ElektroSecur: General Manager of an SMB at the Age of 29 - (B) One Year Later SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Leadership & Managing People
Strategy / MBA Resources
Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of ElektroSecur: General Manager of an SMB at the Age of 29 - (B) One Year Later
The case looks at Ian Lambert's first year as the new general manager of ElektroSecur, a Canadian SMB with about 40 employees, specialized in the production and distribution of emergency vehicle technologies. Part A of the case focuses on his first six months in the job (September 2012 to February 2013), while Part B shifts attention to the following six months (March to August 2013). Part A: Ian Lambert took over as general manager of ElektroSecur in September 2012. The company was founded in 1997 by its two current owners, Daniel Dufour and Marc Rorty, who are respectively president and vice-president, business development. ElektroSecur had annual sales of approximately $7 million generated by some 50 in-house products and roughly 100 products distributed by it. The company was making a small net profit of no more than $20,000 a year and had always struggled to remain profitable. Part B: Contrary to what Ian had hoped after six months on the job (Part A), the company's financial situation did not improve over the following six months. Financially speaking, it was shaping up to be the worst year in the company's history. Up to the month of May, sales were more catastrophic than ever.
Swot Analysis of "ElektroSecur: General Manager of an SMB at the Age of 29 - (B) One Year Later" written by Anne Mesny includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Elektrosecur Ian facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in ElektroSecur: General Manager of an SMB at the Age of 29 - (B) One Year Later case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Managing people and Leadership & Managing People.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the ElektroSecur: General Manager of an SMB at the Age of 29 - (B) One Year Later casestudy better are - – competitive advantages are harder to sustain because of technology dispersion, there is increasing trade war between United States & China, technology disruption, customer relationship management is fast transforming because of increasing concerns over data privacy, geopolitical disruptions, increasing transportation and logistics costs, challanges to central banks by blockchain based private currencies,
increasing inequality as vast percentage of new income is going to the top 1%, digital marketing is dominated by two big players Facebook and Google, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of ElektroSecur: General Manager of an SMB at the Age of 29 - (B) One Year Later
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in ElektroSecur: General Manager of an SMB at the Age of 29 - (B) One Year Later case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Elektrosecur Ian, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Elektrosecur Ian 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 ElektroSecur: General Manager of an SMB at the Age of 29 - (B) One Year Later can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in ElektroSecur: General Manager of an SMB at the Age of 29 - (B) One Year Later case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Elektrosecur Ian
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 Elektrosecur Ian
Strengths ElektroSecur: General Manager of an SMB at the Age of 29 - (B) One Year Later | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Elektrosecur Ian in ElektroSecur: General Manager of an SMB at the Age of 29 - (B) One Year Later Harvard Business Review case study are -
Operational resilience
– The operational resilience strategy in the ElektroSecur: General Manager of an SMB at the Age of 29 - (B) One Year Later 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.
Innovation driven organization
– Elektrosecur Ian is one of the most innovative firm in sector. Manager in ElektroSecur: General Manager of an SMB at the Age of 29 - (B) One Year Later Harvard Business Review case study can use Clayton Christensen Disruptive Innovation strategies to further increase the scale of innovtions in the organization.
Strong track record of project management
– Elektrosecur Ian is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.
Analytics focus
– Elektrosecur Ian 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 Anne Mesny 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.
Effective Research and Development (R&D)
– Elektrosecur Ian 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 ElektroSecur: General Manager of an SMB at the Age of 29 - (B) One Year Later - 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
– Elektrosecur Ian 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 ElektroSecur: General Manager of an SMB at the Age of 29 - (B) One Year Later HBR case study have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
Ability to recruit top talent
– Elektrosecur Ian is one of the leading recruiters in the industry. Managers in the ElektroSecur: General Manager of an SMB at the Age of 29 - (B) One Year Later are in a position to attract the best talent available. The firm has a robust talent identification program that helps in identifying the brightest.
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Leadership & Managing People industry
– ElektroSecur: General Manager of an SMB at the Age of 29 - (B) One Year Later firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Elektrosecur Ian to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Leadership & Managing People industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Elektrosecur Ian to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Digital Transformation in Leadership & Managing People segment
- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For Elektrosecur Ian digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Elektrosecur Ian 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 Elektrosecur Ian
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing that Elektrosecur Ian does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
Learning organization
- Elektrosecur Ian 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 Elektrosecur Ian is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders in ElektroSecur: General Manager of an SMB at the Age of 29 - (B) One Year Later Harvard Business Review case study emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
Diverse revenue streams
– Elektrosecur Ian is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided firm in ElektroSecur: General Manager of an SMB at the Age of 29 - (B) One Year Later 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.
Weaknesses ElektroSecur: General Manager of an SMB at the Age of 29 - (B) One Year Later | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of ElektroSecur: General Manager of an SMB at the Age of 29 - (B) One Year Later are -
Interest costs
– Compare to the competition, Elektrosecur Ian 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.
