Case Study Description of Rosch Innovations: Preparing the Biggest IPO Ever
The chief executive officer (CEO) of Rosch Innovations and his team had developed a kinetic power plant that used the buoyancy force of air in water to generate electricity. This breakthrough innovation defied old principles of physics and was therefore difficult to comprehend and communicate. The CEO and his team had grown their network behind the scenes, careful not to raise too much attention from the powerful German energy lobby in the beginning. They had selected partners and investors that Rosch could manage without losing control. The plan to pursue an initial public offering (IPO) was shaping up in 2016. Major clients and investors were on board, yet the energy lobby was trying to discredit the company and its founder. With major projects lined up for funding, what was the right strategy? Which type of endorsement would help mute the critics and lead the way for an unprecedented IPO? Matthias A. Tietz is affiliated with IE Universidad.
Swot Analysis of "Rosch Innovations: Preparing the Biggest IPO Ever" written by Matthias Tietz includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Rosch Lobby facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Rosch Innovations: Preparing the Biggest IPO Ever case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, IPO, IT and Leadership & Managing People.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Rosch Innovations: Preparing the Biggest IPO Ever casestudy better are - – technology disruption, cloud computing is disrupting traditional business models, geopolitical disruptions, there is backlash against globalization, increasing inequality as vast percentage of new income is going to the top 1%, challanges to central banks by blockchain based private currencies, increasing energy prices,
digital marketing is dominated by two big players Facebook and Google, there is increasing trade war between United States & China, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Rosch Innovations: Preparing the Biggest IPO Ever
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Rosch Innovations: Preparing the Biggest IPO Ever case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Rosch Lobby, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Rosch Lobby 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 Rosch Innovations: Preparing the Biggest IPO Ever can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Rosch Innovations: Preparing the Biggest IPO Ever case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Rosch Lobby
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 Rosch Lobby
Strengths Rosch Innovations: Preparing the Biggest IPO Ever | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Rosch Lobby in Rosch Innovations: Preparing the Biggest IPO Ever Harvard Business Review case study are -
Learning organization
- Rosch Lobby is a learning organization. It has inculcated three key characters of learning organization in its processes and operations – exploration, creativity, and expansiveness. The work place at Rosch Lobby is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders in Rosch Innovations: Preparing the Biggest IPO Ever Harvard Business Review case study emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of Rosch Lobby in the sector have low bargaining power. Rosch Innovations: Preparing the Biggest IPO Ever has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Rosch Lobby to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Leadership & Managing People industry
– Rosch Innovations: Preparing the Biggest IPO Ever firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Rosch Lobby to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Leadership & Managing People industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Rosch Lobby to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Effective Research and Development (R&D)
– Rosch Lobby 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 Rosch Innovations: Preparing the Biggest IPO Ever - staying ahead in the industry in terms of – new product launches, superior customer experience, highly competitive pricing strategies, and great returns to the shareholders.
Highly skilled collaborators
– Rosch Lobby 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 Rosch Innovations: Preparing the Biggest IPO Ever HBR case study have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
High switching costs
– The high switching costs that Rosch Lobby has built up over years in its products and services combo offer has resulted in high retention of customers, lower marketing costs, and greater ability of the firm to focus on its customers.
Ability to lead change in Leadership & Managing People field
– Rosch Lobby 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 Rosch Lobby 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
– Rosch Lobby has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Rosch Lobby 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 Rosch Lobby digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Rosch Lobby 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.
Cross disciplinary teams
– Horizontal connected teams at the Rosch Lobby 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.
Diverse revenue streams
– Rosch Lobby is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided firm in Rosch Innovations: Preparing the Biggest IPO Ever 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.
Strong track record of project management
– Rosch Lobby is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.
Weaknesses Rosch Innovations: Preparing the Biggest IPO Ever | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Rosch Innovations: Preparing the Biggest IPO Ever are -
Increasing silos among functional specialists
– The organizational structure of Rosch Lobby is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Leadership & Managing People segment. Rosch Lobby needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Rosch Lobby to focus more on services rather than just following the product oriented approach.
Products dominated business model
– Even though Rosch Lobby 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 - Rosch Innovations: Preparing the Biggest IPO Ever should strive to include more intangible value offerings along with its core products and services.
Slow to strategic competitive environment developments
– As Rosch Innovations: Preparing the Biggest IPO Ever HBR case study mentions - Rosch Lobby 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.
