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Creative Capital: Sustaining the Arts SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis

Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution

Case Study Description of Creative Capital: Sustaining the Arts


Creative Capital provides grants to individual artists using a venture capital model-the money comes with guidance and governance. Artists receive money as milestones are reached and also receive guidance on managing their lives and business to increase their sustainability. But as Ruby Lerner, CEO of Creative Capital, looks to the organization's next decade, how can she ensure the sustainability of this high-touch, uniquely individual model?

Authors :: G. Felda Hardymon, Ann Leamon

Topics :: Innovation & Entrepreneurship

Tags :: Strategic planning, SWOT Analysis, SWOT Matrix, TOWS, Weighted SWOT Analysis

Swot Analysis of "Creative Capital: Sustaining the Arts" written by G. Felda Hardymon, Ann Leamon includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Creative Artists facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Creative Capital: Sustaining the Arts case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Strategic planning and Innovation & Entrepreneurship.


Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Creative Capital: Sustaining the Arts casestudy better are - – increasing energy prices, technology disruption, there is backlash against globalization, wage bills are increasing, increasing household debt because of falling income levels, central banks are concerned over increasing inflation, digital marketing is dominated by two big players Facebook and Google, there is increasing trade war between United States & China, talent flight as more people leaving formal jobs, etc



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Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Creative Capital: Sustaining the Arts


SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Creative Capital: Sustaining the Arts case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Creative Artists, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Creative Artists 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 Creative Capital: Sustaining the Arts can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Creative Capital: Sustaining the Arts case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Creative Artists
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 Creative Artists




Strengths Creative Capital: Sustaining the Arts | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis

The strengths of Creative Artists in Creative Capital: Sustaining the Arts Harvard Business Review case study are -

Effective Research and Development (R&D)

– Creative Artists 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 Creative Capital: Sustaining the Arts - staying ahead in the industry in terms of – new product launches, superior customer experience, highly competitive pricing strategies, and great returns to the shareholders.

Digital Transformation in Innovation & Entrepreneurship segment

- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For Creative Artists digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Creative Artists 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.

Low bargaining power of suppliers

– Suppliers of Creative Artists in the sector have low bargaining power. Creative Capital: Sustaining the Arts has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Creative Artists to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.

Superior customer experience

– The customer experience strategy of Creative Artists in the segment is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.

Innovation driven organization

– Creative Artists is one of the most innovative firm in sector. Manager in Creative Capital: Sustaining the Arts Harvard Business Review case study can use Clayton Christensen Disruptive Innovation strategies to further increase the scale of innovtions in the organization.

High switching costs

– The high switching costs that Creative Artists 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.

Analytics focus

– Creative Artists 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 G. Felda Hardymon, Ann Leamon 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.

Ability to lead change in Innovation & Entrepreneurship field

– Creative Artists 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 Creative Artists in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.

Highly skilled collaborators

– Creative Artists 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 Creative Capital: Sustaining the Arts HBR case study have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.

Successful track record of launching new products

– Creative Artists has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Creative Artists 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.

Learning organization

- Creative Artists 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 Creative Artists is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders in Creative Capital: Sustaining the Arts Harvard Business Review case study emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.

Strong track record of project management

– Creative Artists is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.






Weaknesses Creative Capital: Sustaining the Arts | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis

The weaknesses of Creative Capital: Sustaining the Arts are -

High bargaining power of channel partners

– Because of the regulatory requirements, G. Felda Hardymon, Ann Leamon suggests that, Creative Artists 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.

Increasing silos among functional specialists

– The organizational structure of Creative Artists is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Innovation & Entrepreneurship segment. Creative Artists needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Creative Artists to focus more on services rather than just following the product oriented approach.

Capital Spending Reduction

– Even during the low interest decade, Creative Artists 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.

Low market penetration in new markets

– Outside its home market of Creative Artists, firm in the HBR case study Creative Capital: Sustaining the Arts needs to spend more promotional, marketing, and advertising efforts to penetrate international markets.

Ability to respond to the competition

– As the decision making is very deliberative, highlighted in the case study Creative Capital: Sustaining the Arts, in the dynamic environment Creative Artists has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. Creative Artists has reasonably good record with similar level competitors but it has struggled with new entrants taking away niches of its business.

Lack of clear differentiation of Creative Artists products

– To increase the profitability and margins on the products, Creative Artists needs to provide more differentiated products than what it is currently offering in the marketplace.

High dependence on star products

– The top 2 products and services of the firm as mentioned in the Creative Capital: Sustaining the Arts 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 Creative Artists has relatively successful track record of launching new products.

High operating costs

– Compare to the competitors, firm in the HBR case study Creative Capital: Sustaining the Arts 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 Creative Artists 's lucrative customers.

Interest costs

– Compare to the competition, Creative Artists has borrowed money from the capital market at higher rates. It needs to restructure the interest payment and costs so that it can compete better and improve profitability.

High cash cycle compare to competitors

Creative Artists 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, Creative Artists 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. Creative Artists 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 Creative Capital: Sustaining the Arts | 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 Creative Capital: Sustaining the Arts are -

Developing new processes and practices

– Creative Artists 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.

Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities

– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Creative Artists 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 Creative Artists to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.

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 Creative Artists 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.

Building a culture of innovation

– managers at Creative Artists 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.

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. Creative Artists can tie-up with other value chain partners to explore new opportunities regarding meeting customer demands and building a rewarding and engaging relationship.

Buying journey improvements

– Creative Artists can improve the customer journey of consumers in the industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. Creative Capital: Sustaining the Arts 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.

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 Creative Artists in the consumer business. Now Creative Artists can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.

Redefining models of collaboration and team work

– As explained in the weaknesses section, Creative Artists is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. Creative Capital: Sustaining the Arts 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.

Loyalty marketing

– Creative Artists 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.

Increase in government spending

– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Creative Artists can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Creative Artists operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Innovation & Entrepreneurship sector.

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. Creative Artists can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.

Learning at scale

– Online learning technologies has now opened space for Creative Artists 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.

Manufacturing automation

– Creative Artists 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.




Threats Creative Capital: Sustaining the Arts External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis


The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Creative Capital: Sustaining the Arts are -

Regulatory challenges

– Creative Artists 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.

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.

Learning curve for new practices

– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, as highlighted in case study Creative Capital: Sustaining the Arts, Creative Artists 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 .

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 Creative Artists business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.

Environmental challenges

– Creative Artists 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. Creative Artists can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Innovation & Entrepreneurship industry.

Increasing wage structure of Creative Artists

– 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 Creative Artists.

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 Creative Artists in the Innovation & Entrepreneurship sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.

High dependence on third party suppliers

– Creative Artists 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.

Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins

– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Creative Artists 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 Creative Capital: Sustaining the Arts .

Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution

– Creative Artists has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Innovation & Entrepreneurship industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Creative Artists 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.

Trade war between China and United States

– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Creative Artists 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.

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. Creative Artists needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Innovation & Entrepreneurship industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.

Consumer confidence and its impact on Creative Artists demand

– There is a high probability of declining consumer confidence, given – high inflammation rate, rise of gig economy, lower job stability, increasing cost of living, higher interest rates, and aging demography. All the factors contribute to people saving higher rate of their income, resulting in lower consumer demand in the industry and other sectors.




Weighted SWOT Analysis of Creative Capital: Sustaining the Arts 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 Creative Capital: Sustaining the Arts 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 Creative Capital: Sustaining the Arts 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 Creative Capital: Sustaining the Arts 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 Creative Capital: Sustaining the Arts 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 Creative Artists needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.



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