Compensation and incentives
– The revenue per employee as mentioned in the HBR case study ElektroSecur: General Manager of an SMB at the Age of 29 - (B) One Year Later, is just above the industry average. Elektrosecur Ian 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.
Workers concerns about automation
– As automation is fast increasing in the segment, Elektrosecur Ian needs to come up with a strategy to reduce the workers concern regarding automation. Without a clear strategy, it could lead to disruption and uncertainty within the organization.
High bargaining power of channel partners
– Because of the regulatory requirements, Anne Mesny suggests that, Elektrosecur Ian 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.
Slow to strategic competitive environment developments
– As ElektroSecur: General Manager of an SMB at the Age of 29 - (B) One Year Later HBR case study mentions - Elektrosecur Ian takes time to assess the upcoming competitions. This has led to missing out on atleast 2-3 big opportunities in the industry in last five years.
High operating costs
– Compare to the competitors, firm in the HBR case study ElektroSecur: General Manager of an SMB at the Age of 29 - (B) One Year Later 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 Elektrosecur Ian 's lucrative customers.
Aligning sales with marketing
– It come across in the case study ElektroSecur: General Manager of an SMB at the Age of 29 - (B) One Year Later 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 ElektroSecur: General Manager of an SMB at the Age of 29 - (B) One Year Later can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Elektrosecur Ian is planning to shift buying processes online.
Products dominated business model
– Even though Elektrosecur Ian 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 - ElektroSecur: General Manager of an SMB at the Age of 29 - (B) One Year Later 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 Elektrosecur Ian, firm in the HBR case study ElektroSecur: General Manager of an SMB at the Age of 29 - (B) One Year Later needs to spend more promotional, marketing, and advertising efforts to penetrate international markets.
Increasing silos among functional specialists
– The organizational structure of Elektrosecur Ian is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Leadership & Managing People segment. Elektrosecur Ian needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Elektrosecur Ian to focus more on services rather than just following the product oriented approach.
Capital Spending Reduction
– Even during the low interest decade, Elektrosecur Ian 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 ElektroSecur: General Manager of an SMB at the Age of 29 - (B) One Year Later | 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 ElektroSecur: General Manager of an SMB at the Age of 29 - (B) One Year Later are -
Manufacturing automation
– Elektrosecur Ian 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.
Leveraging digital technologies
– Elektrosecur Ian 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.
Building a culture of innovation
– managers at Elektrosecur Ian 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.
Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities
– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Elektrosecur Ian 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 Elektrosecur Ian to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
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 Elektrosecur Ian in the consumer business. Now Elektrosecur Ian can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.
Reforming the budgeting process
- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects Elektrosecur Ian can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.
Redefining models of collaboration and team work
– As explained in the weaknesses section, Elektrosecur Ian is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. ElektroSecur: General Manager of an SMB at the Age of 29 - (B) One Year Later 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.
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. Elektrosecur Ian can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.
Better consumer reach
– The expansion of the 5G network will help Elektrosecur Ian to increase its market reach. Elektrosecur Ian 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.
Buying journey improvements
– Elektrosecur Ian can improve the customer journey of consumers in the industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. ElektroSecur: General Manager of an SMB at the Age of 29 - (B) One Year Later 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.
Lowering marketing communication costs
– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Elektrosecur Ian 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.
Loyalty marketing
– Elektrosecur Ian 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.
Developing new processes and practices
– Elektrosecur Ian 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.
Threats ElektroSecur: General Manager of an SMB at the Age of 29 - (B) One Year Later External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study ElektroSecur: General Manager of an SMB at the Age of 29 - (B) One Year Later are -
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. Elektrosecur Ian needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Leadership & Managing People industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
Environmental challenges
– Elektrosecur Ian 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. Elektrosecur Ian can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Leadership & Managing People industry.
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. Elektrosecur Ian 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.
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. Elektrosecur Ian can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry in the industry are lowering. It can presents Elektrosecur Ian with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the sector.
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, as highlighted in case study ElektroSecur: General Manager of an SMB at the Age of 29 - (B) One Year Later, Elektrosecur Ian 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 .
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 Elektrosecur Ian.
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 wage structure of Elektrosecur Ian
– 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 Elektrosecur Ian.
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Elektrosecur Ian 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 ElektroSecur: General Manager of an SMB at the Age of 29 - (B) One Year Later .
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Elektrosecur Ian 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.
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Elektrosecur Ian is facing in Leadership & Managing People sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.
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.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of ElektroSecur: General Manager of an SMB at the Age of 29 - (B) One Year Later 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 ElektroSecur: General Manager of an SMB at the Age of 29 - (B) One Year Later 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 ElektroSecur: General Manager of an SMB at the Age of 29 - (B) One Year Later 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 ElektroSecur: General Manager of an SMB at the Age of 29 - (B) One Year Later 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 ElektroSecur: General Manager of an SMB at the Age of 29 - (B) One Year Later 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 Elektrosecur Ian needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.
