Democratizing Strategy: How Crowdsourcing Can Be Used for Strategy Dialogues SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Innovation & Entrepreneurship
Strategy / MBA Resources
Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of Democratizing Strategy: How Crowdsourcing Can Be Used for Strategy Dialogues
Crowdsourcing is typically associated with the incorporation of company-external stakeholders such as customers in the value creating process. This article proposes a framework for a company-internal application of crowdsourcing methods. It presents a set of five goals companies can pursue employing internal crowdsourcing. The practical approach of an Austrian medium-sized technology company is described in detail, including insights on software design and appropriate procedures.
Authors :: Daniel Stieger, Kurt Matzler, Florian Ladstaetter-Fussenegger, Sayan Chatterjee
Swot Analysis of "Democratizing Strategy: How Crowdsourcing Can Be Used for Strategy Dialogues" written by Daniel Stieger, Kurt Matzler, Florian Ladstaetter-Fussenegger, Sayan Chatterjee includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Crowdsourcing Dialogues facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Democratizing Strategy: How Crowdsourcing Can Be Used for Strategy Dialogues case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Innovation, Internet and Innovation & Entrepreneurship.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Democratizing Strategy: How Crowdsourcing Can Be Used for Strategy Dialogues casestudy better are - – increasing transportation and logistics costs, central banks are concerned over increasing inflation, competitive advantages are harder to sustain because of technology dispersion, technology disruption, supply chains are disrupted by pandemic , wage bills are increasing, talent flight as more people leaving formal jobs,
increasing government debt because of Covid-19 spendings, customer relationship management is fast transforming because of increasing concerns over data privacy, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Democratizing Strategy: How Crowdsourcing Can Be Used for Strategy Dialogues
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Democratizing Strategy: How Crowdsourcing Can Be Used for Strategy Dialogues case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Crowdsourcing Dialogues, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Crowdsourcing Dialogues 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 Democratizing Strategy: How Crowdsourcing Can Be Used for Strategy Dialogues can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Democratizing Strategy: How Crowdsourcing Can Be Used for Strategy Dialogues case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Crowdsourcing Dialogues
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 Crowdsourcing Dialogues
Strengths Democratizing Strategy: How Crowdsourcing Can Be Used for Strategy Dialogues | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Crowdsourcing Dialogues in Democratizing Strategy: How Crowdsourcing Can Be Used for Strategy Dialogues Harvard Business Review case study are -
Learning organization
- Crowdsourcing Dialogues 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 Crowdsourcing Dialogues is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders in Democratizing Strategy: How Crowdsourcing Can Be Used for Strategy Dialogues Harvard Business Review case study emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
Diverse revenue streams
– Crowdsourcing Dialogues is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided firm in Democratizing Strategy: How Crowdsourcing Can Be Used for Strategy Dialogues 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.
Training and development
– Crowdsourcing Dialogues has one of the best training and development program in the industry. The effectiveness of the training programs can be measured in Democratizing Strategy: How Crowdsourcing Can Be Used for Strategy Dialogues 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.
Ability to lead change in Innovation & Entrepreneurship field
– Crowdsourcing Dialogues 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 Crowdsourcing Dialogues in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Innovation & Entrepreneurship industry
– Democratizing Strategy: How Crowdsourcing Can Be Used for Strategy Dialogues firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Crowdsourcing Dialogues to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Innovation & Entrepreneurship industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Crowdsourcing Dialogues to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Operational resilience
– The operational resilience strategy in the Democratizing Strategy: How Crowdsourcing Can Be Used for Strategy Dialogues 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.
Ability to recruit top talent
– Crowdsourcing Dialogues is one of the leading recruiters in the industry. Managers in the Democratizing Strategy: How Crowdsourcing Can Be Used for Strategy Dialogues are in a position to attract the best talent available. The firm has a robust talent identification program that helps in identifying the brightest.
Highly skilled collaborators
– Crowdsourcing Dialogues 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 Democratizing Strategy: How Crowdsourcing Can Be Used for Strategy Dialogues HBR case study have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
Effective Research and Development (R&D)
– Crowdsourcing Dialogues 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 Democratizing Strategy: How Crowdsourcing Can Be Used for Strategy Dialogues - staying ahead in the industry in terms of – new product launches, superior customer experience, highly competitive pricing strategies, and great returns to the shareholders.
High brand equity
– Crowdsourcing Dialogues has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Crowdsourcing Dialogues to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Superior customer experience
– The customer experience strategy of Crowdsourcing Dialogues in the segment is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.
High switching costs
– The high switching costs that Crowdsourcing Dialogues 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.
Weaknesses Democratizing Strategy: How Crowdsourcing Can Be Used for Strategy Dialogues | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Democratizing Strategy: How Crowdsourcing Can Be Used for Strategy Dialogues are -
High dependence on existing supply chain
– The disruption in the global supply chains because of the Covid-19 pandemic and blockage of the Suez Canal illustrated the fragile nature of Crowdsourcing Dialogues supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes mentioned in the HBR case study - Democratizing Strategy: How Crowdsourcing Can Be Used for Strategy Dialogues, it is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left Crowdsourcing Dialogues vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.
High dependence on star products
– The top 2 products and services of the firm as mentioned in the Democratizing Strategy: How Crowdsourcing Can Be Used for Strategy Dialogues 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 Crowdsourcing Dialogues has relatively successful track record of launching new products.
