The Kid Grows Up: Decisions at the Sundance Institute SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Innovation & Entrepreneurship
Strategy / MBA Resources
Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of The Kid Grows Up: Decisions at the Sundance Institute
The Sundance case raises the question of how markets for innovative cultural products can be created and what the role of intermediaries in creative industries ought to be. The case describes the history of the Sundance Institute, which was founded by actor/director Robert Redford to promote independent filmmaking. Started as a "Lab," where independent filmmakers could work on their film projects, the Institute soon expanded to organize the Sundance Film Festival in order to facilitate the exhibition and distribution of independent films, including those not supported by the Sundance Labs. Thirty years after Sundance was founded, its top management team wonders whether the mission of Sundance would be best served by increasing and improving the supply of independent films in the market, or by educating consumers to create an audience for independent cinema.
Swot Analysis of "The Kid Grows Up: Decisions at the Sundance Institute" written by Mukti Khaire, Eleanor Kenyon includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Sundance Independent facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in The Kid Grows Up: Decisions at the Sundance Institute case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Decision making, Entrepreneurship and Innovation & Entrepreneurship.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the The Kid Grows Up: Decisions at the Sundance Institute casestudy better are - – wage bills are increasing, increasing transportation and logistics costs, competitive advantages are harder to sustain because of technology dispersion, increasing energy prices, cloud computing is disrupting traditional business models, increasing household debt because of falling income levels, increasing government debt because of Covid-19 spendings,
talent flight as more people leaving formal jobs, geopolitical disruptions, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of The Kid Grows Up: Decisions at the Sundance Institute
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in The Kid Grows Up: Decisions at the Sundance Institute case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Sundance Independent, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Sundance Independent 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 The Kid Grows Up: Decisions at the Sundance Institute can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in The Kid Grows Up: Decisions at the Sundance Institute case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Sundance Independent
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 Sundance Independent
Strengths The Kid Grows Up: Decisions at the Sundance Institute | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Sundance Independent in The Kid Grows Up: Decisions at the Sundance Institute Harvard Business Review case study are -
High brand equity
– Sundance Independent has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Sundance Independent to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Learning organization
- Sundance Independent 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 Sundance Independent is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders in The Kid Grows Up: Decisions at the Sundance Institute Harvard Business Review case study emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
Strong track record of project management
– Sundance Independent is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.
Ability to lead change in Innovation & Entrepreneurship field
– Sundance Independent 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 Sundance Independent in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of Sundance Independent in the sector have low bargaining power. The Kid Grows Up: Decisions at the Sundance Institute has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Sundance Independent to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
High switching costs
– The high switching costs that Sundance Independent has built up over years in its products and services combo offer has resulted in high retention of customers, lower marketing costs, and greater ability of the firm to focus on its customers.
Analytics focus
– Sundance Independent 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 Mukti Khaire, Eleanor Kenyon can also help it to harness the power of analytics for – marketing optimization, demand forecasting, customer relationship management, inventory management, information sharing across the value chain etc.
Ability to recruit top talent
– Sundance Independent is one of the leading recruiters in the industry. Managers in the The Kid Grows Up: Decisions at the Sundance Institute are in a position to attract the best talent available. The firm has a robust talent identification program that helps in identifying the brightest.
Organizational Resilience of Sundance Independent
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing that Sundance Independent does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
Highly skilled collaborators
– Sundance Independent 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 The Kid Grows Up: Decisions at the Sundance Institute HBR case study have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
Effective Research and Development (R&D)
– Sundance Independent 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 The Kid Grows Up: Decisions at the Sundance Institute - staying ahead in the industry in terms of – new product launches, superior customer experience, highly competitive pricing strategies, and great returns to the shareholders.
Diverse revenue streams
– Sundance Independent is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided firm in The Kid Grows Up: Decisions at the Sundance Institute 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.
Weaknesses The Kid Grows Up: Decisions at the Sundance Institute | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of The Kid Grows Up: Decisions at the Sundance Institute are -
Compensation and incentives
– The revenue per employee as mentioned in the HBR case study The Kid Grows Up: Decisions at the Sundance Institute, is just above the industry average. Sundance Independent 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.
