Miles Davis: Kind of Blue SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Leadership & Managing People
Strategy / MBA Resources
Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of Miles Davis: Kind of Blue
Examines how successful companies can "jump to the next S-curve" through an analogy to the life's work of Miles Davis, especially his paradigm-shattering Kind of Blue album in 1959. Students consider how and why Davis, who had already proven he was tops in his field, created a new disruptive innovation in the field of jazz, in the process creating the most commercially successful jazz album of all time. The case also delves deeply into the creative process, and Davis's creative leadership and ability to cultivate talent (such as that of saxophonist John Coltrane)-many of the great jazz musicians of the 20th century came out of the informal "Miles Davis University."
Swot Analysis of "Miles Davis: Kind of Blue" written by Robert D. Austin, Carl Stormer includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Davis Jazz facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Miles Davis: Kind of Blue case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Creativity, Disruptive innovation, Experimentation, Technology and Leadership & Managing People.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Miles Davis: Kind of Blue casestudy better are - – challanges to central banks by blockchain based private currencies, increasing inequality as vast percentage of new income is going to the top 1%, increasing household debt because of falling income levels, technology disruption, cloud computing is disrupting traditional business models, supply chains are disrupted by pandemic , geopolitical disruptions,
banking and financial system is disrupted by Bitcoin and other crypto currencies, competitive advantages are harder to sustain because of technology dispersion, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Miles Davis: Kind of Blue
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Miles Davis: Kind of Blue case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Davis Jazz, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Davis Jazz 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 Miles Davis: Kind of Blue can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Miles Davis: Kind of Blue case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Davis Jazz
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 Davis Jazz
Strengths Miles Davis: Kind of Blue | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Davis Jazz in Miles Davis: Kind of Blue Harvard Business Review case study are -
Organizational Resilience of Davis Jazz
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing that Davis Jazz does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
Operational resilience
– The operational resilience strategy in the Miles Davis: Kind of Blue 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.
Training and development
– Davis Jazz has one of the best training and development program in the industry. The effectiveness of the training programs can be measured in Miles Davis: Kind of Blue 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.
Strong track record of project management
– Davis Jazz is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.
Cross disciplinary teams
– Horizontal connected teams at the Davis Jazz 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.
Highly skilled collaborators
– Davis Jazz 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 Miles Davis: Kind of Blue HBR case study have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
Successful track record of launching new products
– Davis Jazz has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Davis Jazz 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.
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Leadership & Managing People industry
– Miles Davis: Kind of Blue firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Davis Jazz to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Leadership & Managing People industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Davis Jazz to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Digital Transformation in Leadership & Managing People segment
- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For Davis Jazz digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Davis Jazz 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 lead change in Leadership & Managing People field
– Davis Jazz 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 Davis Jazz in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.
Effective Research and Development (R&D)
– Davis Jazz 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 Miles Davis: Kind of Blue - staying ahead in the industry in terms of – new product launches, superior customer experience, highly competitive pricing strategies, and great returns to the shareholders.
High brand equity
– Davis Jazz has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Davis Jazz to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Weaknesses Miles Davis: Kind of Blue | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Miles Davis: Kind of Blue 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 Davis Jazz supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes mentioned in the HBR case study - Miles Davis: Kind of Blue, it is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left Davis Jazz vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.
Interest costs
– Compare to the competition, Davis Jazz 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.
Capital Spending Reduction
– Even during the low interest decade, Davis Jazz 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.
Aligning sales with marketing
– It come across in the case study Miles Davis: Kind of Blue 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 Miles Davis: Kind of Blue can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Davis Jazz is planning to shift buying processes online.
High dependence on star products
– The top 2 products and services of the firm as mentioned in the Miles Davis: Kind of Blue 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 Davis Jazz has relatively successful track record of launching new products.
Products dominated business model
– Even though Davis Jazz 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 - Miles Davis: Kind of Blue should strive to include more intangible value offerings along with its core products and services.
Slow to strategic competitive environment developments
– As Miles Davis: Kind of Blue HBR case study mentions - Davis Jazz 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 Davis Jazz is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Leadership & Managing People segment. Davis Jazz needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Davis Jazz to focus more on services rather than just following the product oriented approach.
Employees’ incomplete understanding of strategy
– From the instances in the HBR case study Miles Davis: Kind of Blue, it seems that the employees of Davis Jazz 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 decision making process
– As mentioned earlier in the report, Davis Jazz has a very deliberative decision making approach. This approach has resulted in prudent decisions, but it has also resulted in missing opportunities in the industry over the last five years. Davis Jazz even though has strong showing on digital transformation primary two stages, it has struggled to capitalize the power of digital transformation in marketing efforts and new venture efforts.
Low market penetration in new markets
– Outside its home market of Davis Jazz, firm in the HBR case study Miles Davis: Kind of Blue needs to spend more promotional, marketing, and advertising efforts to penetrate international markets.
Opportunities Miles Davis: Kind of Blue | 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 Miles Davis: Kind of Blue are -
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Davis Jazz has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Davis Jazz to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the Miles Davis: Kind of Blue case study. Davis Jazz can build new products and services such as - data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
Developing new processes and practices
– Davis Jazz 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.
Reforming the budgeting process
- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects Davis Jazz can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.
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. Davis Jazz can tie-up with other value chain partners to explore new opportunities regarding meeting customer demands and building a rewarding and engaging relationship.
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 Davis Jazz in the consumer business. Now Davis Jazz can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.
Buying journey improvements
– Davis Jazz can improve the customer journey of consumers in the industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. Miles Davis: Kind of Blue 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.
Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains
– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Davis Jazz 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, Miles Davis: Kind of Blue, to buy more products closer to the markets, and it can leverage its size and influence to get better deal from the local markets.
Manufacturing automation
– Davis Jazz can use the latest technology developments to improve its manufacturing and designing process in Leadership & Managing People 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.
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 Davis Jazz 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.
Increase in government spending
– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Davis Jazz can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Davis Jazz operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Leadership & Managing People sector.
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– Davis Jazz 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 Miles Davis: Kind of Blue - to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Davis Jazz to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
Lowering marketing communication costs
– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Davis Jazz 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.
Redefining models of collaboration and team work
– As explained in the weaknesses section, Davis Jazz is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. Miles Davis: Kind of Blue 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.
Threats Miles Davis: Kind of Blue External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Miles Davis: Kind of Blue are -
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, as highlighted in case study Miles Davis: Kind of Blue, Davis Jazz 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 .
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. Davis Jazz needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Leadership & Managing People industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Davis Jazz is facing in Leadership & Managing People sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.
High dependence on third party suppliers
– Davis Jazz 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
– Davis Jazz 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 Davis Jazz 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
– Davis Jazz has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Leadership & Managing People industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Davis Jazz 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.
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 Davis Jazz business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
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 Davis Jazz in the Leadership & Managing People sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
Environmental challenges
– Davis Jazz 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. Davis Jazz can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Leadership & Managing People industry.
Regulatory challenges
– Davis Jazz 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.
Increasing wage structure of Davis Jazz
– 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 Davis Jazz.
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Davis Jazz 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.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Miles Davis: Kind of Blue 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 Miles Davis: Kind of Blue 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 Miles Davis: Kind of Blue 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 Miles Davis: Kind of Blue 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 Miles Davis: Kind of Blue 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 Davis Jazz needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.
