Forbind Systems (B): The Way Forward SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Innovation & Entrepreneurship
Strategy / MBA Resources
Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of Forbind Systems (B): The Way Forward
This case B about a young Danish VC-backed technology company in the supply-chain software sector trying to overcome a multitude of challenges related to this type of companies cannot be taught as a stand-alone case, but is a direct continuation of the FocusCase "Forbind Systems (A): Hired to Hell A?Crisis Management from Day 1A? [EFC-10-E]". This second part illustrated the decisions the CEO took with regard to strategy, business model, financing, internationalization and the overall survival strategy of the firm and describes which consequences this had.
Authors :: Julia Prats Moreno, Marc Sosna, Dave Darsch
Swot Analysis of "Forbind Systems (B): The Way Forward" written by Julia Prats Moreno, Marc Sosna, Dave Darsch includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Forbind 1a facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Forbind Systems (B): The Way Forward case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Business models, Crisis management, Growth strategy and Innovation & Entrepreneurship.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Forbind Systems (B): The Way Forward casestudy better are - – there is increasing trade war between United States & China, digital marketing is dominated by two big players Facebook and Google, banking and financial system is disrupted by Bitcoin and other crypto currencies, increasing inequality as vast percentage of new income is going to the top 1%, competitive advantages are harder to sustain because of technology dispersion, central banks are concerned over increasing inflation, cloud computing is disrupting traditional business models,
increasing transportation and logistics costs, increasing government debt because of Covid-19 spendings, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Forbind Systems (B): The Way Forward
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Forbind Systems (B): The Way Forward case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Forbind 1a, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Forbind 1a 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 Forbind Systems (B): The Way Forward can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Forbind Systems (B): The Way Forward case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Forbind 1a
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 Forbind 1a
Strengths Forbind Systems (B): The Way Forward | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Forbind 1a in Forbind Systems (B): The Way Forward Harvard Business Review case study are -
Ability to recruit top talent
– Forbind 1a is one of the leading recruiters in the industry. Managers in the Forbind Systems (B): The Way Forward are in a position to attract the best talent available. The firm has a robust talent identification program that helps in identifying the brightest.
Training and development
– Forbind 1a has one of the best training and development program in the industry. The effectiveness of the training programs can be measured in Forbind Systems (B): The Way Forward 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.
Effective Research and Development (R&D)
– Forbind 1a 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 Forbind Systems (B): The Way Forward - staying ahead in the industry in terms of – new product launches, superior customer experience, highly competitive pricing strategies, and great returns to the shareholders.
Learning organization
- Forbind 1a 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 Forbind 1a is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders in Forbind Systems (B): The Way Forward Harvard Business Review case study emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Innovation & Entrepreneurship industry
– Forbind Systems (B): The Way Forward firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Forbind 1a to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Innovation & Entrepreneurship industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Forbind 1a to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Strong track record of project management
– Forbind 1a is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.
Diverse revenue streams
– Forbind 1a is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided firm in Forbind Systems (B): The Way Forward 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.
Highly skilled collaborators
– Forbind 1a 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 Forbind Systems (B): The Way Forward HBR case study have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
Analytics focus
– Forbind 1a 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 Julia Prats Moreno, Marc Sosna, Dave Darsch 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.
Organizational Resilience of Forbind 1a
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing that Forbind 1a does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of Forbind 1a in the sector have low bargaining power. Forbind Systems (B): The Way Forward has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Forbind 1a to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
Operational resilience
– The operational resilience strategy in the Forbind Systems (B): The Way Forward Harvard Business Review case study comprises – understanding the underlying the factors in the industry, building diversified operations across different geographies so that disruption in one part of the world doesn’t impact the overall performance of the firm, and integrating the various business operations and processes through its digital transformation drive.
Weaknesses Forbind Systems (B): The Way Forward | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Forbind Systems (B): The Way Forward are -
Increasing silos among functional specialists
– The organizational structure of Forbind 1a is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Innovation & Entrepreneurship segment. Forbind 1a needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Forbind 1a to focus more on services rather than just following the product oriented approach.
Interest costs
– Compare to the competition, Forbind 1a 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.