Slow to harness new channels of communication
– Even though competitors are using new communication channels such as Instagram, Tiktok, and Snap, Rosch Lobby is slow explore the new channels of communication. These new channels of communication mentioned in marketing section of case study Rosch Innovations: Preparing the Biggest IPO Ever can help to provide better information regarding products and services. It can also build an online community to further reach out to potential customers.
Slow decision making process
– As mentioned earlier in the report, Rosch Lobby 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. Rosch Lobby 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.
High bargaining power of channel partners
– Because of the regulatory requirements, Matthias Tietz suggests that, Rosch Lobby is facing high bargaining power of the channel partners. So far it has not able to streamline the operations to reduce the bargaining power of the value chain partners in the industry.
Compensation and incentives
– The revenue per employee as mentioned in the HBR case study Rosch Innovations: Preparing the Biggest IPO Ever, is just above the industry average. Rosch Lobby 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.
Aligning sales with marketing
– It come across in the case study Rosch Innovations: Preparing the Biggest IPO Ever 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 Rosch Innovations: Preparing the Biggest IPO Ever can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Rosch Lobby is planning to shift buying processes online.
Capital Spending Reduction
– Even during the low interest decade, Rosch Lobby 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.
Skills based hiring
– The stress on hiring functional specialists at Rosch Lobby 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.
High operating costs
– Compare to the competitors, firm in the HBR case study Rosch Innovations: Preparing the Biggest IPO Ever 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 Rosch Lobby 's lucrative customers.
Opportunities Rosch Innovations: Preparing the Biggest IPO Ever | 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 Rosch Innovations: Preparing the Biggest IPO Ever are -
Building a culture of innovation
– managers at Rosch Lobby 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.
Increase in government spending
– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Rosch Lobby can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Rosch Lobby operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Leadership & Managing People sector.
Leveraging digital technologies
– Rosch Lobby 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.
Learning at scale
– Online learning technologies has now opened space for Rosch Lobby 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.
Developing new processes and practices
– Rosch Lobby 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.
Lowering marketing communication costs
– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Rosch Lobby 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.
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 Rosch Lobby in the consumer business. Now Rosch Lobby can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.
Buying journey improvements
– Rosch Lobby can improve the customer journey of consumers in the industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. Rosch Innovations: Preparing the Biggest IPO Ever 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.
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. Rosch Lobby can tie-up with other value chain partners to explore new opportunities regarding meeting customer demands and building a rewarding and engaging relationship.
Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities
– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Rosch Lobby 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 Rosch Lobby to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
Manufacturing automation
– Rosch Lobby 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.
Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains
– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Rosch Lobby 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, Rosch Innovations: Preparing the Biggest IPO Ever, to buy more products closer to the markets, and it can leverage its size and influence to get better deal from the local markets.
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Rosch Lobby has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Rosch Lobby to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the Rosch Innovations: Preparing the Biggest IPO Ever case study. Rosch Lobby can build new products and services such as - data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
Threats Rosch Innovations: Preparing the Biggest IPO Ever External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Rosch Innovations: Preparing the Biggest IPO Ever are -
Consumer confidence and its impact on Rosch Lobby 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. Rosch Lobby 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. Rosch Lobby needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Leadership & Managing People industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
New competition
– After the dotcom bust of 2001, financial crisis of 2008-09, the business formation in US economy had declined. But in 2020 alone, there are more than 1.5 million new business applications in United States. This can lead to greater competition for Rosch Lobby in the Leadership & Managing People sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
Regulatory challenges
– Rosch Lobby 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.
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Rosch Lobby 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.
Environmental challenges
– Rosch Lobby 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. Rosch Lobby can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Leadership & Managing People industry.
High dependence on third party suppliers
– Rosch Lobby 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.
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.
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.
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Rosch Lobby 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 Rosch Innovations: Preparing the Biggest IPO Ever .
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry in the industry are lowering. It can presents Rosch Lobby with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the sector.
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Rosch Lobby has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Leadership & Managing People industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Rosch Lobby 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.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Rosch Innovations: Preparing the Biggest IPO Ever 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 Rosch Innovations: Preparing the Biggest IPO Ever 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 Rosch Innovations: Preparing the Biggest IPO Ever 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 Rosch Innovations: Preparing the Biggest IPO Ever 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 Rosch Innovations: Preparing the Biggest IPO Ever 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 Rosch Lobby needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.