Capital for Enterprise Limited (CfEL): Bridging the SME Early-Stage Finance Gap SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Innovation & Entrepreneurship
Strategy / MBA Resources
Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of Capital for Enterprise Limited (CfEL): Bridging the SME Early-Stage Finance Gap
The CEO of the company set up to manage a British government effort to promote the venture capital industry considers the progress made to date, as well as how the program can be adjusted.
Swot Analysis of "Capital for Enterprise Limited (CfEL): Bridging the SME Early-Stage Finance Gap" written by Josh Lerner, Eli Talmor, Ananth Vyas Bhimavarapu, Thibaud Simphal includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Cfel Sme facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Capital for Enterprise Limited (CfEL): Bridging the SME Early-Stage Finance Gap case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, and Innovation & Entrepreneurship.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Capital for Enterprise Limited (CfEL): Bridging the SME Early-Stage Finance Gap casestudy better are - – customer relationship management is fast transforming because of increasing concerns over data privacy, cloud computing is disrupting traditional business models, banking and financial system is disrupted by Bitcoin and other crypto currencies, increasing energy prices, there is increasing trade war between United States & China, technology disruption, competitive advantages are harder to sustain because of technology dispersion,
supply chains are disrupted by pandemic , increasing commodity prices, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Capital for Enterprise Limited (CfEL): Bridging the SME Early-Stage Finance Gap
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Capital for Enterprise Limited (CfEL): Bridging the SME Early-Stage Finance Gap case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Cfel Sme, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Cfel Sme 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 Capital for Enterprise Limited (CfEL): Bridging the SME Early-Stage Finance Gap can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Capital for Enterprise Limited (CfEL): Bridging the SME Early-Stage Finance Gap case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Cfel Sme
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 Cfel Sme
Strengths Capital for Enterprise Limited (CfEL): Bridging the SME Early-Stage Finance Gap | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Cfel Sme in Capital for Enterprise Limited (CfEL): Bridging the SME Early-Stage Finance Gap Harvard Business Review case study are -
Operational resilience
– The operational resilience strategy in the Capital for Enterprise Limited (CfEL): Bridging the SME Early-Stage Finance Gap 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.
High brand equity
– Cfel Sme has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Cfel Sme to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Analytics focus
– Cfel Sme 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 Josh Lerner, Eli Talmor, Ananth Vyas Bhimavarapu, Thibaud Simphal 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.
Highly skilled collaborators
– Cfel Sme 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 Capital for Enterprise Limited (CfEL): Bridging the SME Early-Stage Finance Gap HBR case study have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
Digital Transformation in Innovation & Entrepreneurship segment
- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For Cfel Sme digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Cfel Sme has successfully integrated the four key components of digital transformation – digital integration in processes, digital integration in marketing and customer relationship management, digital integration into the value chain, and using technology to explore new products and market opportunities.
Successful track record of launching new products
– Cfel Sme has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Cfel Sme 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
– Cfel Sme has one of the best training and development program in the industry. The effectiveness of the training programs can be measured in Capital for Enterprise Limited (CfEL): Bridging the SME Early-Stage Finance Gap 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.
High switching costs
– The high switching costs that Cfel Sme 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.
Superior customer experience
– The customer experience strategy of Cfel Sme in the segment is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.
Cross disciplinary teams
– Horizontal connected teams at the Cfel Sme are driving operational speed, building greater agility, and keeping the organization nimble to compete with new competitors. It helps are organization to ideate new ideas, and execute them swiftly in the marketplace.
Ability to recruit top talent
– Cfel Sme is one of the leading recruiters in the industry. Managers in the Capital for Enterprise Limited (CfEL): Bridging the SME Early-Stage Finance Gap are in a position to attract the best talent available. The firm has a robust talent identification program that helps in identifying the brightest.
Ability to lead change in Innovation & Entrepreneurship field
– Cfel Sme 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 Cfel Sme in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.
Weaknesses Capital for Enterprise Limited (CfEL): Bridging the SME Early-Stage Finance Gap | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Capital for Enterprise Limited (CfEL): Bridging the SME Early-Stage Finance Gap are -
Low market penetration in new markets
– Outside its home market of Cfel Sme, firm in the HBR case study Capital for Enterprise Limited (CfEL): Bridging the SME Early-Stage Finance Gap needs to spend more promotional, marketing, and advertising efforts to penetrate international markets.
Slow to strategic competitive environment developments
– As Capital for Enterprise Limited (CfEL): Bridging the SME Early-Stage Finance Gap HBR case study mentions - Cfel Sme takes time to assess the upcoming competitions. This has led to missing out on atleast 2-3 big opportunities in the industry in last five years.
Need for greater diversity
– Cfel Sme 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.