Slow to harness new channels of communication
– Even though competitors are using new communication channels such as Instagram, Tiktok, and Snap, Crowdsourcing Dialogues is slow explore the new channels of communication. These new channels of communication mentioned in marketing section of case study Democratizing Strategy: How Crowdsourcing Can Be Used for Strategy Dialogues can help to provide better information regarding products and services. It can also build an online community to further reach out to potential customers.
Lack of clear differentiation of Crowdsourcing Dialogues products
– To increase the profitability and margins on the products, Crowdsourcing Dialogues needs to provide more differentiated products than what it is currently offering in the marketplace.
No frontier risks strategy
– After analyzing the HBR case study Democratizing Strategy: How Crowdsourcing Can Be Used for Strategy Dialogues, 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.
Slow to strategic competitive environment developments
– As Democratizing Strategy: How Crowdsourcing Can Be Used for Strategy Dialogues HBR case study mentions - Crowdsourcing Dialogues 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.
Skills based hiring
– The stress on hiring functional specialists at Crowdsourcing Dialogues 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.
Slow decision making process
– As mentioned earlier in the report, Crowdsourcing Dialogues 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. Crowdsourcing Dialogues 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.
High operating costs
– Compare to the competitors, firm in the HBR case study Democratizing Strategy: How Crowdsourcing Can Be Used for Strategy Dialogues 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 Crowdsourcing Dialogues 's lucrative customers.
Employees’ incomplete understanding of strategy
– From the instances in the HBR case study Democratizing Strategy: How Crowdsourcing Can Be Used for Strategy Dialogues, it seems that the employees of Crowdsourcing Dialogues 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.
Low market penetration in new markets
– Outside its home market of Crowdsourcing Dialogues, firm in the HBR case study Democratizing Strategy: How Crowdsourcing Can Be Used for Strategy Dialogues needs to spend more promotional, marketing, and advertising efforts to penetrate international markets.
Opportunities Democratizing Strategy: How Crowdsourcing Can Be Used for Strategy Dialogues | 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 Democratizing Strategy: How Crowdsourcing Can Be Used for Strategy Dialogues are -
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 Crowdsourcing Dialogues 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.
Loyalty marketing
– Crowdsourcing Dialogues 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.
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Crowdsourcing Dialogues has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Crowdsourcing Dialogues to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the Democratizing Strategy: How Crowdsourcing Can Be Used for Strategy Dialogues case study. Crowdsourcing Dialogues can build new products and services such as - data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
Leveraging digital technologies
– Crowdsourcing Dialogues 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.
Lowering marketing communication costs
– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Crowdsourcing Dialogues 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.
Redefining models of collaboration and team work
– As explained in the weaknesses section, Crowdsourcing Dialogues is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. Democratizing Strategy: How Crowdsourcing Can Be Used for Strategy Dialogues 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.
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. Crowdsourcing Dialogues can tie-up with other value chain partners to explore new opportunities regarding meeting customer demands and building a rewarding and engaging relationship.
Developing new processes and practices
– Crowdsourcing Dialogues 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.
Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains
– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Crowdsourcing Dialogues 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, Democratizing Strategy: How Crowdsourcing Can Be Used for Strategy Dialogues, to buy more products closer to the markets, and it can leverage its size and influence to get better deal from the local markets.
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– Crowdsourcing Dialogues 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 Democratizing Strategy: How Crowdsourcing Can Be Used for Strategy Dialogues - to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Crowdsourcing Dialogues to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
Manufacturing automation
– Crowdsourcing Dialogues 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.
Better consumer reach
– The expansion of the 5G network will help Crowdsourcing Dialogues to increase its market reach. Crowdsourcing Dialogues 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.
Reforming the budgeting process
- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects Crowdsourcing Dialogues can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.
Threats Democratizing Strategy: How Crowdsourcing Can Be Used for Strategy Dialogues External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Democratizing Strategy: How Crowdsourcing Can Be Used for Strategy Dialogues 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.
Environmental challenges
– Crowdsourcing Dialogues 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. Crowdsourcing Dialogues can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Innovation & Entrepreneurship industry.
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Crowdsourcing Dialogues 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.
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 Crowdsourcing Dialogues business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
Regulatory challenges
– Crowdsourcing Dialogues 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.
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. Crowdsourcing Dialogues needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Innovation & Entrepreneurship industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Crowdsourcing Dialogues has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Innovation & Entrepreneurship industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Crowdsourcing Dialogues 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.
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Crowdsourcing Dialogues 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.
Consumer confidence and its impact on Crowdsourcing Dialogues 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 wage structure of Crowdsourcing Dialogues
– 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 Crowdsourcing Dialogues.
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Crowdsourcing Dialogues 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 Democratizing Strategy: How Crowdsourcing Can Be Used for Strategy Dialogues .
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 Crowdsourcing Dialogues.
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, as highlighted in case study Democratizing Strategy: How Crowdsourcing Can Be Used for Strategy Dialogues, Crowdsourcing Dialogues 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 Democratizing Strategy: How Crowdsourcing Can Be Used for Strategy Dialogues 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 Democratizing Strategy: How Crowdsourcing Can Be Used for Strategy Dialogues 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 Democratizing Strategy: How Crowdsourcing Can Be Used for Strategy Dialogues 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 Democratizing Strategy: How Crowdsourcing Can Be Used for Strategy Dialogues 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 Democratizing Strategy: How Crowdsourcing Can Be Used for Strategy Dialogues 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 Crowdsourcing Dialogues needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.