Case Study Description of Greenbriar Growth Partners and Microsurgery Devices
Greenbriar Growth Partners (GGP), a venture capital firm, has been an investor in Microsurgery Devices (MSD) for four-plus years, and has come into conflict with the company's founder. Should the Board's Nominating Committee re-nominate the VC investor, and should the board go along with the VC's push for a stock buy-back in the midst of the financial crisis, and so soon after the company's IPO?
Swot Analysis of "Greenbriar Growth Partners and Microsurgery Devices" written by Nabil N. El-Hage, Kristin Meyer includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Greenbriar Microsurgery facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Greenbriar Growth Partners and Microsurgery Devices case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Ethics, IPO and Leadership & Managing People.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Greenbriar Growth Partners and Microsurgery Devices casestudy better are - – wage bills are increasing, geopolitical disruptions, cloud computing is disrupting traditional business models, increasing household debt because of falling income levels, competitive advantages are harder to sustain because of technology dispersion, increasing commodity prices, digital marketing is dominated by two big players Facebook and Google,
increasing government debt because of Covid-19 spendings, there is increasing trade war between United States & China, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Greenbriar Growth Partners and Microsurgery Devices
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Greenbriar Growth Partners and Microsurgery Devices case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Greenbriar Microsurgery, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Greenbriar Microsurgery 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 Greenbriar Growth Partners and Microsurgery Devices can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Greenbriar Growth Partners and Microsurgery Devices case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Greenbriar Microsurgery
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 Greenbriar Microsurgery
Strengths Greenbriar Growth Partners and Microsurgery Devices | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Greenbriar Microsurgery in Greenbriar Growth Partners and Microsurgery Devices Harvard Business Review case study are -
Diverse revenue streams
– Greenbriar Microsurgery is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided firm in Greenbriar Growth Partners and Microsurgery Devices case study a diverse revenue stream that has helped it to survive disruptions such as global pandemic in Covid-19, financial disruption of 2008, and supply chain disruption of 2021.
Innovation driven organization
– Greenbriar Microsurgery is one of the most innovative firm in sector. Manager in Greenbriar Growth Partners and Microsurgery Devices 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
– Greenbriar Microsurgery is one of the leading recruiters in the industry. Managers in the Greenbriar Growth Partners and Microsurgery Devices 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 Greenbriar Microsurgery in the segment is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.
Strong track record of project management
– Greenbriar Microsurgery is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.
Highly skilled collaborators
– Greenbriar Microsurgery 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 Greenbriar Growth Partners and Microsurgery Devices HBR case study have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
Training and development
– Greenbriar Microsurgery has one of the best training and development program in the industry. The effectiveness of the training programs can be measured in Greenbriar Growth Partners and Microsurgery Devices 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.
Effective Research and Development (R&D)
– Greenbriar Microsurgery 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 Greenbriar Growth Partners and Microsurgery Devices - staying ahead in the industry in terms of – new product launches, superior customer experience, highly competitive pricing strategies, and great returns to the shareholders.
Operational resilience
– The operational resilience strategy in the Greenbriar Growth Partners and Microsurgery Devices 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.
High brand equity
– Greenbriar Microsurgery has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Greenbriar Microsurgery to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Analytics focus
– Greenbriar Microsurgery 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 Nabil N. El-Hage, Kristin Meyer 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.
Successful track record of launching new products
– Greenbriar Microsurgery has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Greenbriar Microsurgery 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.
Weaknesses Greenbriar Growth Partners and Microsurgery Devices | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Greenbriar Growth Partners and Microsurgery Devices are -
Capital Spending Reduction
– Even during the low interest decade, Greenbriar Microsurgery 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.
Compensation and incentives
– The revenue per employee as mentioned in the HBR case study Greenbriar Growth Partners and Microsurgery Devices, is just above the industry average. Greenbriar Microsurgery 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.
Slow to strategic competitive environment developments
– As Greenbriar Growth Partners and Microsurgery Devices HBR case study mentions - Greenbriar Microsurgery 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 operating costs
– Compare to the competitors, firm in the HBR case study Greenbriar Growth Partners and Microsurgery Devices 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 Greenbriar Microsurgery 's lucrative customers.