Aligning sales with marketing
– It come across in the case study Capital for Enterprise Limited (CfEL): Bridging the SME Early-Stage Finance Gap 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 Capital for Enterprise Limited (CfEL): Bridging the SME Early-Stage Finance Gap can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Cfel Sme is planning to shift buying processes online.
High operating costs
– Compare to the competitors, firm in the HBR case study Capital for Enterprise Limited (CfEL): Bridging the SME Early-Stage Finance Gap 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 Cfel Sme 's lucrative customers.
High bargaining power of channel partners
– Because of the regulatory requirements, Josh Lerner, Eli Talmor, Ananth Vyas Bhimavarapu, Thibaud Simphal suggests that, Cfel Sme 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.
High dependence on star products
– The top 2 products and services of the firm as mentioned in the Capital for Enterprise Limited (CfEL): Bridging the SME Early-Stage Finance Gap 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 Cfel Sme has relatively successful track record of launching new products.
No frontier risks strategy
– After analyzing the HBR case study Capital for Enterprise Limited (CfEL): Bridging the SME Early-Stage Finance Gap, 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.
Increasing silos among functional specialists
– The organizational structure of Cfel Sme is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Innovation & Entrepreneurship segment. Cfel Sme needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Cfel Sme to focus more on services rather than just following the product oriented approach.
High cash cycle compare to competitors
Cfel Sme 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 decision making process
– As mentioned earlier in the report, Cfel Sme 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. Cfel Sme 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.
Opportunities Capital for Enterprise Limited (CfEL): Bridging the SME Early-Stage Finance Gap | 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 Capital for Enterprise Limited (CfEL): Bridging the SME Early-Stage Finance Gap are -
Better consumer reach
– The expansion of the 5G network will help Cfel Sme to increase its market reach. Cfel Sme 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.
Learning at scale
– Online learning technologies has now opened space for Cfel Sme 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.
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– Cfel Sme 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 Capital for Enterprise Limited (CfEL): Bridging the SME Early-Stage Finance Gap - to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Cfel Sme to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
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. Cfel Sme can tie-up with other value chain partners to explore new opportunities regarding meeting customer demands and building a rewarding and engaging relationship.
Increase in government spending
– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Cfel Sme can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Cfel Sme operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Innovation & Entrepreneurship sector.
Building a culture of innovation
– managers at Cfel Sme 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.
Reforming the budgeting process
- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects Cfel Sme can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.
Identify volunteer opportunities
– Covid-19 has impacted working population in two ways – it has led to people soul searching about their professional choices, resulting in mass resignation. Secondly it has encouraged people to do things that they are passionate about. This has opened opportunities for businesses to build volunteer oriented socially driven projects. Cfel Sme can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.
Leveraging digital technologies
– Cfel Sme 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.
Manufacturing automation
– Cfel Sme 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.
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. Cfel Sme 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. Cfel Sme 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.
Low interest rates
– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Cfel Sme 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.
Buying journey improvements
– Cfel Sme can improve the customer journey of consumers in the industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. Capital for Enterprise Limited (CfEL): Bridging the SME Early-Stage Finance Gap suggest that firm can provide automated chats to help consumers solve their own problems, provide online suggestions to get maximum out of the products and services, and help consumers to build a community where they can interact with each other to develop new features and uses.
Threats Capital for Enterprise Limited (CfEL): Bridging the SME Early-Stage Finance Gap External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Capital for Enterprise Limited (CfEL): Bridging the SME Early-Stage Finance Gap 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.
Increasing wage structure of Cfel Sme
– 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 Cfel Sme.
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, as highlighted in case study Capital for Enterprise Limited (CfEL): Bridging the SME Early-Stage Finance Gap, Cfel Sme 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 acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Cfel Sme has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Innovation & Entrepreneurship industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Cfel Sme 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.
Environmental challenges
– Cfel Sme 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. Cfel Sme can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Innovation & Entrepreneurship industry.
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.
High dependence on third party suppliers
– Cfel Sme 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.
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. Cfel Sme needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Innovation & Entrepreneurship industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
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. Cfel Sme 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.
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. Cfel Sme can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry in the industry are lowering. It can presents Cfel Sme with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the sector.
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Cfel Sme 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.
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Cfel Sme 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 Capital for Enterprise Limited (CfEL): Bridging the SME Early-Stage Finance Gap .
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Capital for Enterprise Limited (CfEL): Bridging the SME Early-Stage Finance Gap 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 Capital for Enterprise Limited (CfEL): Bridging the SME Early-Stage Finance Gap 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 Capital for Enterprise Limited (CfEL): Bridging the SME Early-Stage Finance Gap 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 Capital for Enterprise Limited (CfEL): Bridging the SME Early-Stage Finance Gap 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 Capital for Enterprise Limited (CfEL): Bridging the SME Early-Stage Finance Gap 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 Cfel Sme needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.
