Investic: Reflections of an Entrepreneur SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Innovation & Entrepreneurship
Strategy / MBA Resources
Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of Investic: Reflections of an Entrepreneur
This case series of a failed startup in the financial services market illustrates three of the key issues in launching a new business - the role of a strong and cohesive founding team, the problem of lack of credibility faced by new ventures, and the importance of developing elements of novelty or innovation in the proposed business model.
Swot Analysis of "Investic: Reflections of an Entrepreneur" written by Filipe Santos, Nicholas Latham includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Investic Novelty facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Investic: Reflections of an Entrepreneur case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, and Innovation & Entrepreneurship.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Investic: Reflections of an Entrepreneur casestudy better are - – talent flight as more people leaving formal jobs, increasing energy prices, there is increasing trade war between United States & China, customer relationship management is fast transforming because of increasing concerns over data privacy, digital marketing is dominated by two big players Facebook and Google, cloud computing is disrupting traditional business models, wage bills are increasing,
increasing transportation and logistics costs, competitive advantages are harder to sustain because of technology dispersion, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Investic: Reflections of an Entrepreneur
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Investic: Reflections of an Entrepreneur case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Investic Novelty, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Investic Novelty 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 Investic: Reflections of an Entrepreneur can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Investic: Reflections of an Entrepreneur case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Investic Novelty
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 Investic Novelty
Strengths Investic: Reflections of an Entrepreneur | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Investic Novelty in Investic: Reflections of an Entrepreneur Harvard Business Review case study are -
High brand equity
– Investic Novelty has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Investic Novelty to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Successful track record of launching new products
– Investic Novelty has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Investic Novelty has effective processes in place that helps in exploring new product needs, doing quick pilot testing, and then launching the products quickly using its extensive distribution network.
Training and development
– Investic Novelty has one of the best training and development program in the industry. The effectiveness of the training programs can be measured in Investic: Reflections of an Entrepreneur 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.
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Innovation & Entrepreneurship industry
– Investic: Reflections of an Entrepreneur firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Investic Novelty to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Innovation & Entrepreneurship industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Investic Novelty to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Organizational Resilience of Investic Novelty
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing that Investic Novelty does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
Superior customer experience
– The customer experience strategy of Investic Novelty in the segment is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.
Highly skilled collaborators
– Investic Novelty 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 Investic: Reflections of an Entrepreneur HBR case study have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
Innovation driven organization
– Investic Novelty is one of the most innovative firm in sector. Manager in Investic: Reflections of an Entrepreneur Harvard Business Review case study can use Clayton Christensen Disruptive Innovation strategies to further increase the scale of innovtions in the organization.
Diverse revenue streams
– Investic Novelty is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided firm in Investic: Reflections of an Entrepreneur 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.
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of Investic Novelty in the sector have low bargaining power. Investic: Reflections of an Entrepreneur has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Investic Novelty to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
High switching costs
– The high switching costs that Investic Novelty 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
– Investic Novelty is one of the leading recruiters in the industry. Managers in the Investic: Reflections of an Entrepreneur 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 Investic: Reflections of an Entrepreneur | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Investic: Reflections of an Entrepreneur are -
Ability to respond to the competition
– As the decision making is very deliberative, highlighted in the case study Investic: Reflections of an Entrepreneur, in the dynamic environment Investic Novelty has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. Investic Novelty has reasonably good record with similar level competitors but it has struggled with new entrants taking away niches of its business.
High cash cycle compare to competitors
Investic Novelty has a high cash cycle compare to other players in the industry. It needs to shorten the cash cycle by 12% to be more competitive in the marketplace, reduce inventory costs, and be more profitable.
Slow to strategic competitive environment developments
– As Investic: Reflections of an Entrepreneur HBR case study mentions - Investic Novelty 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.
Skills based hiring
– The stress on hiring functional specialists at Investic Novelty 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.
Interest costs
– Compare to the competition, Investic Novelty 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 dependence on star products
– The top 2 products and services of the firm as mentioned in the Investic: Reflections of an Entrepreneur 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 Investic Novelty has relatively successful track record of launching new products.
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 Investic Novelty supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes mentioned in the HBR case study - Investic: Reflections of an Entrepreneur, it is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left Investic Novelty vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.
Products dominated business model
– Even though Investic Novelty 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 - Investic: Reflections of an Entrepreneur should strive to include more intangible value offerings along with its core products and services.
Compensation and incentives
– The revenue per employee as mentioned in the HBR case study Investic: Reflections of an Entrepreneur, is just above the industry average. Investic Novelty 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 Investic Novelty, firm in the HBR case study Investic: Reflections of an Entrepreneur needs to spend more promotional, marketing, and advertising efforts to penetrate international markets.
Increasing silos among functional specialists
– The organizational structure of Investic Novelty is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Innovation & Entrepreneurship segment. Investic Novelty needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Investic Novelty to focus more on services rather than just following the product oriented approach.
Opportunities Investic: Reflections of an Entrepreneur | 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 Investic: Reflections of an Entrepreneur are -
Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities
– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Investic Novelty 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 Investic Novelty to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
Buying journey improvements
– Investic Novelty can improve the customer journey of consumers in the industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. Investic: Reflections of an Entrepreneur 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 Investic Novelty has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Investic Novelty to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the Investic: Reflections of an Entrepreneur case study. Investic Novelty can build new products and services such as - data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
Lowering marketing communication costs
– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Investic Novelty 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.
Learning at scale
– Online learning technologies has now opened space for Investic Novelty 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.
Reforming the budgeting process
- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects Investic Novelty can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.
Developing new processes and practices
– Investic Novelty 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.
Building a culture of innovation
– managers at Investic Novelty 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.
Better consumer reach
– The expansion of the 5G network will help Investic Novelty to increase its market reach. Investic Novelty 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.
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 Investic Novelty in the consumer business. Now Investic Novelty can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.
Increase in government spending
– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Investic Novelty can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Investic Novelty operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Innovation & Entrepreneurship sector.
Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains
– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Investic Novelty 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, Investic: Reflections of an Entrepreneur, to buy more products closer to the markets, and it can leverage its size and influence to get better deal from the local markets.
Low interest rates
– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Investic Novelty 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.
Threats Investic: Reflections of an Entrepreneur External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Investic: Reflections of an Entrepreneur are -
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.
Regulatory challenges
– Investic Novelty 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.
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 Investic Novelty 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. Investic Novelty can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
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.
Increasing wage structure of Investic Novelty
– 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 Investic Novelty.
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 Investic Novelty.
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Investic Novelty has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Innovation & Entrepreneurship industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Investic Novelty 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 Investic Novelty with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the sector.
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Investic Novelty is facing in Innovation & Entrepreneurship sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.
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. Investic Novelty 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 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. Investic Novelty needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Innovation & Entrepreneurship industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
Consumer confidence and its impact on Investic Novelty 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.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Investic: Reflections of an Entrepreneur 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 Investic: Reflections of an Entrepreneur 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 Investic: Reflections of an Entrepreneur 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 Investic: Reflections of an Entrepreneur 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 Investic: Reflections of an Entrepreneur 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 Investic Novelty needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.
