Marc Abrahams: Annals of an Improbable Entrepreneur SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Innovation & Entrepreneurship
Strategy / MBA Resources
Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of Marc Abrahams: Annals of an Improbable Entrepreneur
Marc Abrahams was a media entrepreneur who specialized in science humor. In 2008, he sought to boost the scale and monetization potential of his business. That business, called Improbable Research, encompassed a magazine (Annals of Improbable Research), a high-profile annual event (the Ig Nobel Prize Ceremony), a web site (improbable.com), a series of books, and various public appearances. This case uses the story of the "improbable" emergence and expansion of that business to investigate the challenges and opportunities faced by an individual who seeks to build an enterprise around his own human capital. It includes background information on Abrahams's earlier career, a summary of the various segments of his company, and a discussion of recent efforts by Abrahams to break free of constraints that have limited the size and revenue-generating ability of Improbable Research for many years. Among those efforts are a decision to distribute magazine content over the Internet for free and a major investment in producing video content for the web. The case concludes by presenting various options under consideration by Abrahams--options that dealt both with external challenges (How should he define his brand? Which markets should he target?) and with internal challenges (Are there key positions that he should hire to fill?). The case also features lively exhibits that illustrate Abrahams's value proposition, analyze his business model and revenue sources, and so forth.
Swot Analysis of "Marc Abrahams: Annals of an Improbable Entrepreneur" written by Boris Groysberg, Michael Slind includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Improbable Abrahams facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Marc Abrahams: Annals of an Improbable Entrepreneur case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Entrepreneurship, Informal leadership, Leadership development, Leading teams and Innovation & Entrepreneurship.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Marc Abrahams: Annals of an Improbable Entrepreneur casestudy better are - – central banks are concerned over increasing inflation, supply chains are disrupted by pandemic , there is increasing trade war between United States & China, challanges to central banks by blockchain based private currencies, technology disruption, increasing government debt because of Covid-19 spendings, increasing energy prices,
geopolitical disruptions, cloud computing is disrupting traditional business models, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Marc Abrahams: Annals of an Improbable Entrepreneur
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Marc Abrahams: Annals of an Improbable Entrepreneur case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Improbable Abrahams, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Improbable Abrahams 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 Marc Abrahams: Annals of an Improbable Entrepreneur can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Marc Abrahams: Annals of an Improbable Entrepreneur case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Improbable Abrahams
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 Improbable Abrahams
Strengths Marc Abrahams: Annals of an Improbable Entrepreneur | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Improbable Abrahams in Marc Abrahams: Annals of an Improbable Entrepreneur Harvard Business Review case study are -
Diverse revenue streams
– Improbable Abrahams is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided firm in Marc Abrahams: Annals of an Improbable Entrepreneur 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.
Ability to lead change in Innovation & Entrepreneurship field
– Improbable Abrahams 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 Improbable Abrahams in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.
Strong track record of project management
– Improbable Abrahams 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
– Marc Abrahams: Annals of an Improbable Entrepreneur firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Improbable Abrahams to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Innovation & Entrepreneurship industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Improbable Abrahams to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Organizational Resilience of Improbable Abrahams
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing that Improbable Abrahams does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
High brand equity
– Improbable Abrahams has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Improbable Abrahams to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Superior customer experience
– The customer experience strategy of Improbable Abrahams 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 Improbable Abrahams 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.
Innovation driven organization
– Improbable Abrahams is one of the most innovative firm in sector. Manager in Marc Abrahams: Annals of an Improbable Entrepreneur Harvard Business Review case study can use Clayton Christensen Disruptive Innovation strategies to further increase the scale of innovtions in the organization.
Effective Research and Development (R&D)
– Improbable Abrahams 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 Marc Abrahams: Annals of an Improbable Entrepreneur - staying ahead in the industry in terms of – new product launches, superior customer experience, highly competitive pricing strategies, and great returns to the shareholders.
Highly skilled collaborators
– Improbable Abrahams 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 Marc Abrahams: Annals of an Improbable Entrepreneur HBR case study have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
Operational resilience
– The operational resilience strategy in the Marc Abrahams: Annals of an Improbable Entrepreneur Harvard Business Review case study comprises – understanding the underlying the factors in the industry, building diversified operations across different geographies so that disruption in one part of the world doesn’t impact the overall performance of the firm, and integrating the various business operations and processes through its digital transformation drive.
Weaknesses Marc Abrahams: Annals of an Improbable Entrepreneur | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Marc Abrahams: Annals of an Improbable Entrepreneur are -
High bargaining power of channel partners
– Because of the regulatory requirements, Boris Groysberg, Michael Slind suggests that, Improbable Abrahams 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.
Capital Spending Reduction
– Even during the low interest decade, Improbable Abrahams 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.
Skills based hiring
– The stress on hiring functional specialists at Improbable Abrahams 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.
