Swot Analysis of "Podium Data: Harnessing the Power of Big Data Analytics" written by Lynda M. Applegate, Karim R. Lakhani, Nicole Bucala includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Podium Harnessing facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Podium Data: Harnessing the Power of Big Data Analytics case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, and Innovation & Entrepreneurship.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Podium Data: Harnessing the Power of Big Data Analytics casestudy better are - – increasing inequality as vast percentage of new income is going to the top 1%, increasing transportation and logistics costs, increasing household debt because of falling income levels, banking and financial system is disrupted by Bitcoin and other crypto currencies, increasing energy prices, challanges to central banks by blockchain based private currencies, central banks are concerned over increasing inflation,
there is increasing trade war between United States & China, customer relationship management is fast transforming because of increasing concerns over data privacy, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Podium Data: Harnessing the Power of Big Data Analytics
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Podium Data: Harnessing the Power of Big Data Analytics case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Podium Harnessing, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Podium Harnessing 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 Podium Data: Harnessing the Power of Big Data Analytics can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Podium Data: Harnessing the Power of Big Data Analytics case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Podium Harnessing
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 Podium Harnessing
Strengths Podium Data: Harnessing the Power of Big Data Analytics | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Podium Harnessing in Podium Data: Harnessing the Power of Big Data Analytics Harvard Business Review case study are -
Learning organization
- Podium Harnessing 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 Podium Harnessing is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders in Podium Data: Harnessing the Power of Big Data Analytics Harvard Business Review case study emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
Analytics focus
– Podium Harnessing 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 Lynda M. Applegate, Karim R. Lakhani, Nicole Bucala 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.
Innovation driven organization
– Podium Harnessing is one of the most innovative firm in sector. Manager in Podium Data: Harnessing the Power of Big Data Analytics Harvard Business Review case study can use Clayton Christensen Disruptive Innovation strategies to further increase the scale of innovtions in the organization.
Training and development
– Podium Harnessing has one of the best training and development program in the industry. The effectiveness of the training programs can be measured in Podium Data: Harnessing the Power of Big Data Analytics 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.
Cross disciplinary teams
– Horizontal connected teams at the Podium Harnessing 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.
High brand equity
– Podium Harnessing has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Podium Harnessing to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Effective Research and Development (R&D)
– Podium Harnessing 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 Podium Data: Harnessing the Power of Big Data Analytics - staying ahead in the industry in terms of – new product launches, superior customer experience, highly competitive pricing strategies, and great returns to the shareholders.
Ability to lead change in Innovation & Entrepreneurship field
– Podium Harnessing 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 Podium Harnessing in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.
Ability to recruit top talent
– Podium Harnessing is one of the leading recruiters in the industry. Managers in the Podium Data: Harnessing the Power of Big Data Analytics are in a position to attract the best talent available. The firm has a robust talent identification program that helps in identifying the brightest.
Digital Transformation in Innovation & Entrepreneurship segment
- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For Podium Harnessing digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Podium Harnessing 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.
Highly skilled collaborators
– Podium Harnessing 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 Podium Data: Harnessing the Power of Big Data Analytics HBR case study have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
Diverse revenue streams
– Podium Harnessing is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided firm in Podium Data: Harnessing the Power of Big Data Analytics 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 Podium Data: Harnessing the Power of Big Data Analytics | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Podium Data: Harnessing the Power of Big Data Analytics are -
Capital Spending Reduction
– Even during the low interest decade, Podium Harnessing 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.
High cash cycle compare to competitors
Podium Harnessing 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.
Ability to respond to the competition
– As the decision making is very deliberative, highlighted in the case study Podium Data: Harnessing the Power of Big Data Analytics, in the dynamic environment Podium Harnessing has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. Podium Harnessing has reasonably good record with similar level competitors but it has struggled with new entrants taking away niches of its business.
Low market penetration in new markets
– Outside its home market of Podium Harnessing, firm in the HBR case study Podium Data: Harnessing the Power of Big Data Analytics needs to spend more promotional, marketing, and advertising efforts to penetrate international markets.
