From Founder to CEO: An Entrepreneur's Roadmap SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Innovation & Entrepreneurship
Strategy / MBA Resources
Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of From Founder to CEO: An Entrepreneur's Roadmap
Many entrepreneurs aspire to build an exceptional company, reap the rewards, and retain the CEO position at the end of the journey. Launching the startup is only the first step. The period of transition during which a startup grows up and becomes a scalable business is arguably the most critical time in the life of an emerging firm. We summarize the challenges of this period in a framework-the eight hurdles of transition-that outlines the essential steps in the evolution from a nascent startup into a disciplined organization capable of sustained and profitable growth. As the company engages the eight hurdles, the entrepreneur who aspires to retain the top position must embark on a parallel journey of personal and professional growth: the transition from founder to CEO. The skills, motivations, and behaviors that make a good entrepreneur are not the same as those required to lead a high growth organization. Using the literature and five scenarios from personal experience, I summarize the most commonly cited reasons for CEO replacement. Some are beyond the founder's control; most are not. We identify five shifts in perspectives and behaviors essential to retaining the CEO position and provide practical guidance for developing the founder's leadership capabilities.
Swot Analysis of "From Founder to CEO: An Entrepreneur's Roadmap" written by Joseph C. Picken includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Summarize Startup facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in From Founder to CEO: An Entrepreneur's Roadmap case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Leadership transitions and Innovation & Entrepreneurship.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the From Founder to CEO: An Entrepreneur's Roadmap casestudy better are - – increasing household debt because of falling income levels, there is increasing trade war between United States & China, increasing inequality as vast percentage of new income is going to the top 1%, geopolitical disruptions, central banks are concerned over increasing inflation, cloud computing is disrupting traditional business models, challanges to central banks by blockchain based private currencies,
banking and financial system is disrupted by Bitcoin and other crypto currencies, there is backlash against globalization, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of From Founder to CEO: An Entrepreneur's Roadmap
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in From Founder to CEO: An Entrepreneur's Roadmap case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Summarize Startup, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Summarize Startup 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 From Founder to CEO: An Entrepreneur's Roadmap can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in From Founder to CEO: An Entrepreneur's Roadmap case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Summarize Startup
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 Summarize Startup
Strengths From Founder to CEO: An Entrepreneur's Roadmap | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Summarize Startup in From Founder to CEO: An Entrepreneur's Roadmap Harvard Business Review case study are -
Ability to recruit top talent
– Summarize Startup is one of the leading recruiters in the industry. Managers in the From Founder to CEO: An Entrepreneur's Roadmap are in a position to attract the best talent available. The firm has a robust talent identification program that helps in identifying the brightest.
Digital Transformation in Innovation & Entrepreneurship segment
- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For Summarize Startup digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Summarize Startup 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.
Operational resilience
– The operational resilience strategy in the From Founder to CEO: An Entrepreneur's Roadmap 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.
Analytics focus
– Summarize Startup 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 Joseph C. Picken 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.
Cross disciplinary teams
– Horizontal connected teams at the Summarize Startup are driving operational speed, building greater agility, and keeping the organization nimble to compete with new competitors. It helps are organization to ideate new ideas, and execute them swiftly in the marketplace.
Diverse revenue streams
– Summarize Startup is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided firm in From Founder to CEO: An Entrepreneur's Roadmap 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.
Successful track record of launching new products
– Summarize Startup has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Summarize Startup 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.
Superior customer experience
– The customer experience strategy of Summarize Startup in the segment is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.
Training and development
– Summarize Startup has one of the best training and development program in the industry. The effectiveness of the training programs can be measured in From Founder to CEO: An Entrepreneur's Roadmap 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
- Summarize Startup 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 Summarize Startup is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders in From Founder to CEO: An Entrepreneur's Roadmap Harvard Business Review case study emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
Organizational Resilience of Summarize Startup
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing that Summarize Startup 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 Summarize Startup in the sector have low bargaining power. From Founder to CEO: An Entrepreneur's Roadmap has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Summarize Startup to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
Weaknesses From Founder to CEO: An Entrepreneur's Roadmap | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of From Founder to CEO: An Entrepreneur's Roadmap are -
Capital Spending Reduction
– Even during the low interest decade, Summarize Startup 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.