High dependence on star products
– The top 2 products and services of the firm as mentioned in the Marc Abrahams: Annals of an Improbable Entrepreneur 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 Improbable Abrahams has relatively successful track record of launching new products.
Lack of clear differentiation of Improbable Abrahams products
– To increase the profitability and margins on the products, Improbable Abrahams needs to provide more differentiated products than what it is currently offering in the marketplace.
Products dominated business model
– Even though Improbable Abrahams 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 - Marc Abrahams: Annals of an Improbable Entrepreneur should strive to include more intangible value offerings along with its core products and services.
No frontier risks strategy
– After analyzing the HBR case study Marc Abrahams: Annals of an Improbable Entrepreneur, 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.
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 Improbable Abrahams supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes mentioned in the HBR case study - Marc Abrahams: Annals of an Improbable Entrepreneur, it is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left Improbable Abrahams vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.
Slow decision making process
– As mentioned earlier in the report, Improbable Abrahams 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. Improbable Abrahams 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.
Interest costs
– Compare to the competition, Improbable Abrahams 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.
Slow to strategic competitive environment developments
– As Marc Abrahams: Annals of an Improbable Entrepreneur HBR case study mentions - Improbable Abrahams 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.
Opportunities Marc Abrahams: Annals of an Improbable Entrepreneur | 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 Marc Abrahams: Annals of an Improbable Entrepreneur are -
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 Improbable Abrahams in the consumer business. Now Improbable Abrahams can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.
Reforming the budgeting process
- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects Improbable Abrahams 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 Improbable Abrahams has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Improbable Abrahams to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the Marc Abrahams: Annals of an Improbable Entrepreneur case study. Improbable Abrahams can build new products and services such as - data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
Learning at scale
– Online learning technologies has now opened space for Improbable Abrahams 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.
Redefining models of collaboration and team work
– As explained in the weaknesses section, Improbable Abrahams is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. Marc Abrahams: Annals of an Improbable Entrepreneur 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.
Changes in consumer behavior post Covid-19
– Consumer behavior has changed in the Innovation & Entrepreneurship industry because of Covid-19 restrictions. Some of this behavior will stay once things get back to normal. Improbable Abrahams can take advantage of these changes in consumer behavior to build a far more efficient business model. For example consumer regular ordering of products can reduce both last mile delivery costs and market penetration costs. Improbable Abrahams can further use this consumer data to build better customer loyalty, provide better products and service collection, and improve the value proposition in inflationary times.
Better consumer reach
– The expansion of the 5G network will help Improbable Abrahams to increase its market reach. Improbable Abrahams 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.
Leveraging digital technologies
– Improbable Abrahams 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.
Increase in government spending
– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Improbable Abrahams can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Improbable Abrahams operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Innovation & Entrepreneurship sector.
Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains
– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Improbable Abrahams 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, Marc Abrahams: Annals of an Improbable Entrepreneur, to buy more products closer to the markets, and it can leverage its size and influence to get better deal from the local markets.
Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities
– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Improbable Abrahams 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 Improbable Abrahams to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
Building a culture of innovation
– managers at Improbable Abrahams 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.
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 Improbable Abrahams 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.
Threats Marc Abrahams: Annals of an Improbable Entrepreneur External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Marc Abrahams: Annals of an Improbable Entrepreneur are -
High dependence on third party suppliers
– Improbable Abrahams 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.
Regulatory challenges
– Improbable Abrahams 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.
Increasing wage structure of Improbable Abrahams
– 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 Improbable Abrahams.
Instability in the European markets
– European Union markets are facing three big challenges post Covid – expanded balance sheets, Brexit related business disruption, and aggressive Russia looking to distract the existing security mechanism. Improbable Abrahams will face different problems in different parts of Europe. For example it will face inflationary pressures in UK, France, and Germany, balance sheet expansion and demand challenges in Southern European countries, and geopolitical instability in the Eastern Europe.
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry in the industry are lowering. It can presents Improbable Abrahams with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the sector.
Consumer confidence and its impact on Improbable Abrahams 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 international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Improbable Abrahams 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 Marc Abrahams: Annals of an Improbable Entrepreneur .
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 Improbable Abrahams.
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 Improbable Abrahams in the Innovation & Entrepreneurship sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
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 Improbable Abrahams business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
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. Improbable Abrahams can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Improbable Abrahams is facing in Innovation & Entrepreneurship sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Improbable Abrahams 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.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Marc Abrahams: Annals of an Improbable Entrepreneur 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 Marc Abrahams: Annals of an Improbable Entrepreneur 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 Marc Abrahams: Annals of an Improbable Entrepreneur 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 Marc Abrahams: Annals of an Improbable Entrepreneur 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 Marc Abrahams: Annals of an Improbable Entrepreneur 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 Improbable Abrahams needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.