Case Study Description of Donovan Marks: Shifting Entrepreneur Motivations
The entrepreneur owner of Proof Engineering is facing a difficult decision: whether to sell his family business to a large corporation and shift to a corporate career or abandon the deal and continue as an entrepreneur. Following a setback from a previous deal in which he sold 50 per cent of his company, the entrepreneur has managed to grow Proof Engineering into a successful international enterprise. However, this second offer presents many potentially lucrative opportunities. There are a number of motivations involved in the decision to sell - including personal, financial and business considerations. Albert Wocke is affiliated with University of Pretoria.
Swot Analysis of "Donovan Marks: Shifting Entrepreneur Motivations" written by Albert Wocke includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Entrepreneur Proof facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Donovan Marks: Shifting Entrepreneur Motivations case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Motivating people and Leadership & Managing People.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Donovan Marks: Shifting Entrepreneur Motivations casestudy better are - – there is increasing trade war between United States & China, increasing commodity prices, central banks are concerned over increasing inflation, increasing energy prices, talent flight as more people leaving formal jobs, cloud computing is disrupting traditional business models, wage bills are increasing,
supply chains are disrupted by pandemic , banking and financial system is disrupted by Bitcoin and other crypto currencies, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Donovan Marks: Shifting Entrepreneur Motivations
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Donovan Marks: Shifting Entrepreneur Motivations case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Entrepreneur Proof, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Entrepreneur Proof 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 Donovan Marks: Shifting Entrepreneur Motivations can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Donovan Marks: Shifting Entrepreneur Motivations case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Entrepreneur Proof
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 Entrepreneur Proof
Strengths Donovan Marks: Shifting Entrepreneur Motivations | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Entrepreneur Proof in Donovan Marks: Shifting Entrepreneur Motivations Harvard Business Review case study are -
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Leadership & Managing People industry
– Donovan Marks: Shifting Entrepreneur Motivations firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Entrepreneur Proof to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Leadership & Managing People industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Entrepreneur Proof to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Learning organization
- Entrepreneur Proof 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 Entrepreneur Proof is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders in Donovan Marks: Shifting Entrepreneur Motivations Harvard Business Review case study emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
Ability to recruit top talent
– Entrepreneur Proof is one of the leading recruiters in the industry. Managers in the Donovan Marks: Shifting Entrepreneur Motivations 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 Entrepreneur Proof in the segment is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.
Organizational Resilience of Entrepreneur Proof
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing that Entrepreneur Proof 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 Entrepreneur Proof digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Entrepreneur Proof 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.
Effective Research and Development (R&D)
– Entrepreneur Proof 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 Donovan Marks: Shifting Entrepreneur Motivations - staying ahead in the industry in terms of – new product launches, superior customer experience, highly competitive pricing strategies, and great returns to the shareholders.
Analytics focus
– Entrepreneur Proof 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 Albert Wocke 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.
Strong track record of project management
– Entrepreneur Proof is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.
High switching costs
– The high switching costs that Entrepreneur Proof 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.
Ability to lead change in Leadership & Managing People field
– Entrepreneur Proof 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 Entrepreneur Proof 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 Entrepreneur Proof in the sector have low bargaining power. Donovan Marks: Shifting Entrepreneur Motivations has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Entrepreneur Proof to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
Weaknesses Donovan Marks: Shifting Entrepreneur Motivations | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Donovan Marks: Shifting Entrepreneur Motivations are -
Ability to respond to the competition
– As the decision making is very deliberative, highlighted in the case study Donovan Marks: Shifting Entrepreneur Motivations, in the dynamic environment Entrepreneur Proof has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. Entrepreneur Proof has reasonably good record with similar level competitors but it has struggled with new entrants taking away niches of its business.
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 Entrepreneur Proof supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes mentioned in the HBR case study - Donovan Marks: Shifting Entrepreneur Motivations, it is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left Entrepreneur Proof vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.
No frontier risks strategy
– After analyzing the HBR case study Donovan Marks: Shifting Entrepreneur Motivations, it seems that company is thinking about the frontier risks that can impact Leadership & Managing People 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.
Low market penetration in new markets
– Outside its home market of Entrepreneur Proof, firm in the HBR case study Donovan Marks: Shifting Entrepreneur Motivations needs to spend more promotional, marketing, and advertising efforts to penetrate international markets.