Slow to harness new channels of communication
– Even though competitors are using new communication channels such as Instagram, Tiktok, and Snap, Summarize Startup is slow explore the new channels of communication. These new channels of communication mentioned in marketing section of case study From Founder to CEO: An Entrepreneur's Roadmap can help to provide better information regarding products and services. It can also build an online community to further reach out to potential customers.
High cash cycle compare to competitors
Summarize Startup 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.
High operating costs
– Compare to the competitors, firm in the HBR case study From Founder to CEO: An Entrepreneur's Roadmap 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 Summarize Startup 's lucrative customers.
Ability to respond to the competition
– As the decision making is very deliberative, highlighted in the case study From Founder to CEO: An Entrepreneur's Roadmap, in the dynamic environment Summarize Startup has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. Summarize Startup has reasonably good record with similar level competitors but it has struggled with new entrants taking away niches of its business.
Slow to strategic competitive environment developments
– As From Founder to CEO: An Entrepreneur's Roadmap HBR case study mentions - Summarize Startup takes time to assess the upcoming competitions. This has led to missing out on atleast 2-3 big opportunities in the industry in last five years.
Employees’ incomplete understanding of strategy
– From the instances in the HBR case study From Founder to CEO: An Entrepreneur's Roadmap, it seems that the employees of Summarize Startup 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.
Skills based hiring
– The stress on hiring functional specialists at Summarize Startup 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.
Need for greater diversity
– Summarize Startup 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.
Lack of clear differentiation of Summarize Startup products
– To increase the profitability and margins on the products, Summarize Startup needs to provide more differentiated products than what it is currently offering in the marketplace.
Interest costs
– Compare to the competition, Summarize Startup 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.
Opportunities From Founder to CEO: An Entrepreneur's Roadmap | 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 From Founder to CEO: An Entrepreneur's Roadmap are -
Redefining models of collaboration and team work
– As explained in the weaknesses section, Summarize Startup is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. From Founder to CEO: An Entrepreneur's Roadmap 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.
Building a culture of innovation
– managers at Summarize Startup 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.
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 Summarize Startup in the consumer business. Now Summarize Startup can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.
Loyalty marketing
– Summarize Startup 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.
Leveraging digital technologies
– Summarize Startup 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.
Manufacturing automation
– Summarize Startup 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.
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. Summarize Startup 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
– Summarize Startup 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.
Reforming the budgeting process
- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects Summarize Startup can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Summarize Startup has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Summarize Startup to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the From Founder to CEO: An Entrepreneur's Roadmap case study. Summarize Startup can build new products and services such as - data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
Low interest rates
– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Summarize Startup 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.
Learning at scale
– Online learning technologies has now opened space for Summarize Startup to conduct training and development for its employees across the world. This will result in not only reducing the cost of training but also help employees in different part of the world to integrate with the headquarter work culture, ethos, and standards.
Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities
– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Summarize Startup 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 Summarize Startup to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
Threats From Founder to CEO: An Entrepreneur's Roadmap External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study From Founder to CEO: An Entrepreneur's Roadmap are -
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 Summarize Startup.
Consumer confidence and its impact on Summarize Startup 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.
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry in the industry are lowering. It can presents Summarize Startup with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the sector.
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.
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 Summarize Startup in the Innovation & Entrepreneurship sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
Easy access to finance
– Easy access to finance in Innovation & Entrepreneurship field will also reduce the barriers to entry in the industry, thus putting downward pressure on the prices because of increasing competition. Summarize Startup can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
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.
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Summarize Startup 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.
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Summarize Startup is facing in Innovation & Entrepreneurship sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Summarize Startup 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 From Founder to CEO: An Entrepreneur's Roadmap .
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, as highlighted in case study From Founder to CEO: An Entrepreneur's Roadmap, Summarize Startup 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 .
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Summarize Startup has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Innovation & Entrepreneurship industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Summarize Startup 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.
High dependence on third party suppliers
– Summarize Startup 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.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of From Founder to CEO: An Entrepreneur's Roadmap 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 From Founder to CEO: An Entrepreneur's Roadmap 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 From Founder to CEO: An Entrepreneur's Roadmap 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 From Founder to CEO: An Entrepreneur's Roadmap 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 From Founder to CEO: An Entrepreneur's Roadmap 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 Summarize Startup needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.