Capital Spending Reduction
– Even during the low interest decade, Forbind 1a 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 dependence on star products
– The top 2 products and services of the firm as mentioned in the Forbind Systems (B): The Way Forward 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 Forbind 1a has relatively successful track record of launching new products.
Products dominated business model
– Even though Forbind 1a 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 - Forbind Systems (B): The Way Forward should strive to include more intangible value offerings along with its core products and services.
Low market penetration in new markets
– Outside its home market of Forbind 1a, firm in the HBR case study Forbind Systems (B): The Way Forward needs to spend more promotional, marketing, and advertising efforts to penetrate international markets.
Need for greater diversity
– Forbind 1a 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.
Employees’ incomplete understanding of strategy
– From the instances in the HBR case study Forbind Systems (B): The Way Forward, it seems that the employees of Forbind 1a 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.
Slow to harness new channels of communication
– Even though competitors are using new communication channels such as Instagram, Tiktok, and Snap, Forbind 1a is slow explore the new channels of communication. These new channels of communication mentioned in marketing section of case study Forbind Systems (B): The Way Forward can help to provide better information regarding products and services. It can also build an online community to further reach out to potential customers.
Slow to strategic competitive environment developments
– As Forbind Systems (B): The Way Forward HBR case study mentions - Forbind 1a 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.
High operating costs
– Compare to the competitors, firm in the HBR case study Forbind Systems (B): The Way Forward 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 Forbind 1a 's lucrative customers.
Opportunities Forbind Systems (B): The Way Forward | 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 Forbind Systems (B): The Way Forward are -
Reforming the budgeting process
- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects Forbind 1a can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– Forbind 1a 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 Forbind Systems (B): The Way Forward - to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Forbind 1a to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains
– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Forbind 1a 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, Forbind Systems (B): The Way Forward, to buy more products closer to the markets, and it can leverage its size and influence to get better deal from the local markets.
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. Forbind 1a can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.
Loyalty marketing
– Forbind 1a 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.
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 Forbind 1a in the consumer business. Now Forbind 1a can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.
Buying journey improvements
– Forbind 1a can improve the customer journey of consumers in the industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. Forbind Systems (B): The Way Forward 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.
Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities
– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Forbind 1a 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 Forbind 1a to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
Low interest rates
– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Forbind 1a 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.
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Forbind 1a has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Forbind 1a to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the Forbind Systems (B): The Way Forward case study. Forbind 1a can build new products and services such as - data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
Better consumer reach
– The expansion of the 5G network will help Forbind 1a to increase its market reach. Forbind 1a 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.
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 Forbind 1a 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.
Learning at scale
– Online learning technologies has now opened space for Forbind 1a 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.
Threats Forbind Systems (B): The Way Forward External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Forbind Systems (B): The Way Forward are -
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 Forbind 1a 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.
Regulatory challenges
– Forbind 1a 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.
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Forbind 1a has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Innovation & Entrepreneurship industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Forbind 1a 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.
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. Forbind 1a 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.
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Forbind 1a is facing in Innovation & Entrepreneurship sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.
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 Forbind 1a in the Innovation & Entrepreneurship sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry in the industry are lowering. It can presents Forbind 1a with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the sector.
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. Forbind 1a needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Innovation & Entrepreneurship industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
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 Forbind 1a business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
High dependence on third party suppliers
– Forbind 1a 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.
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Forbind 1a can face lack of demand in the market place because of Fed actions to reduce inflation. This can lead to sluggish growth in the economy, lower demands, lower investments, higher borrowing costs, and consolidation in the field.
Capital market disruption
– During the Covid-19, Dow Jones has touched record high. The valuations of a number of companies are way beyond their existing business model potential. This can lead to capital market correction which can put a number of suppliers, collaborators, value chain partners in great financial difficulty. It will directly impact the business of Forbind 1a.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Forbind Systems (B): The Way Forward 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 Forbind Systems (B): The Way Forward 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 Forbind Systems (B): The Way Forward 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 Forbind Systems (B): The Way Forward 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 Forbind Systems (B): The Way Forward 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 Forbind 1a needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.