackout Mobile to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Learning organization
- Blackout Mobile 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 Blackout Mobile is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders in Open-Plug (A): Surviving a Revenue Blackout in the Mobile Space Harvard Business Review case study emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
Diverse revenue streams
– Blackout Mobile is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided firm in Open-Plug (A): Surviving a Revenue Blackout in the Mobile Space 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.
Strong track record of project management
– Blackout Mobile is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.
Innovation driven organization
– Blackout Mobile is one of the most innovative firm in sector. Manager in Open-Plug (A): Surviving a Revenue Blackout in the Mobile Space Harvard Business Review case study can use Clayton Christensen Disruptive Innovation strategies to further increase the scale of innovtions in the organization.
Organizational Resilience of Blackout Mobile
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing that Blackout Mobile does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
Digital Transformation in Innovation & Entrepreneurship segment
- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For Blackout Mobile digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Blackout Mobile 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.
Operational resilience
– The operational resilience strategy in the Open-Plug (A): Surviving a Revenue Blackout in the Mobile Space Harvard Business Review case study comprises – understanding the underlying the factors in the industry, building diversified operations across different geographies so that disruption in one part of the world doesn’t impact the overall performance of the firm, and integrating the various business operations and processes through its digital transformation drive.
Weaknesses Open-Plug (A): Surviving a Revenue Blackout in the Mobile Space | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Open-Plug (A): Surviving a Revenue Blackout in the Mobile Space are -
Interest costs
– Compare to the competition, Blackout Mobile 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.
Low market penetration in new markets
– Outside its home market of Blackout Mobile, firm in the HBR case study Open-Plug (A): Surviving a Revenue Blackout in the Mobile Space needs to spend more promotional, marketing, and advertising efforts to penetrate international markets.
Lack of clear differentiation of Blackout Mobile products
– To increase the profitability and margins on the products, Blackout Mobile needs to provide more differentiated products than what it is currently offering in the marketplace.
Slow to strategic competitive environment developments
– As Open-Plug (A): Surviving a Revenue Blackout in the Mobile Space HBR case study mentions - Blackout Mobile 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.
Slow decision making process
– As mentioned earlier in the report, Blackout Mobile 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. Blackout Mobile 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.
Increasing silos among functional specialists
– The organizational structure of Blackout Mobile is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Innovation & Entrepreneurship segment. Blackout Mobile needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Blackout Mobile to focus more on services rather than just following the product oriented approach.
High dependence on existing supply chain
– The disruption in the global supply chains because of the Covid-19 pandemic and blockage of the Suez Canal illustrated the fragile nature of Blackout Mobile supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes mentioned in the HBR case study - Open-Plug (A): Surviving a Revenue Blackout in the Mobile Space, it is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left Blackout Mobile vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.
Capital Spending Reduction
– Even during the low interest decade, Blackout Mobile 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.
No frontier risks strategy
– After analyzing the HBR case study Open-Plug (A): Surviving a Revenue Blackout in the Mobile Space, it seems that company is thinking about the frontier risks that can impact Innovation & Entrepreneurship strategy. But it has very little resources allocation to manage the risks emerging from events such as natural disasters, climate change, melting of permafrost, tacking the rise of artificial intelligence, opportunities and threats emerging from commercialization of space etc.
High operating costs
– Compare to the competitors, firm in the HBR case study Open-Plug (A): Surviving a Revenue Blackout in the Mobile Space 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 Blackout Mobile 's lucrative customers.
Ability to respond to the competition
– As the decision making is very deliberative, highlighted in the case study Open-Plug (A): Surviving a Revenue Blackout in the Mobile Space, in the dynamic environment Blackout Mobile has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. Blackout Mobile has reasonably good record with similar level competitors but it has struggled with new entrants taking away niches of its business.
Opportunities Open-Plug (A): Surviving a Revenue Blackout in the Mobile Space | 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 Open-Plug (A): Surviving a Revenue Blackout in the Mobile Space are -
Redefining models of collaboration and team work
– As explained in the weaknesses section, Blackout Mobile is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. Open-Plug (A): Surviving a Revenue Blackout in the Mobile Space 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.
Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains
– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Blackout Mobile 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, Open-Plug (A): Surviving a Revenue Blackout in the Mobile Space, to buy more products closer to the markets, and it can leverage its size and influence to get better deal from the local markets.
Better consumer reach
– The expansion of the 5G network will help Blackout Mobile to increase its market reach. Blackout Mobile 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.
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– Blackout Mobile 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 Open-Plug (A): Surviving a Revenue Blackout in the Mobile Space - to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Blackout Mobile to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
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 Blackout Mobile 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.
Buying journey improvements
– Blackout Mobile can improve the customer journey of consumers in the industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. Open-Plug (A): Surviving a Revenue Blackout in the Mobile Space 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.
Increase in government spending
– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Blackout Mobile can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Blackout Mobile operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Innovation & Entrepreneurship sector.
Learning at scale
– Online learning technologies has now opened space for Blackout Mobile 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.
Developing new processes and practices
– Blackout Mobile 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, Blackout Mobile 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.
Leveraging digital technologies
– Blackout Mobile 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.
Loyalty marketing
– Blackout Mobile 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.
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Blackout Mobile has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Blackout Mobile to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the Open-Plug (A): Surviving a Revenue Blackout in the Mobile Space case study. Blackout Mobile can build new products and services such as - data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
Threats Open-Plug (A): Surviving a Revenue Blackout in the Mobile Space External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Open-Plug (A): Surviving a Revenue Blackout in the Mobile Space are -
Increasing wage structure of Blackout Mobile
– 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 Blackout Mobile.
Consumer confidence and its impact on Blackout Mobile 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.
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Blackout Mobile has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Innovation & Entrepreneurship industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Blackout Mobile 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.
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Blackout Mobile 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.
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Blackout Mobile can face lack of demand in the market place because of Fed actions to reduce inflation. This can lead to sluggish growth in the economy, lower demands, lower investments, higher borrowing costs, and consolidation in the field.
Capital market disruption
– During the Covid-19, Dow Jones has touched record high. The valuations of a number of companies are way beyond their existing business model potential. This can lead to capital market correction which can put a number of suppliers, collaborators, value chain partners in great financial difficulty. It will directly impact the business of Blackout Mobile.
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.
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, as highlighted in case study Open-Plug (A): Surviving a Revenue Blackout in the Mobile Space, Blackout Mobile 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 .
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.
Environmental challenges
– Blackout Mobile 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. Blackout Mobile can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Innovation & Entrepreneurship industry.
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry in the industry are lowering. It can presents Blackout Mobile with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the sector.
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 Blackout Mobile business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Blackout Mobile 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 Open-Plug (A): Surviving a Revenue Blackout in the Mobile Space 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 Open-Plug (A): Surviving a Revenue Blackout in the Mobile Space 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 Open-Plug (A): Surviving a Revenue Blackout in the Mobile Space 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 Open-Plug (A): Surviving a Revenue Blackout in the Mobile Space 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 Open-Plug (A): Surviving a Revenue Blackout in the Mobile Space 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 Blackout Mobile needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.