Products dominated business model
– Even though Sundance Independent 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 - The Kid Grows Up: Decisions at the Sundance Institute should strive to include more intangible value offerings along with its core products and services.
Aligning sales with marketing
– It come across in the case study The Kid Grows Up: Decisions at the Sundance Institute that the firm needs to have more collaboration between its sales team and marketing team. Sales professionals in the industry have deep experience in developing customer relationships. Marketing department in the case The Kid Grows Up: Decisions at the Sundance Institute can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Sundance Independent is planning to shift buying processes online.
Skills based hiring
– The stress on hiring functional specialists at Sundance Independent 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 The Kid Grows Up: Decisions at the Sundance Institute 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 Sundance Independent has relatively successful track record of launching new products.
Slow to strategic competitive environment developments
– As The Kid Grows Up: Decisions at the Sundance Institute HBR case study mentions - Sundance Independent 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.
Increasing silos among functional specialists
– The organizational structure of Sundance Independent is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Innovation & Entrepreneurship segment. Sundance Independent needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Sundance Independent to focus more on services rather than just following the product oriented approach.
High bargaining power of channel partners
– Because of the regulatory requirements, Mukti Khaire, Eleanor Kenyon suggests that, Sundance Independent 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.
Need for greater diversity
– Sundance Independent 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 Sundance Independent products
– To increase the profitability and margins on the products, Sundance Independent needs to provide more differentiated products than what it is currently offering in the marketplace.
Slow to harness new channels of communication
– Even though competitors are using new communication channels such as Instagram, Tiktok, and Snap, Sundance Independent is slow explore the new channels of communication. These new channels of communication mentioned in marketing section of case study The Kid Grows Up: Decisions at the Sundance Institute can help to provide better information regarding products and services. It can also build an online community to further reach out to potential customers.
Opportunities The Kid Grows Up: Decisions at the Sundance Institute | 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 The Kid Grows Up: Decisions at the Sundance Institute are -
Redefining models of collaboration and team work
– As explained in the weaknesses section, Sundance Independent is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. The Kid Grows Up: Decisions at the Sundance Institute 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.
Buying journey improvements
– Sundance Independent can improve the customer journey of consumers in the industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. The Kid Grows Up: Decisions at the Sundance Institute 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.
Developing new processes and practices
– Sundance Independent 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 Sundance Independent can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.
Building a culture of innovation
– managers at Sundance Independent 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.
Increase in government spending
– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Sundance Independent can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Sundance Independent operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Innovation & Entrepreneurship sector.
Loyalty marketing
– Sundance Independent 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.
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– Sundance Independent 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 The Kid Grows Up: Decisions at the Sundance Institute - to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Sundance Independent to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
Manufacturing automation
– Sundance Independent 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.
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Sundance Independent has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Sundance Independent to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the The Kid Grows Up: Decisions at the Sundance Institute case study. Sundance Independent can build new products and services such as - data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
Lowering marketing communication costs
– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Sundance Independent 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.
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. Sundance Independent can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.
Better consumer reach
– The expansion of the 5G network will help Sundance Independent to increase its market reach. Sundance Independent 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.
Threats The Kid Grows Up: Decisions at the Sundance Institute External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study The Kid Grows Up: Decisions at the Sundance Institute are -
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 Sundance Independent business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
High dependence on third party suppliers
– Sundance Independent 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.
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Sundance Independent 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 Sundance Independent 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.
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Sundance Independent has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Innovation & Entrepreneurship industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Sundance Independent 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.
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. Sundance Independent 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.
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.
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. Sundance Independent needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Innovation & Entrepreneurship industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Sundance Independent 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.
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Sundance Independent 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 The Kid Grows Up: Decisions at the Sundance Institute, Sundance Independent 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 .
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 Sundance Independent.
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry in the industry are lowering. It can presents Sundance Independent with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the sector.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of The Kid Grows Up: Decisions at the Sundance Institute 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 The Kid Grows Up: Decisions at the Sundance Institute 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 The Kid Grows Up: Decisions at the Sundance Institute 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 The Kid Grows Up: Decisions at the Sundance Institute 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 The Kid Grows Up: Decisions at the Sundance Institute 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 Sundance Independent needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.
