Case Study Description of Cimetrics Technology (B): Russian Perspectives
Presents the perspectives of two Russian software developers working for Cimetrics in Moscow. A central issue from the Russian perspective is whether a more structured and formal arrangement is needed for managing the Russian team.
Swot Analysis of "Cimetrics Technology (B): Russian Perspectives" written by Lynn Sharp Paine includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Russian Cimetrics facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Cimetrics Technology (B): Russian Perspectives case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Emerging markets, Entrepreneurial management, Human resource management and Leadership & Managing People.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Cimetrics Technology (B): Russian Perspectives casestudy better are - – increasing commodity prices, competitive advantages are harder to sustain because of technology dispersion, wage bills are increasing, there is backlash against globalization, banking and financial system is disrupted by Bitcoin and other crypto currencies, cloud computing is disrupting traditional business models, increasing inequality as vast percentage of new income is going to the top 1%,
increasing transportation and logistics costs, increasing energy prices, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Cimetrics Technology (B): Russian Perspectives
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Cimetrics Technology (B): Russian Perspectives case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Russian Cimetrics, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Russian Cimetrics 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 Cimetrics Technology (B): Russian Perspectives can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Cimetrics Technology (B): Russian Perspectives case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Russian Cimetrics
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 Russian Cimetrics
Strengths Cimetrics Technology (B): Russian Perspectives | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Russian Cimetrics in Cimetrics Technology (B): Russian Perspectives Harvard Business Review case study are -
Strong track record of project management
– Russian Cimetrics is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.
Organizational Resilience of Russian Cimetrics
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing that Russian Cimetrics does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
Successful track record of launching new products
– Russian Cimetrics has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Russian Cimetrics has effective processes in place that helps in exploring new product needs, doing quick pilot testing, and then launching the products quickly using its extensive distribution network.
Training and development
– Russian Cimetrics has one of the best training and development program in the industry. The effectiveness of the training programs can be measured in Cimetrics Technology (B): Russian Perspectives 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.
Highly skilled collaborators
– Russian Cimetrics 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 Cimetrics Technology (B): Russian Perspectives HBR case study have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
Digital Transformation in Leadership & Managing People segment
- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For Russian Cimetrics digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Russian Cimetrics 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.
High switching costs
– The high switching costs that Russian Cimetrics 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.
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of Russian Cimetrics in the sector have low bargaining power. Cimetrics Technology (B): Russian Perspectives has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Russian Cimetrics to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
Cross disciplinary teams
– Horizontal connected teams at the Russian Cimetrics 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.
Innovation driven organization
– Russian Cimetrics is one of the most innovative firm in sector. Manager in Cimetrics Technology (B): Russian Perspectives 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
– Cimetrics Technology (B): Russian Perspectives firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Russian Cimetrics to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Leadership & Managing People industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Russian Cimetrics to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Ability to lead change in Leadership & Managing People field
– Russian Cimetrics 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 Russian Cimetrics in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.
Weaknesses Cimetrics Technology (B): Russian Perspectives | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Cimetrics Technology (B): Russian Perspectives are -
Compensation and incentives
– The revenue per employee as mentioned in the HBR case study Cimetrics Technology (B): Russian Perspectives, is just above the industry average. Russian Cimetrics 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.
Products dominated business model
– Even though Russian Cimetrics 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 - Cimetrics Technology (B): Russian Perspectives should strive to include more intangible value offerings along with its core products and services.
Low market penetration in new markets
– Outside its home market of Russian Cimetrics, firm in the HBR case study Cimetrics Technology (B): Russian Perspectives needs to spend more promotional, marketing, and advertising efforts to penetrate international markets.
Slow to harness new channels of communication
– Even though competitors are using new communication channels such as Instagram, Tiktok, and Snap, Russian Cimetrics is slow explore the new channels of communication. These new channels of communication mentioned in marketing section of case study Cimetrics Technology (B): Russian Perspectives can help to provide better information regarding products and services. It can also build an online community to further reach out to potential customers.
