Case Study Description of Trionym Systems: Investment Decision-Making Using Prescriptive Analytics
Trionym Systems, a designer and manufacturer of 3-D printers, was enjoying soaring sales. Trionym's chief executive officer (CEO) presented a plan for acquiring a new production facility to address the expected demand for the firm's latest 3-D printer, the RB-5000, which was presently under beta testing. He expressed reservations with respect to considerable uncertainty both in terms of market size and production costs. Accordingly, he wished to use the latest prescriptive analytics techniques to ensure that the decision to expand was the right one. The chief analytics officer was tasked with assessing the proposed project and had to report his findings at the next board meeting. Owen Hall is affiliated with Pepperdine University.
Swot Analysis of "Trionym Systems: Investment Decision-Making Using Prescriptive Analytics" written by Owen Hall, Kenneth Ko includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Trionym Prescriptive facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Trionym Systems: Investment Decision-Making Using Prescriptive Analytics case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, and Leadership & Managing People.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Trionym Systems: Investment Decision-Making Using Prescriptive Analytics casestudy better are - – challanges to central banks by blockchain based private currencies, supply chains are disrupted by pandemic , geopolitical disruptions, central banks are concerned over increasing inflation, increasing household debt because of falling income levels, increasing transportation and logistics costs, increasing energy prices,
digital marketing is dominated by two big players Facebook and Google, technology disruption, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Trionym Systems: Investment Decision-Making Using Prescriptive Analytics
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Trionym Systems: Investment Decision-Making Using Prescriptive Analytics case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Trionym Prescriptive, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Trionym Prescriptive 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 Trionym Systems: Investment Decision-Making Using Prescriptive Analytics can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Trionym Systems: Investment Decision-Making Using Prescriptive Analytics case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Trionym Prescriptive
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 Trionym Prescriptive
Strengths Trionym Systems: Investment Decision-Making Using Prescriptive Analytics | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Trionym Prescriptive in Trionym Systems: Investment Decision-Making Using Prescriptive Analytics Harvard Business Review case study are -
Organizational Resilience of Trionym Prescriptive
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing that Trionym Prescriptive does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
Ability to lead change in Leadership & Managing People field
– Trionym Prescriptive 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 Trionym Prescriptive in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.
Highly skilled collaborators
– Trionym Prescriptive 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 Trionym Systems: Investment Decision-Making Using Prescriptive Analytics HBR case study have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Leadership & Managing People industry
– Trionym Systems: Investment Decision-Making Using Prescriptive Analytics firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Trionym Prescriptive to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Leadership & Managing People industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Trionym Prescriptive to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Diverse revenue streams
– Trionym Prescriptive is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided firm in Trionym Systems: Investment Decision-Making Using Prescriptive Analytics 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
– Trionym Prescriptive is one of the most innovative firm in sector. Manager in Trionym Systems: Investment Decision-Making Using Prescriptive Analytics Harvard Business Review case study can use Clayton Christensen Disruptive Innovation strategies to further increase the scale of innovtions in the organization.
Analytics focus
– Trionym Prescriptive 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 Owen Hall, Kenneth Ko 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 Trionym Systems: Investment Decision-Making Using Prescriptive Analytics 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.
Ability to recruit top talent
– Trionym Prescriptive is one of the leading recruiters in the industry. Managers in the Trionym Systems: Investment Decision-Making Using Prescriptive Analytics are in a position to attract the best talent available. The firm has a robust talent identification program that helps in identifying the brightest.
Training and development
– Trionym Prescriptive has one of the best training and development program in the industry. The effectiveness of the training programs can be measured in Trionym Systems: Investment Decision-Making Using Prescriptive Analytics 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.
High switching costs
– The high switching costs that Trionym Prescriptive 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.
Learning organization
- Trionym Prescriptive 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 Trionym Prescriptive is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders in Trionym Systems: Investment Decision-Making Using Prescriptive Analytics Harvard Business Review case study emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
Weaknesses Trionym Systems: Investment Decision-Making Using Prescriptive Analytics | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Trionym Systems: Investment Decision-Making Using Prescriptive Analytics are -
Slow decision making process
– As mentioned earlier in the report, Trionym Prescriptive 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. Trionym Prescriptive 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.
Aligning sales with marketing
– It come across in the case study Trionym Systems: Investment Decision-Making Using Prescriptive Analytics 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 Trionym Systems: Investment Decision-Making Using Prescriptive Analytics can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Trionym Prescriptive is planning to shift buying processes online.
High bargaining power of channel partners
– Because of the regulatory requirements, Owen Hall, Kenneth Ko suggests that, Trionym Prescriptive 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.
Employees’ incomplete understanding of strategy
– From the instances in the HBR case study Trionym Systems: Investment Decision-Making Using Prescriptive Analytics, it seems that the employees of Trionym Prescriptive 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.
