Christo and Jeanne-Claude: The Art of the Entrepreneur SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Innovation & Entrepreneurship
Strategy / MBA Resources
Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of Christo and Jeanne-Claude: The Art of the Entrepreneur
To maximize their effectiveness, color cases should be printed in color.Christo and Jeanne-Claude, the artists who created The Gates in New York City in 2005, are trying to decide how best to finance their next project. Over the River, a project to drape sections of the Arkansas River with translucent fabric is a very different enterprise from The Gates. Bank Leu, the Swiss back that had provided a line of credit for The Gates, has declined the opportunity to participate in Over the River. As Christo and Jeanne-Claude review the Bank Leu vehicle, they must consider whether it is replicable to other projects and institutions or whether they should consider a different approach. Includes color exhibits.
Swot Analysis of "Christo and Jeanne-Claude: The Art of the Entrepreneur" written by Josh Lerner, G. Felda Hardymon includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Claude Jeanne facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Christo and Jeanne-Claude: The Art of the Entrepreneur case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Financial management, Risk management and Innovation & Entrepreneurship.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Christo and Jeanne-Claude: The Art of the Entrepreneur casestudy better are - – there is increasing trade war between United States & China, increasing inequality as vast percentage of new income is going to the top 1%, challanges to central banks by blockchain based private currencies, customer relationship management is fast transforming because of increasing concerns over data privacy, supply chains are disrupted by pandemic , talent flight as more people leaving formal jobs, increasing transportation and logistics costs,
cloud computing is disrupting traditional business models, banking and financial system is disrupted by Bitcoin and other crypto currencies, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Christo and Jeanne-Claude: The Art of the Entrepreneur
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Christo and Jeanne-Claude: The Art of the Entrepreneur case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Claude Jeanne, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Claude Jeanne 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 Christo and Jeanne-Claude: The Art of the Entrepreneur can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Christo and Jeanne-Claude: The Art of the Entrepreneur case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Claude Jeanne
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 Claude Jeanne
Strengths Christo and Jeanne-Claude: The Art of the Entrepreneur | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Claude Jeanne in Christo and Jeanne-Claude: The Art of the Entrepreneur Harvard Business Review case study are -
Organizational Resilience of Claude Jeanne
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing that Claude Jeanne does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
Training and development
– Claude Jeanne has one of the best training and development program in the industry. The effectiveness of the training programs can be measured in Christo and Jeanne-Claude: The Art of the Entrepreneur 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.
Operational resilience
– The operational resilience strategy in the Christo and Jeanne-Claude: The Art of the 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.
Innovation driven organization
– Claude Jeanne is one of the most innovative firm in sector. Manager in Christo and Jeanne-Claude: The Art of the Entrepreneur Harvard Business Review case study can use Clayton Christensen Disruptive Innovation strategies to further increase the scale of innovtions in the organization.
Ability to recruit top talent
– Claude Jeanne is one of the leading recruiters in the industry. Managers in the Christo and Jeanne-Claude: The Art of the Entrepreneur are in a position to attract the best talent available. The firm has a robust talent identification program that helps in identifying the brightest.
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Innovation & Entrepreneurship industry
– Christo and Jeanne-Claude: The Art of the Entrepreneur firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Claude Jeanne to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Innovation & Entrepreneurship industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Claude Jeanne to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Analytics focus
– Claude Jeanne 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 Josh Lerner, G. Felda Hardymon 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.
High switching costs
– The high switching costs that Claude Jeanne 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.
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of Claude Jeanne in the sector have low bargaining power. Christo and Jeanne-Claude: The Art of the Entrepreneur has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Claude Jeanne to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
Effective Research and Development (R&D)
– Claude Jeanne 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 Christo and Jeanne-Claude: The Art of the 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.
Cross disciplinary teams
– Horizontal connected teams at the Claude Jeanne 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.
High brand equity
– Claude Jeanne has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Claude Jeanne to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Weaknesses Christo and Jeanne-Claude: The Art of the Entrepreneur | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Christo and Jeanne-Claude: The Art of the Entrepreneur are -
High dependence on existing supply chain
– The disruption in the global supply chains because of the Covid-19 pandemic and blockage of the Suez Canal illustrated the fragile nature of Claude Jeanne supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes mentioned in the HBR case study - Christo and Jeanne-Claude: The Art of the Entrepreneur, it is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left Claude Jeanne vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.
