Emerging Networked Business Models: Lessons from the Field SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Leadership & Managing People
Strategy / MBA Resources
Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of Emerging Networked Business Models: Lessons from the Field
Provides an overview of the networked models that are revolutionizing market industries and the organizations that compete and do business within them. Teaching Purpose: To introduce students and executives to emerging networked models and to provide a foundation for strategic decision making.
Swot Analysis of "Emerging Networked Business Models: Lessons from the Field" written by Lynda M. Applegate, Meredith Collura includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Networked Models facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Emerging Networked Business Models: Lessons from the Field case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Entrepreneurial finance and Leadership & Managing People.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Emerging Networked Business Models: Lessons from the Field casestudy better are - – increasing inequality as vast percentage of new income is going to the top 1%, increasing government debt because of Covid-19 spendings, there is increasing trade war between United States & China, wage bills are increasing, technology disruption, talent flight as more people leaving formal jobs, supply chains are disrupted by pandemic ,
increasing energy prices, geopolitical disruptions, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Emerging Networked Business Models: Lessons from the Field
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Emerging Networked Business Models: Lessons from the Field case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Networked Models, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Networked Models 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 Emerging Networked Business Models: Lessons from the Field can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Emerging Networked Business Models: Lessons from the Field case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Networked Models
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 Networked Models
Strengths Emerging Networked Business Models: Lessons from the Field | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Networked Models in Emerging Networked Business Models: Lessons from the Field Harvard Business Review case study are -
Training and development
– Networked Models has one of the best training and development program in the industry. The effectiveness of the training programs can be measured in Emerging Networked Business Models: Lessons from the Field 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.
Ability to lead change in Leadership & Managing People field
– Networked Models 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 Networked Models in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.
Successful track record of launching new products
– Networked Models has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Networked Models 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.
Digital Transformation in Leadership & Managing People segment
- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For Networked Models digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Networked Models 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.
Organizational Resilience of Networked Models
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing that Networked Models does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
Innovation driven organization
– Networked Models is one of the most innovative firm in sector. Manager in Emerging Networked Business Models: Lessons from the Field Harvard Business Review case study can use Clayton Christensen Disruptive Innovation strategies to further increase the scale of innovtions in the organization.
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Leadership & Managing People industry
– Emerging Networked Business Models: Lessons from the Field firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Networked Models to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Leadership & Managing People industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Networked Models to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Analytics focus
– Networked Models 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 Lynda M. Applegate, Meredith Collura 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.
Operational resilience
– The operational resilience strategy in the Emerging Networked Business Models: Lessons from the Field 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.
Effective Research and Development (R&D)
– Networked Models 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 Emerging Networked Business Models: Lessons from the Field - 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
– Networked Models has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Networked Models to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Highly skilled collaborators
– Networked Models 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 Emerging Networked Business Models: Lessons from the Field HBR case study have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
Weaknesses Emerging Networked Business Models: Lessons from the Field | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Emerging Networked Business Models: Lessons from the Field are -
No frontier risks strategy
– After analyzing the HBR case study Emerging Networked Business Models: Lessons from the Field, 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.
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 Networked Models supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes mentioned in the HBR case study - Emerging Networked Business Models: Lessons from the Field, it is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left Networked Models vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.
Compensation and incentives
– The revenue per employee as mentioned in the HBR case study Emerging Networked Business Models: Lessons from the Field, is just above the industry average. Networked Models 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.
High dependence on star products
– The top 2 products and services of the firm as mentioned in the Emerging Networked Business Models: Lessons from the Field 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 Networked Models has relatively successful track record of launching new products.
Interest costs
– Compare to the competition, Networked Models 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, Networked Models 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.
Employees’ incomplete understanding of strategy
– From the instances in the HBR case study Emerging Networked Business Models: Lessons from the Field, it seems that the employees of Networked Models 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.
Skills based hiring
– The stress on hiring functional specialists at Networked Models 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.
Products dominated business model
– Even though Networked Models 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 - Emerging Networked Business Models: Lessons from the Field should strive to include more intangible value offerings along with its core products and services.
Need for greater diversity
– Networked Models has taken concrete steps on diversity, equity, and inclusion. But the efforts so far has resulted in limited success. It needs to expand the recruitment and selection process to hire more people from the minorities and underprivileged background.
High operating costs
– Compare to the competitors, firm in the HBR case study Emerging Networked Business Models: Lessons from the Field 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 Networked Models 's lucrative customers.
Opportunities Emerging Networked Business Models: Lessons from the Field | 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 Emerging Networked Business Models: Lessons from the Field are -
Buying journey improvements
– Networked Models can improve the customer journey of consumers in the industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. Emerging Networked Business Models: Lessons from the Field 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, Networked Models 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.
Better consumer reach
– The expansion of the 5G network will help Networked Models to increase its market reach. Networked Models will be able to reach out to new customers. Secondly 5G will also provide technology framework to build new tools and products that can help more immersive consumer experience and faster consumer journey.
Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities
– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Networked Models 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 Networked Models to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains
– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Networked Models 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, Emerging Networked Business Models: Lessons from the Field, 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
– Networked Models 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.
Building a culture of innovation
– managers at Networked Models 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.
Reforming the budgeting process
- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects Networked Models can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– Networked Models 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 Emerging Networked Business Models: Lessons from the Field - to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Networked Models to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
Loyalty marketing
– Networked Models 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.
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 Networked Models in the consumer business. Now Networked Models can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.
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. Networked Models 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. Networked Models 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.
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Networked Models has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Networked Models to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the Emerging Networked Business Models: Lessons from the Field case study. Networked Models can build new products and services such as - data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
Threats Emerging Networked Business Models: Lessons from the Field External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Emerging Networked Business Models: Lessons from the Field are -
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. Networked Models 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
– Networked Models 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.
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, as highlighted in case study Emerging Networked Business Models: Lessons from the Field, Networked Models 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 .
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 Networked Models business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Networked Models has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Leadership & Managing People industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Networked Models 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.
High dependence on third party suppliers
– Networked Models 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.
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 Networked Models.
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Networked Models 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 Emerging Networked Business Models: Lessons from the Field .
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry in the industry are lowering. It can presents Networked Models with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the sector.
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Networked Models 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.
Increasing wage structure of Networked Models
– 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 Networked Models.
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Networked Models 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.
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 Networked Models in the Leadership & Managing People sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Emerging Networked Business Models: Lessons from the Field 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 Emerging Networked Business Models: Lessons from the Field 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 Emerging Networked Business Models: Lessons from the Field 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 Emerging Networked Business Models: Lessons from the Field 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 Emerging Networked Business Models: Lessons from the Field 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 Networked Models needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.