Aligning sales with marketing
– It come across in the case study Donovan Marks: Shifting Entrepreneur Motivations 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 Donovan Marks: Shifting Entrepreneur Motivations can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Entrepreneur Proof is planning to shift buying processes online.
High operating costs
– Compare to the competitors, firm in the HBR case study Donovan Marks: Shifting Entrepreneur Motivations has high operating costs in the. This can be harder to sustain given the new emerging competition from nimble players who are using technology to attract Entrepreneur Proof 's lucrative customers.
Capital Spending Reduction
– Even during the low interest decade, Entrepreneur Proof 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 Donovan Marks: Shifting Entrepreneur Motivations HBR case study mentions - Entrepreneur Proof 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 bargaining power of channel partners
– Because of the regulatory requirements, Albert Wocke suggests that, Entrepreneur Proof 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.
High dependence on star products
– The top 2 products and services of the firm as mentioned in the Donovan Marks: Shifting Entrepreneur Motivations 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 Entrepreneur Proof has relatively successful track record of launching new products.
Compensation and incentives
– The revenue per employee as mentioned in the HBR case study Donovan Marks: Shifting Entrepreneur Motivations, is just above the industry average. Entrepreneur Proof 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.
Opportunities Donovan Marks: Shifting Entrepreneur Motivations | 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 Donovan Marks: Shifting Entrepreneur Motivations are -
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 Entrepreneur Proof 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.
Developing new processes and practices
– Entrepreneur Proof 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.
Buying journey improvements
– Entrepreneur Proof can improve the customer journey of consumers in the industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. Donovan Marks: Shifting Entrepreneur Motivations 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.
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Entrepreneur Proof has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Entrepreneur Proof to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the Donovan Marks: Shifting Entrepreneur Motivations case study. Entrepreneur Proof can build new products and services such as - data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, 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, Entrepreneur Proof can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Entrepreneur Proof operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Leadership & Managing People sector.
Learning at scale
– Online learning technologies has now opened space for Entrepreneur Proof 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.
Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains
– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Entrepreneur Proof 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, Donovan Marks: Shifting Entrepreneur Motivations, to buy more products closer to the markets, and it can leverage its size and influence to get better deal from the local markets.
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 Entrepreneur Proof in the consumer business. Now Entrepreneur Proof can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.
Lowering marketing communication costs
– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Entrepreneur Proof 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.
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. Entrepreneur Proof can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.
Reforming the budgeting process
- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects Entrepreneur Proof can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.
Loyalty marketing
– Entrepreneur Proof has focused on building a highly responsive customer relationship management platform. This platform is built on in-house data and driven by analytics and artificial intelligence. The customer analytics can help the organization to fine tune its loyalty marketing efforts, increase the wallet share of the organization, reduce wastage on mainstream advertising spending, build better pricing strategies using personalization, etc.
Leveraging digital technologies
– Entrepreneur Proof 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.
Threats Donovan Marks: Shifting Entrepreneur Motivations External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Donovan Marks: Shifting Entrepreneur Motivations are -
High dependence on third party suppliers
– Entrepreneur Proof 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.
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, as highlighted in case study Donovan Marks: Shifting Entrepreneur Motivations, Entrepreneur Proof may face longer learning curve for training and development of existing employees. This can open space for more nimble competitors in the field of Leadership & Managing People .
Consumer confidence and its impact on Entrepreneur Proof 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.
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 Entrepreneur Proof.
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Entrepreneur Proof 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 Donovan Marks: Shifting Entrepreneur Motivations .
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry in the industry are lowering. It can presents Entrepreneur Proof with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the sector.
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. Entrepreneur Proof needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Leadership & Managing People industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
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 Entrepreneur Proof in the Leadership & Managing People sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
Increasing wage structure of Entrepreneur Proof
– 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 Entrepreneur Proof.
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Entrepreneur Proof 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.
Environmental challenges
– Entrepreneur Proof 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. Entrepreneur Proof 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
– Entrepreneur Proof has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Leadership & Managing People industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Entrepreneur Proof 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.
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Entrepreneur Proof 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.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Donovan Marks: Shifting Entrepreneur Motivations 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 Donovan Marks: Shifting Entrepreneur Motivations 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 Donovan Marks: Shifting Entrepreneur Motivations 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 Donovan Marks: Shifting Entrepreneur Motivations 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 Donovan Marks: Shifting Entrepreneur Motivations 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 Entrepreneur Proof needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.