Need for greater diversity
– Claude Jeanne 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.
Aligning sales with marketing
– It come across in the case study Christo and Jeanne-Claude: The Art of the Entrepreneur 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 Christo and Jeanne-Claude: The Art of the Entrepreneur can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Claude Jeanne is planning to shift buying processes online.
Products dominated business model
– Even though Claude Jeanne 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 - Christo and Jeanne-Claude: The Art of the Entrepreneur should strive to include more intangible value offerings along with its core products and services.
Interest costs
– Compare to the competition, Claude Jeanne 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.
Workers concerns about automation
– As automation is fast increasing in the segment, Claude Jeanne 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.
Capital Spending Reduction
– Even during the low interest decade, Claude Jeanne 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 strategic competitive environment developments
– As Christo and Jeanne-Claude: The Art of the Entrepreneur HBR case study mentions - Claude Jeanne 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.
Slow to harness new channels of communication
– Even though competitors are using new communication channels such as Instagram, Tiktok, and Snap, Claude Jeanne is slow explore the new channels of communication. These new channels of communication mentioned in marketing section of case study Christo and Jeanne-Claude: The Art of the Entrepreneur 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
Claude Jeanne 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 Christo and Jeanne-Claude: The Art of the Entrepreneur, it seems that the employees of Claude Jeanne 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.
Opportunities Christo and Jeanne-Claude: The Art of the 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 Christo and Jeanne-Claude: The Art of the Entrepreneur are -
Manufacturing automation
– Claude Jeanne 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.
Leveraging digital technologies
– Claude Jeanne 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.
Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains
– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Claude Jeanne 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, Christo and Jeanne-Claude: The Art of the 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.
Better consumer reach
– The expansion of the 5G network will help Claude Jeanne to increase its market reach. Claude Jeanne 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.
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. Claude Jeanne 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
– Claude Jeanne 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.
Redefining models of collaboration and team work
– As explained in the weaknesses section, Claude Jeanne is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. Christo and Jeanne-Claude: The Art of the 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.
Buying journey improvements
– Claude Jeanne can improve the customer journey of consumers in the industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. Christo and Jeanne-Claude: The Art of the Entrepreneur 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.
Learning at scale
– Online learning technologies has now opened space for Claude Jeanne 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.
Increase in government spending
– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Claude Jeanne can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Claude Jeanne operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Innovation & Entrepreneurship sector.
Loyalty marketing
– Claude Jeanne 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
– Claude Jeanne 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 Christo and Jeanne-Claude: The Art of the Entrepreneur - to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Claude Jeanne to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities
– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Claude Jeanne 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 Claude Jeanne to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
Threats Christo and Jeanne-Claude: The Art of the Entrepreneur External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Christo and Jeanne-Claude: The Art of the Entrepreneur are -
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Claude Jeanne 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.
Regulatory challenges
– Claude Jeanne 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.
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry in the industry are lowering. It can presents Claude Jeanne with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the sector.
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.
Environmental challenges
– Claude Jeanne needs to have a robust strategy against the disruptions arising from climate change and energy requirements. EU has identified it as key priority area and spending 30% of its 880 billion Euros European post Covid-19 recovery funds on green technology. Claude Jeanne can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Innovation & Entrepreneurship industry.
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Claude Jeanne is facing in Innovation & Entrepreneurship sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.
High dependence on third party suppliers
– Claude Jeanne 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.
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 Claude Jeanne business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, 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 Christo and Jeanne-Claude: The Art of the Entrepreneur, Claude Jeanne 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 Claude Jeanne.
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. Claude Jeanne 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.
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Claude Jeanne 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.
Increasing wage structure of Claude Jeanne
– 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 Claude Jeanne.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Christo and Jeanne-Claude: The Art of the 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 Christo and Jeanne-Claude: The Art of the 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 Christo and Jeanne-Claude: The Art of the 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 Christo and Jeanne-Claude: The Art of the 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 Christo and Jeanne-Claude: The Art of the 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 Claude Jeanne needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.