Ability to respond to the competition
– As the decision making is very deliberative, highlighted in the case study Cimetrics Technology (B): Russian Perspectives, in the dynamic environment Russian Cimetrics has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. Russian Cimetrics has reasonably good record with similar level competitors but it has struggled with new entrants taking away niches of its business.
High operating costs
– Compare to the competitors, firm in the HBR case study Cimetrics Technology (B): Russian Perspectives 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 Russian Cimetrics 's lucrative customers.
Capital Spending Reduction
– Even during the low interest decade, Russian Cimetrics 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.
High dependence on star products
– The top 2 products and services of the firm as mentioned in the Cimetrics Technology (B): Russian Perspectives 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 Russian Cimetrics has relatively successful track record of launching new products.
Slow to strategic competitive environment developments
– As Cimetrics Technology (B): Russian Perspectives HBR case study mentions - Russian Cimetrics 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.
Lack of clear differentiation of Russian Cimetrics products
– To increase the profitability and margins on the products, Russian Cimetrics needs to provide more differentiated products than what it is currently offering in the marketplace.
No frontier risks strategy
– After analyzing the HBR case study Cimetrics Technology (B): Russian Perspectives, 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.
Opportunities Cimetrics Technology (B): Russian Perspectives | 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 Cimetrics Technology (B): Russian Perspectives are -
Low interest rates
– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Russian Cimetrics 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.
Lowering marketing communication costs
– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Russian Cimetrics 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
– Russian Cimetrics 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.
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. Russian Cimetrics 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. Russian Cimetrics 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.
Redefining models of collaboration and team work
– As explained in the weaknesses section, Russian Cimetrics is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. Cimetrics Technology (B): Russian Perspectives 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.
Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains
– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Russian Cimetrics 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, Cimetrics Technology (B): Russian Perspectives, to buy more products closer to the markets, and it can leverage its size and influence to get better deal from the local markets.
Building a culture of innovation
– managers at Russian Cimetrics can make experimentation a productive activity and build a culture of innovation using approaches such as – mining transaction data, A/B testing of websites and selling platforms, engaging potential customers over various needs, and building on small ideas in the Leadership & Managing People segment.
Buying journey improvements
– Russian Cimetrics can improve the customer journey of consumers in the industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. Cimetrics Technology (B): Russian Perspectives 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.
Reforming the budgeting process
- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects Russian Cimetrics can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Russian Cimetrics has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Russian Cimetrics to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the Cimetrics Technology (B): Russian Perspectives case study. Russian Cimetrics 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, Russian Cimetrics can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Russian Cimetrics operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Leadership & Managing People sector.
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– Russian Cimetrics 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 Cimetrics Technology (B): Russian Perspectives - to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Russian Cimetrics to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
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. Russian Cimetrics can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.
Threats Cimetrics Technology (B): Russian Perspectives External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Cimetrics Technology (B): Russian Perspectives are -
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry in the industry are lowering. It can presents Russian Cimetrics with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the sector.
Increasing wage structure of Russian Cimetrics
– 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 Russian Cimetrics.
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Russian Cimetrics 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
– Russian Cimetrics 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. Russian Cimetrics can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Leadership & Managing People industry.
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 Russian Cimetrics in the Leadership & Managing People sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Russian Cimetrics is facing in Leadership & Managing People sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Russian Cimetrics has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Leadership & Managing People industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Russian Cimetrics 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 Russian Cimetrics 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. Russian Cimetrics 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. Russian Cimetrics needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Leadership & Managing People industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, as highlighted in case study Cimetrics Technology (B): Russian Perspectives, Russian Cimetrics 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 .
Aging population
– As the populations of most advanced economies are aging, it will lead to high social security costs, higher savings among population, and lower demand for goods and services in the economy. The household savings in US, France, UK, Germany, and Japan are growing faster than predicted because of uncertainty caused by pandemic.
Regulatory challenges
– Russian Cimetrics 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.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Cimetrics Technology (B): Russian Perspectives 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 Cimetrics Technology (B): Russian Perspectives 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 Cimetrics Technology (B): Russian Perspectives 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 Cimetrics Technology (B): Russian Perspectives 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 Cimetrics Technology (B): Russian Perspectives 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 Russian Cimetrics needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.