Calit2: A UC San Diego, UC Irvine Partnership SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Leadership & Managing People
Strategy / MBA Resources
Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of Calit2: A UC San Diego, UC Irvine Partnership
Larry Smarr, the founding director of the California Institute for Telecommunications and Information Technology (Calit2), reflects on the Institute's past 10 years of successes and challenges. In 2010, more than 700 university scientists, artists, engineers, and social scientists and over 300 non-university partners are associated with the Institute. Innovative and multi-disciplinary research projects are being carried out in diverse fields such as environmental monitoring, human/robotic communication, digital archaeology, nanotechnology, life sciences, information technology, and telecommunications. Calit2 was one of four new research initiatives created in 2000 in a partnership between the State of California, the University of California, and California industry in order to foster and drive entrepreneurial business growth and expand the California economy into new industries and markets. Calit2 was the result of a partnership between both the University of California, San Diego and University of California, Irvine. As Calit2's first decade comes to a close, Smarr considers the future of the Institute and, in particular, its leadership and sustainability.
Authors :: Linda A. Hill, Alison Berkley Wagonfeld
Swot Analysis of "Calit2: A UC San Diego, UC Irvine Partnership" written by Linda A. Hill, Alison Berkley Wagonfeld includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Calit2 California facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Calit2: A UC San Diego, UC Irvine Partnership case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Leadership, Strategic planning, Sustainability, Talent management, Technology and Leadership & Managing People.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Calit2: A UC San Diego, UC Irvine Partnership casestudy better are - – increasing household debt because of falling income levels, supply chains are disrupted by pandemic , increasing commodity prices, increasing government debt because of Covid-19 spendings, increasing inequality as vast percentage of new income is going to the top 1%, there is increasing trade war between United States & China, increasing energy prices,
wage bills are increasing, competitive advantages are harder to sustain because of technology dispersion, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Calit2: A UC San Diego, UC Irvine Partnership
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Calit2: A UC San Diego, UC Irvine Partnership case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Calit2 California, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Calit2 California 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 Calit2: A UC San Diego, UC Irvine Partnership can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Calit2: A UC San Diego, UC Irvine Partnership case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Calit2 California
3. Assessing feasibility of the new initiative in Leadership & Managing People field.
4. Making a Leadership & Managing People topic specific business decision
5. Set goals for the organization
6. Organizational restructuring of Calit2 California
Strengths Calit2: A UC San Diego, UC Irvine Partnership | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Calit2 California in Calit2: A UC San Diego, UC Irvine Partnership Harvard Business Review case study are -
Highly skilled collaborators
– Calit2 California 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 Calit2: A UC San Diego, UC Irvine Partnership HBR case study have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
Strong track record of project management
– Calit2 California is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of Calit2 California in the sector have low bargaining power. Calit2: A UC San Diego, UC Irvine Partnership has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Calit2 California to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
Organizational Resilience of Calit2 California
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing that Calit2 California does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
Digital Transformation in Leadership & Managing People segment
- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For Calit2 California digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Calit2 California 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.
Ability to recruit top talent
– Calit2 California is one of the leading recruiters in the industry. Managers in the Calit2: A UC San Diego, UC Irvine Partnership are in a position to attract the best talent available. The firm has a robust talent identification program that helps in identifying the brightest.
Superior customer experience
– The customer experience strategy of Calit2 California in the segment is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.
Effective Research and Development (R&D)
– Calit2 California 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 Calit2: A UC San Diego, UC Irvine Partnership - staying ahead in the industry in terms of – new product launches, superior customer experience, highly competitive pricing strategies, and great returns to the shareholders.
Successful track record of launching new products
– Calit2 California has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Calit2 California 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.
Training and development
– Calit2 California has one of the best training and development program in the industry. The effectiveness of the training programs can be measured in Calit2: A UC San Diego, UC Irvine Partnership 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.
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Leadership & Managing People industry
– Calit2: A UC San Diego, UC Irvine Partnership firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Calit2 California to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Leadership & Managing People industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Calit2 California to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Operational resilience
– The operational resilience strategy in the Calit2: A UC San Diego, UC Irvine Partnership 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 Calit2: A UC San Diego, UC Irvine Partnership | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Calit2: A UC San Diego, UC Irvine Partnership are -
Ability to respond to the competition
– As the decision making is very deliberative, highlighted in the case study Calit2: A UC San Diego, UC Irvine Partnership, in the dynamic environment Calit2 California has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. Calit2 California has reasonably good record with similar level competitors but it has struggled with new entrants taking away niches of its business.