Low market penetration in new markets
– Outside its home market of Greenbriar Microsurgery, firm in the HBR case study Greenbriar Growth Partners and Microsurgery Devices needs to spend more promotional, marketing, and advertising efforts to penetrate international markets.
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 Greenbriar Microsurgery supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes mentioned in the HBR case study - Greenbriar Growth Partners and Microsurgery Devices, it is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left Greenbriar Microsurgery vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.
Employees’ incomplete understanding of strategy
– From the instances in the HBR case study Greenbriar Growth Partners and Microsurgery Devices, it seems that the employees of Greenbriar Microsurgery 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.
High cash cycle compare to competitors
Greenbriar Microsurgery 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.
Aligning sales with marketing
– It come across in the case study Greenbriar Growth Partners and Microsurgery Devices 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 Greenbriar Growth Partners and Microsurgery Devices can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Greenbriar Microsurgery is planning to shift buying processes online.
Lack of clear differentiation of Greenbriar Microsurgery products
– To increase the profitability and margins on the products, Greenbriar Microsurgery needs to provide more differentiated products than what it is currently offering in the marketplace.
Slow to harness new channels of communication
– Even though competitors are using new communication channels such as Instagram, Tiktok, and Snap, Greenbriar Microsurgery is slow explore the new channels of communication. These new channels of communication mentioned in marketing section of case study Greenbriar Growth Partners and Microsurgery Devices can help to provide better information regarding products and services. It can also build an online community to further reach out to potential customers.
Opportunities Greenbriar Growth Partners and Microsurgery Devices | 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 Greenbriar Growth Partners and Microsurgery Devices are -
Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains
– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Greenbriar Microsurgery 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, Greenbriar Growth Partners and Microsurgery Devices, to buy more products closer to the markets, and it can leverage its size and influence to get better deal from the local markets.
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. Greenbriar Microsurgery can tie-up with other value chain partners to explore new opportunities regarding meeting customer demands and building a rewarding and engaging relationship.
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Greenbriar Microsurgery has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Greenbriar Microsurgery to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the Greenbriar Growth Partners and Microsurgery Devices case study. Greenbriar Microsurgery can build new products and services such as - data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
Low interest rates
– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Greenbriar Microsurgery 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.
Building a culture of innovation
– managers at Greenbriar Microsurgery 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.
Leveraging digital technologies
– Greenbriar Microsurgery 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.
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. Greenbriar Microsurgery can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.
Lowering marketing communication costs
– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Greenbriar Microsurgery 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.
Manufacturing automation
– Greenbriar Microsurgery 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.
Learning at scale
– Online learning technologies has now opened space for Greenbriar Microsurgery 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.
Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities
– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Greenbriar Microsurgery 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 Greenbriar Microsurgery to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
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. Greenbriar Microsurgery 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. Greenbriar Microsurgery 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.
Loyalty marketing
– Greenbriar Microsurgery 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.
Threats Greenbriar Growth Partners and Microsurgery Devices External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Greenbriar Growth Partners and Microsurgery Devices are -
Environmental challenges
– Greenbriar Microsurgery 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. Greenbriar Microsurgery can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Leadership & Managing People industry.
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 Greenbriar Microsurgery 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 Greenbriar Growth Partners and Microsurgery Devices, Greenbriar Microsurgery 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 .
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Greenbriar Microsurgery 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.
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Greenbriar Microsurgery is facing in Leadership & Managing People sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.
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.
Regulatory challenges
– Greenbriar Microsurgery 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 international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Greenbriar Microsurgery 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 Greenbriar Growth Partners and Microsurgery Devices .
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Greenbriar Microsurgery has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Leadership & Managing People industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Greenbriar Microsurgery 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.
Consumer confidence and its impact on Greenbriar Microsurgery 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.
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. Greenbriar Microsurgery 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.
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. Greenbriar Microsurgery needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Leadership & Managing People industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry in the industry are lowering. It can presents Greenbriar Microsurgery with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the sector.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Greenbriar Growth Partners and Microsurgery Devices 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 Greenbriar Growth Partners and Microsurgery Devices 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 Greenbriar Growth Partners and Microsurgery Devices 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 Greenbriar Growth Partners and Microsurgery Devices 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 Greenbriar Growth Partners and Microsurgery Devices 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 Greenbriar Microsurgery needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.