Need for greater diversity
– Podium Harnessing 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.
Slow to strategic competitive environment developments
– As Podium Data: Harnessing the Power of Big Data Analytics HBR case study mentions - Podium Harnessing 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.
Employees’ incomplete understanding of strategy
– From the instances in the HBR case study Podium Data: Harnessing the Power of Big Data Analytics, it seems that the employees of Podium Harnessing 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.
Workers concerns about automation
– As automation is fast increasing in the segment, Podium Harnessing needs to come up with a strategy to reduce the workers concern regarding automation. Without a clear strategy, it could lead to disruption and uncertainty within the organization.
High operating costs
– Compare to the competitors, firm in the HBR case study Podium Data: Harnessing the Power of Big Data Analytics 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 Podium Harnessing 's lucrative customers.
Increasing silos among functional specialists
– The organizational structure of Podium Harnessing is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Innovation & Entrepreneurship segment. Podium Harnessing needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Podium Harnessing to focus more on services rather than just following the product oriented approach.
Lack of clear differentiation of Podium Harnessing products
– To increase the profitability and margins on the products, Podium Harnessing needs to provide more differentiated products than what it is currently offering in the marketplace.
Opportunities Podium Data: Harnessing the Power of Big Data Analytics | 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 Podium Data: Harnessing the Power of Big Data Analytics are -
Redefining models of collaboration and team work
– As explained in the weaknesses section, Podium Harnessing is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. Podium Data: Harnessing the Power of Big Data Analytics 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.
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– Podium Harnessing 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 Podium Data: Harnessing the Power of Big Data Analytics - to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Podium Harnessing to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
Low interest rates
– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Podium Harnessing 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.
Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains
– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Podium Harnessing 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, Podium Data: Harnessing the Power of Big Data Analytics, to buy more products closer to the markets, and it can leverage its size and influence to get better deal from the local markets.
Manufacturing automation
– Podium Harnessing 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.
Learning at scale
– Online learning technologies has now opened space for Podium Harnessing 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.
Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities
– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Podium Harnessing 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 Podium Harnessing to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
Loyalty marketing
– Podium Harnessing 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.
Buying journey improvements
– Podium Harnessing can improve the customer journey of consumers in the industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. Podium Data: Harnessing the Power of Big Data Analytics 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 Podium Harnessing has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Podium Harnessing to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the Podium Data: Harnessing the Power of Big Data Analytics case study. Podium Harnessing can build new products and services such as - data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
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. Podium Harnessing can tie-up with other value chain partners to explore new opportunities regarding meeting customer demands and building a rewarding and engaging relationship.
Reforming the budgeting process
- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects Podium Harnessing can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.
Building a culture of innovation
– managers at Podium Harnessing 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.
Threats Podium Data: Harnessing the Power of Big Data Analytics External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Podium Data: Harnessing the Power of Big Data Analytics are -
Increasing wage structure of Podium Harnessing
– 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 Podium Harnessing.
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 Podium Harnessing in the Innovation & Entrepreneurship sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
High dependence on third party suppliers
– Podium Harnessing 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.
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. Podium Harnessing 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.
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Podium Harnessing 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 Podium Data: Harnessing the Power of Big Data Analytics .
Environmental challenges
– Podium Harnessing 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. Podium Harnessing can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Innovation & Entrepreneurship industry.
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Podium Harnessing has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Innovation & Entrepreneurship industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Podium Harnessing 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.
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.
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry in the industry are lowering. It can presents Podium Harnessing with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the sector.
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 Podium Harnessing.
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. Podium Harnessing needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Innovation & Entrepreneurship industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Podium Harnessing 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.
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, as highlighted in case study Podium Data: Harnessing the Power of Big Data Analytics, Podium Harnessing 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 .
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Podium Data: Harnessing the Power of Big Data Analytics 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 Podium Data: Harnessing the Power of Big Data Analytics 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 Podium Data: Harnessing the Power of Big Data Analytics 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 Podium Data: Harnessing the Power of Big Data Analytics 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 Podium Data: Harnessing the Power of Big Data Analytics 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 Podium Harnessing needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.