Products dominated business model
– Even though Trionym Prescriptive 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 - Trionym Systems: Investment Decision-Making Using Prescriptive Analytics should strive to include more intangible value offerings along with its core products and services.
No frontier risks strategy
– After analyzing the HBR case study Trionym Systems: Investment Decision-Making Using Prescriptive Analytics, 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.
Increasing silos among functional specialists
– The organizational structure of Trionym Prescriptive is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Leadership & Managing People segment. Trionym Prescriptive needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Trionym Prescriptive to focus more on services rather than just following the product oriented approach.
Interest costs
– Compare to the competition, Trionym Prescriptive 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.
Skills based hiring
– The stress on hiring functional specialists at Trionym Prescriptive 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.
Slow to harness new channels of communication
– Even though competitors are using new communication channels such as Instagram, Tiktok, and Snap, Trionym Prescriptive is slow explore the new channels of communication. These new channels of communication mentioned in marketing section of case study Trionym Systems: Investment Decision-Making Using Prescriptive Analytics can help to provide better information regarding products and services. It can also build an online community to further reach out to potential customers.
Capital Spending Reduction
– Even during the low interest decade, Trionym Prescriptive 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.
Opportunities Trionym Systems: Investment Decision-Making Using Prescriptive Analytics | 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 Trionym Systems: Investment Decision-Making Using Prescriptive Analytics are -
Redefining models of collaboration and team work
– As explained in the weaknesses section, Trionym Prescriptive is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. Trionym Systems: Investment Decision-Making Using Prescriptive Analytics 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.
Increase in government spending
– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Trionym Prescriptive can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Trionym Prescriptive operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Leadership & Managing People sector.
Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities
– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Trionym Prescriptive 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 Trionym Prescriptive to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
Manufacturing automation
– Trionym Prescriptive 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. Trionym Prescriptive 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. Trionym Prescriptive 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.
Reconfiguring business model
– The expansion of digital payment system, the bringing down of international transactions costs using Bitcoin and other blockchain based currencies, etc can help Trionym Prescriptive to reconfigure its entire business model. For example it can used blockchain based technologies to reduce piracy of its products in the big markets such as China. Secondly it can use the popularity of e-commerce in various developing markets to build a Direct to Customer business model rather than the current Channel Heavy distribution network.
Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains
– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Trionym Prescriptive 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, Trionym Systems: Investment Decision-Making Using Prescriptive Analytics, 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. Trionym Prescriptive can tie-up with other value chain partners to explore new opportunities regarding meeting customer demands and building a rewarding and engaging relationship.
Use of Bitcoin and other crypto currencies for transactions
– The popularity of Bitcoin and other crypto currencies as asset class and medium of transaction has opened new opportunities for Trionym Prescriptive in the consumer business. Now Trionym Prescriptive can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– Trionym Prescriptive 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 Trionym Systems: Investment Decision-Making Using Prescriptive Analytics - to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Trionym Prescriptive to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
Leveraging digital technologies
– Trionym Prescriptive 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 Trionym Prescriptive 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.
Lowering marketing communication costs
– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Trionym Prescriptive 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.
Threats Trionym Systems: Investment Decision-Making Using Prescriptive Analytics External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Trionym Systems: Investment Decision-Making Using Prescriptive Analytics are -
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 Trionym Prescriptive in the Leadership & Managing People sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
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 Trionym Prescriptive business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
Regulatory challenges
– Trionym Prescriptive 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.
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Trionym Prescriptive is facing in Leadership & Managing People sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.
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 Trionym Prescriptive.
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, as highlighted in case study Trionym Systems: Investment Decision-Making Using Prescriptive Analytics, Trionym Prescriptive may face longer learning curve for training and development of existing employees. This can open space for more nimble competitors in the field of Leadership & Managing People .
High level of anxiety and lack of motivation
– the Great Resignation in United States is the sign of broader dissatisfaction among the workforce in United States. Trionym Prescriptive needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Leadership & Managing People industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
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. Trionym Prescriptive 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.
Environmental challenges
– Trionym Prescriptive 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. Trionym Prescriptive can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Leadership & Managing People industry.
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Trionym Prescriptive 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 Trionym Systems: Investment Decision-Making Using Prescriptive Analytics .
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Trionym Prescriptive 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.
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.
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Trionym Prescriptive in the Leadership & Managing People industry. The Leadership & Managing People industry is already at various protected from local competition in China, with the rise of trade war the protection levels may go up. This presents a clear threat of current business model in Chinese market.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Trionym Systems: Investment Decision-Making Using Prescriptive Analytics 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 Trionym Systems: Investment Decision-Making Using Prescriptive Analytics 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 Trionym Systems: Investment Decision-Making Using Prescriptive Analytics 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 Trionym Systems: Investment Decision-Making Using Prescriptive Analytics 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 Trionym Systems: Investment Decision-Making Using Prescriptive Analytics 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 Trionym Prescriptive needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.