Sustainability and Innovation: Frameworks, Concepts, and Tools for Product and Strategy Redesign SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Innovation & Entrepreneurship
Strategy / MBA Resources
Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of Sustainability and Innovation: Frameworks, Concepts, and Tools for Product and Strategy Redesign
This technical note introduces the concepts and terms entrepreneurial innovators use in addressing sustainability. It explores the evolution of such terms as sustainable development, environmental justice, earth systems engineering, sustainable science, the Natural Step framework, industrial ecology, and bio-mimicry. It also explores how paradigms are created and replaced.
Swot Analysis of "Sustainability and Innovation: Frameworks, Concepts, and Tools for Product and Strategy Redesign" written by Andrea Larson includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Mimicry Concepts facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Sustainability and Innovation: Frameworks, Concepts, and Tools for Product and Strategy Redesign case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Entrepreneurship, Innovation, Sustainability and Innovation & Entrepreneurship.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Sustainability and Innovation: Frameworks, Concepts, and Tools for Product and Strategy Redesign casestudy better are - – there is backlash against globalization, central banks are concerned over increasing inflation, increasing household debt because of falling income levels, increasing commodity prices, talent flight as more people leaving formal jobs, technology disruption, geopolitical disruptions,
customer relationship management is fast transforming because of increasing concerns over data privacy, cloud computing is disrupting traditional business models, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Sustainability and Innovation: Frameworks, Concepts, and Tools for Product and Strategy Redesign
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Sustainability and Innovation: Frameworks, Concepts, and Tools for Product and Strategy Redesign case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Mimicry Concepts, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Mimicry Concepts 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 Sustainability and Innovation: Frameworks, Concepts, and Tools for Product and Strategy Redesign can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Sustainability and Innovation: Frameworks, Concepts, and Tools for Product and Strategy Redesign case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Mimicry Concepts
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 Mimicry Concepts
Strengths Sustainability and Innovation: Frameworks, Concepts, and Tools for Product and Strategy Redesign | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Mimicry Concepts in Sustainability and Innovation: Frameworks, Concepts, and Tools for Product and Strategy Redesign Harvard Business Review case study are -
Ability to lead change in Innovation & Entrepreneurship field
– Mimicry Concepts 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 Mimicry Concepts in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.
Superior customer experience
– The customer experience strategy of Mimicry Concepts in the segment is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.
Strong track record of project management
– Mimicry Concepts is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Innovation & Entrepreneurship industry
– Sustainability and Innovation: Frameworks, Concepts, and Tools for Product and Strategy Redesign firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Mimicry Concepts to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Innovation & Entrepreneurship industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Mimicry Concepts to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Training and development
– Mimicry Concepts has one of the best training and development program in the industry. The effectiveness of the training programs can be measured in Sustainability and Innovation: Frameworks, Concepts, and Tools for Product and Strategy Redesign 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.
Learning organization
- Mimicry Concepts 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 Mimicry Concepts is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders in Sustainability and Innovation: Frameworks, Concepts, and Tools for Product and Strategy Redesign Harvard Business Review case study emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
Innovation driven organization
– Mimicry Concepts is one of the most innovative firm in sector. Manager in Sustainability and Innovation: Frameworks, Concepts, and Tools for Product and Strategy Redesign Harvard Business Review case study can use Clayton Christensen Disruptive Innovation strategies to further increase the scale of innovtions in the organization.
Analytics focus
– Mimicry Concepts 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 Andrea Larson 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.
Operational resilience
– The operational resilience strategy in the Sustainability and Innovation: Frameworks, Concepts, and Tools for Product and Strategy Redesign 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.
Highly skilled collaborators
– Mimicry Concepts 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 Sustainability and Innovation: Frameworks, Concepts, and Tools for Product and Strategy Redesign HBR case study have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
Organizational Resilience of Mimicry Concepts
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing that Mimicry Concepts does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
High switching costs
– The high switching costs that Mimicry Concepts 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 Sustainability and Innovation: Frameworks, Concepts, and Tools for Product and Strategy Redesign | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Sustainability and Innovation: Frameworks, Concepts, and Tools for Product and Strategy Redesign are -
Compensation and incentives
– The revenue per employee as mentioned in the HBR case study Sustainability and Innovation: Frameworks, Concepts, and Tools for Product and Strategy Redesign, is just above the industry average. Mimicry Concepts needs to redesign the compensation structure and incentives to increase the revenue per employees. Some of the steps that it can take are – hiring more specialists on project basis, etc.
Lack of clear differentiation of Mimicry Concepts products
– To increase the profitability and margins on the products, Mimicry Concepts needs to provide more differentiated products than what it is currently offering in the marketplace.