Slow to harness new channels of communication
– Even though competitors are using new communication channels such as Instagram, Tiktok, and Snap, Calit2 California is slow explore the new channels of communication. These new channels of communication mentioned in marketing section of case study Calit2: A UC San Diego, UC Irvine Partnership 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 dependence on star products
– The top 2 products and services of the firm as mentioned in the Calit2: A UC San Diego, UC Irvine Partnership 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 Calit2 California has relatively successful track record of launching new products.
Compensation and incentives
– The revenue per employee as mentioned in the HBR case study Calit2: A UC San Diego, UC Irvine Partnership, is just above the industry average. Calit2 California needs to redesign the compensation structure and incentives to increase the revenue per employees. Some of the steps that it can take are – hiring more specialists on project basis, etc.
Lack of clear differentiation of Calit2 California products
– To increase the profitability and margins on the products, Calit2 California needs to provide more differentiated products than what it is currently offering in the marketplace.
Skills based hiring
– The stress on hiring functional specialists at Calit2 California 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.
Employees’ incomplete understanding of strategy
– From the instances in the HBR case study Calit2: A UC San Diego, UC Irvine Partnership, it seems that the employees of Calit2 California 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.
Slow to strategic competitive environment developments
– As Calit2: A UC San Diego, UC Irvine Partnership HBR case study mentions - Calit2 California 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.
High cash cycle compare to competitors
Calit2 California 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.
Workers concerns about automation
– As automation is fast increasing in the segment, Calit2 California needs to come up with a strategy to reduce the workers concern regarding automation. Without a clear strategy, it could lead to disruption and uncertainty within the organization.
High 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 Calit2 California supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes mentioned in the HBR case study - Calit2: A UC San Diego, UC Irvine Partnership, it is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left Calit2 California vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.
Opportunities Calit2: A UC San Diego, UC Irvine Partnership | 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 Calit2: A UC San Diego, UC Irvine Partnership are -
Increase in government spending
– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Calit2 California can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Calit2 California operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Leadership & Managing People sector.
Finding new ways to collaborate
– Covid-19 has not only transformed business models of companies in Leadership & Managing People industry, but it has also influenced the consumer preferences. Calit2 California can tie-up with other value chain partners to explore new opportunities regarding meeting customer demands and building a rewarding and engaging relationship.
Reforming the budgeting process
- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects Calit2 California 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 Calit2 California 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 Leadership & Managing People segment.
Buying journey improvements
– Calit2 California can improve the customer journey of consumers in the industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. Calit2: A UC San Diego, UC Irvine Partnership 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.
Low interest rates
– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Calit2 California 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.
Changes in consumer behavior post Covid-19
– Consumer behavior has changed in the Leadership & Managing People industry because of Covid-19 restrictions. Some of this behavior will stay once things get back to normal. Calit2 California 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. Calit2 California 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.
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 Calit2 California 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.
Leveraging digital technologies
– Calit2 California 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, Calit2 California 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, Calit2: A UC San Diego, UC Irvine Partnership, to buy more products closer to the markets, and it can leverage its size and influence to get better deal from the local markets.
Developing new processes and practices
– Calit2 California can develop new processes and procedures in Leadership & Managing People 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.
Loyalty marketing
– Calit2 California 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.
Lowering marketing communication costs
– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Calit2 California in the field of marketing communication. It will bring down the cost of doing business, provide technology platform to build new products in the Leadership & Managing People segment, and it will provide faster access to the consumers.
Threats Calit2: A UC San Diego, UC Irvine Partnership External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Calit2: A UC San Diego, UC Irvine Partnership are -
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. Calit2 California 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.
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry in the industry are lowering. It can presents Calit2 California with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the sector.
Easy access to finance
– Easy access to finance in Leadership & Managing People field will also reduce the barriers to entry in the industry, thus putting downward pressure on the prices because of increasing competition. Calit2 California can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
Regulatory challenges
– Calit2 California 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 Leadership & Managing People industry regulations.
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Calit2 California 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.
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 Calit2 California business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Calit2 California 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 Calit2: A UC San Diego, UC Irvine Partnership .
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Calit2 California in the Leadership & Managing People industry. The Leadership & Managing People 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.
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.
Consumer confidence and its impact on Calit2 California 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.
Environmental challenges
– Calit2 California 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. Calit2 California can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Leadership & Managing People industry.
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Calit2 California has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Leadership & Managing People industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Calit2 California needs to keep up with the evolution of technology in the Leadership & Managing People 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.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Calit2: A UC San Diego, UC Irvine Partnership 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 Calit2: A UC San Diego, UC Irvine Partnership 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 Calit2: A UC San Diego, UC Irvine Partnership 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 Calit2: A UC San Diego, UC Irvine Partnership 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 Calit2: A UC San Diego, UC Irvine Partnership 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 Calit2 California needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.