Swot Analysis of "Fortis Venturing (A): Building the Fighting Spirit" written by Benoit Leleux, Bruno Tindemans includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Fortis Venturing facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Fortis Venturing (A): Building the Fighting Spirit case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Innovation and Innovation & Entrepreneurship.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Fortis Venturing (A): Building the Fighting Spirit casestudy better are - – talent flight as more people leaving formal jobs, challanges to central banks by blockchain based private currencies, technology disruption, there is increasing trade war between United States & China, increasing household debt because of falling income levels, cloud computing is disrupting traditional business models, increasing inequality as vast percentage of new income is going to the top 1%,
there is backlash against globalization, geopolitical disruptions, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Fortis Venturing (A): Building the Fighting Spirit
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Fortis Venturing (A): Building the Fighting Spirit case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Fortis Venturing, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Fortis Venturing 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 Fortis Venturing (A): Building the Fighting Spirit can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Fortis Venturing (A): Building the Fighting Spirit case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Fortis Venturing
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 Fortis Venturing
Strengths Fortis Venturing (A): Building the Fighting Spirit | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Fortis Venturing in Fortis Venturing (A): Building the Fighting Spirit Harvard Business Review case study are -
Digital Transformation in Innovation & Entrepreneurship segment
- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For Fortis Venturing digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Fortis Venturing 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.
Superior customer experience
– The customer experience strategy of Fortis Venturing in the segment is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.
Learning organization
- Fortis Venturing 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 Fortis Venturing is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders in Fortis Venturing (A): Building the Fighting Spirit Harvard Business Review case study emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
Effective Research and Development (R&D)
– Fortis Venturing 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 Fortis Venturing (A): Building the Fighting Spirit - staying ahead in the industry in terms of – new product launches, superior customer experience, highly competitive pricing strategies, and great returns to the shareholders.
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Innovation & Entrepreneurship industry
– Fortis Venturing (A): Building the Fighting Spirit firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Fortis Venturing to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Innovation & Entrepreneurship industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Fortis Venturing to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Ability to recruit top talent
– Fortis Venturing is one of the leading recruiters in the industry. Managers in the Fortis Venturing (A): Building the Fighting Spirit are in a position to attract the best talent available. The firm has a robust talent identification program that helps in identifying the brightest.
Organizational Resilience of Fortis Venturing
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing that Fortis Venturing does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
Analytics focus
– Fortis Venturing 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 Benoit Leleux, Bruno Tindemans 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.
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of Fortis Venturing in the sector have low bargaining power. Fortis Venturing (A): Building the Fighting Spirit has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Fortis Venturing to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
Innovation driven organization
– Fortis Venturing is one of the most innovative firm in sector. Manager in Fortis Venturing (A): Building the Fighting Spirit Harvard Business Review case study can use Clayton Christensen Disruptive Innovation strategies to further increase the scale of innovtions in the organization.
Successful track record of launching new products
– Fortis Venturing has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Fortis Venturing 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
– Fortis Venturing is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided firm in Fortis Venturing (A): Building the Fighting Spirit 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.
Weaknesses Fortis Venturing (A): Building the Fighting Spirit | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Fortis Venturing (A): Building the Fighting Spirit are -
Increasing silos among functional specialists
– The organizational structure of Fortis Venturing is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Innovation & Entrepreneurship segment. Fortis Venturing needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Fortis Venturing to focus more on services rather than just following the product oriented approach.
No frontier risks strategy
– After analyzing the HBR case study Fortis Venturing (A): Building the Fighting Spirit, 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 bargaining power of channel partners
– Because of the regulatory requirements, Benoit Leleux, Bruno Tindemans suggests that, Fortis Venturing 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.
Slow decision making process
– As mentioned earlier in the report, Fortis Venturing 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. Fortis Venturing 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.
Aligning sales with marketing
– It come across in the case study Fortis Venturing (A): Building the Fighting Spirit 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 Fortis Venturing (A): Building the Fighting Spirit can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Fortis Venturing is planning to shift buying processes online.
Employees’ incomplete understanding of strategy
– From the instances in the HBR case study Fortis Venturing (A): Building the Fighting Spirit, it seems that the employees of Fortis Venturing don’t have comprehensive understanding of the firm’s strategy. This is reflected in number of promotional campaigns over the last few years that had mixed messaging and competing priorities. Some of the strategic activities and services promoted in the promotional campaigns were not consistent with the organization’s strategy.
Products dominated business model
– Even though Fortis Venturing 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 - Fortis Venturing (A): Building the Fighting Spirit 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 Fortis Venturing 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.
High cash cycle compare to competitors
Fortis Venturing 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.
Need for greater diversity
– Fortis Venturing 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.
High dependence on star products
– The top 2 products and services of the firm as mentioned in the Fortis Venturing (A): Building the Fighting Spirit 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 Fortis Venturing has relatively successful track record of launching new products.
Opportunities Fortis Venturing (A): Building the Fighting Spirit | 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 Fortis Venturing (A): Building the Fighting Spirit are -
Low interest rates
– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Fortis Venturing 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.
Reforming the budgeting process
- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects Fortis Venturing can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.
Increase in government spending
– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Fortis Venturing can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Fortis Venturing operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Innovation & Entrepreneurship sector.
Manufacturing automation
– Fortis Venturing 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.
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 Fortis Venturing 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.
Lowering marketing communication costs
– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Fortis Venturing 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.
Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains
– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Fortis Venturing 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, Fortis Venturing (A): Building the Fighting Spirit, to buy more products closer to the markets, and it can leverage its size and influence to get better deal from the local markets.
Learning at scale
– Online learning technologies has now opened space for Fortis Venturing 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.
Leveraging digital technologies
– Fortis Venturing 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.
Building a culture of innovation
– managers at Fortis Venturing 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.
Developing new processes and practices
– Fortis Venturing 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.
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Fortis Venturing has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Fortis Venturing to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the Fortis Venturing (A): Building the Fighting Spirit case study. Fortis Venturing can build new products and services such as - data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
Changes in consumer behavior post Covid-19
– Consumer behavior has changed in the Innovation & Entrepreneurship industry because of Covid-19 restrictions. Some of this behavior will stay once things get back to normal. Fortis Venturing 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. Fortis Venturing can further use this consumer data to build better customer loyalty, provide better products and service collection, and improve the value proposition in inflationary times.
Threats Fortis Venturing (A): Building the Fighting Spirit External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Fortis Venturing (A): Building the Fighting Spirit are -
Environmental challenges
– Fortis Venturing 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. Fortis Venturing can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Innovation & Entrepreneurship industry.
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Fortis Venturing 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. Fortis Venturing can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
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. Fortis Venturing needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Innovation & Entrepreneurship industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
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.
High dependence on third party suppliers
– Fortis Venturing 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.
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 Fortis Venturing business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Fortis Venturing has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Innovation & Entrepreneurship industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Fortis Venturing 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.
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 Fortis Venturing.
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 Fortis Venturing in the Innovation & Entrepreneurship sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
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.
Consumer confidence and its impact on Fortis Venturing 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.
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Fortis Venturing 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 Fortis Venturing (A): Building the Fighting Spirit .
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Fortis Venturing (A): Building the Fighting Spirit 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 Fortis Venturing (A): Building the Fighting Spirit 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 Fortis Venturing (A): Building the Fighting Spirit 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 Fortis Venturing (A): Building the Fighting Spirit 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 Fortis Venturing (A): Building the Fighting Spirit 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 Fortis Venturing needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.