Products dominated business model
– Even though Mimicry Concepts 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 - Sustainability and Innovation: Frameworks, Concepts, and Tools for Product and Strategy Redesign should strive to include more intangible value offerings along with its core products and services.
Need for greater diversity
– Mimicry Concepts 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.
Workers concerns about automation
– As automation is fast increasing in the segment, Mimicry Concepts 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 Sustainability and Innovation: Frameworks, Concepts, and Tools for Product and Strategy Redesign 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 Mimicry Concepts 's lucrative customers.
High dependence on star products
– The top 2 products and services of the firm as mentioned in the Sustainability and Innovation: Frameworks, Concepts, and Tools for Product and Strategy Redesign 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 Mimicry Concepts has relatively successful track record of launching new products.
High cash cycle compare to competitors
Mimicry Concepts 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.
Employees’ incomplete understanding of strategy
– From the instances in the HBR case study Sustainability and Innovation: Frameworks, Concepts, and Tools for Product and Strategy Redesign, it seems that the employees of Mimicry Concepts 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.
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 Mimicry Concepts supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes mentioned in the HBR case study - Sustainability and Innovation: Frameworks, Concepts, and Tools for Product and Strategy Redesign, it is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left Mimicry Concepts vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.
Capital Spending Reduction
– Even during the low interest decade, Mimicry Concepts 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.
Opportunities Sustainability and Innovation: Frameworks, Concepts, and Tools for Product and Strategy Redesign | 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 Sustainability and Innovation: Frameworks, Concepts, and Tools for Product and Strategy Redesign are -
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. Mimicry Concepts can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.
Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities
– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Mimicry Concepts 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 Mimicry Concepts to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
Better consumer reach
– The expansion of the 5G network will help Mimicry Concepts to increase its market reach. Mimicry Concepts 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.
Developing new processes and practices
– Mimicry Concepts 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.
Low interest rates
– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Mimicry Concepts 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.
Building a culture of innovation
– managers at Mimicry Concepts 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. Mimicry Concepts can tie-up with other value chain partners to explore new opportunities regarding meeting customer demands and building a rewarding and engaging relationship.
Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains
– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Mimicry Concepts 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, Sustainability and Innovation: Frameworks, Concepts, and Tools for Product and Strategy Redesign, to buy more products closer to the markets, and it can leverage its size and influence to get better deal from the local markets.
Reforming the budgeting process
- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects Mimicry Concepts can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.
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 Mimicry Concepts in the consumer business. Now Mimicry Concepts can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.
Buying journey improvements
– Mimicry Concepts can improve the customer journey of consumers in the industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. Sustainability and Innovation: Frameworks, Concepts, and Tools for Product and Strategy Redesign 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.
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– Mimicry Concepts 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 Sustainability and Innovation: Frameworks, Concepts, and Tools for Product and Strategy Redesign - to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Mimicry Concepts to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
Increase in government spending
– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Mimicry Concepts can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Mimicry Concepts operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Innovation & Entrepreneurship sector.
Threats Sustainability and Innovation: Frameworks, Concepts, and Tools for Product and Strategy Redesign External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Sustainability and Innovation: Frameworks, Concepts, and Tools for Product and Strategy Redesign are -
Consumer confidence and its impact on Mimicry Concepts 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.
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 Mimicry Concepts business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Mimicry Concepts 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.
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Mimicry Concepts has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Innovation & Entrepreneurship industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Mimicry Concepts 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.
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.
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Mimicry Concepts 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.
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry in the industry are lowering. It can presents Mimicry Concepts with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the sector.
High dependence on third party suppliers
– Mimicry Concepts 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.
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Mimicry Concepts is facing in Innovation & Entrepreneurship sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, as highlighted in case study Sustainability and Innovation: Frameworks, Concepts, and Tools for Product and Strategy Redesign, Mimicry Concepts 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 .
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 Mimicry Concepts in the Innovation & Entrepreneurship sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
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. Mimicry Concepts needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Innovation & Entrepreneurship industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
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 Mimicry Concepts.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Sustainability and Innovation: Frameworks, Concepts, and Tools for Product and Strategy Redesign 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 Sustainability and Innovation: Frameworks, Concepts, and Tools for Product and Strategy Redesign 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 Sustainability and Innovation: Frameworks, Concepts, and Tools for Product and Strategy Redesign 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 Sustainability and Innovation: Frameworks, Concepts, and Tools for Product and Strategy Redesign 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 Sustainability and Innovation: Frameworks, Concepts, and Tools for Product and Strategy Redesign 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 Mimicry Concepts needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.
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