Autodesk in 2016: Transforming to Meet a Changing Industry SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Leadership & Managing People
Strategy / MBA Resources
Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of Autodesk in 2016: Transforming to Meet a Changing Industry
The purpose of this case is to look at Autodesk's cultural and technological challenges as the company faces a changing industry. With various innovations such as the cloud, the Internet of things, and various new manufacturing processes affecting every aspect of the company's future, students will be introduced to the various decisions and challenges a corporation has to face in order to remain ahead of massive industry disruption. The case analyzes Autodesk's three major branches: (1) Architectural and Engineering, (2) Manufacturing, and (3) Media & Entertainment and how all three branches are adjusting to meet the future. Of particular focus is the shift to a subscription business model, the cultural ramifications of such a shift, the arrival of activist investors to the company's stock, and the various disruptive innovations in Autodesk's markets.
Swot Analysis of "Autodesk in 2016: Transforming to Meet a Changing Industry" written by Robert Siegel, Peter A. Seibert includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Autodesk's Branches facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Autodesk in 2016: Transforming to Meet a Changing Industry case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Disruptive innovation, Organizational culture, Strategic planning and Leadership & Managing People.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Autodesk in 2016: Transforming to Meet a Changing Industry casestudy better are - – there is backlash against globalization, supply chains are disrupted by pandemic , increasing transportation and logistics costs, increasing inequality as vast percentage of new income is going to the top 1%, increasing energy prices, challanges to central banks by blockchain based private currencies, talent flight as more people leaving formal jobs,
digital marketing is dominated by two big players Facebook and Google, increasing government debt because of Covid-19 spendings, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Autodesk in 2016: Transforming to Meet a Changing Industry
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Autodesk in 2016: Transforming to Meet a Changing Industry case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Autodesk's Branches, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Autodesk's Branches 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 Autodesk in 2016: Transforming to Meet a Changing Industry can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Autodesk in 2016: Transforming to Meet a Changing Industry case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Autodesk's Branches
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 Autodesk's Branches
Strengths Autodesk in 2016: Transforming to Meet a Changing Industry | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Autodesk's Branches in Autodesk in 2016: Transforming to Meet a Changing Industry Harvard Business Review case study are -
Learning organization
- Autodesk's Branches 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 Autodesk's Branches is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders in Autodesk in 2016: Transforming to Meet a Changing Industry Harvard Business Review case study emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Leadership & Managing People industry
– Autodesk in 2016: Transforming to Meet a Changing Industry firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Autodesk's Branches to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Leadership & Managing People industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Autodesk's Branches to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Superior customer experience
– The customer experience strategy of Autodesk's Branches in the segment is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of Autodesk's Branches in the sector have low bargaining power. Autodesk in 2016: Transforming to Meet a Changing Industry has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Autodesk's Branches to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
High brand equity
– Autodesk's Branches has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Autodesk's Branches to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Innovation driven organization
– Autodesk's Branches is one of the most innovative firm in sector. Manager in Autodesk in 2016: Transforming to Meet a Changing Industry Harvard Business Review case study can use Clayton Christensen Disruptive Innovation strategies to further increase the scale of innovtions in the organization.
Operational resilience
– The operational resilience strategy in the Autodesk in 2016: Transforming to Meet a Changing Industry 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.
Analytics focus
– Autodesk's Branches 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 Robert Siegel, Peter A. Seibert 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.
Successful track record of launching new products
– Autodesk's Branches has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Autodesk's Branches 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.
Strong track record of project management
– Autodesk's Branches is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.
Cross disciplinary teams
– Horizontal connected teams at the Autodesk's Branches 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
– Autodesk's Branches is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided firm in Autodesk in 2016: Transforming to Meet a Changing Industry 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 Autodesk in 2016: Transforming to Meet a Changing Industry | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Autodesk in 2016: Transforming to Meet a Changing Industry are -
Aligning sales with marketing
– It come across in the case study Autodesk in 2016: Transforming to Meet a Changing Industry 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 Autodesk in 2016: Transforming to Meet a Changing Industry can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Autodesk's Branches is planning to shift buying processes online.
Ability to respond to the competition
– As the decision making is very deliberative, highlighted in the case study Autodesk in 2016: Transforming to Meet a Changing Industry, in the dynamic environment Autodesk's Branches has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. Autodesk's Branches has reasonably good record with similar level competitors but it has struggled with new entrants taking away niches of its business.
Lack of clear differentiation of Autodesk's Branches products
– To increase the profitability and margins on the products, Autodesk's Branches needs to provide more differentiated products than what it is currently offering in the marketplace.
Capital Spending Reduction
– Even during the low interest decade, Autodesk's Branches 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.
Increasing silos among functional specialists
– The organizational structure of Autodesk's Branches is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Leadership & Managing People segment. Autodesk's Branches needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Autodesk's Branches to focus more on services rather than just following the product oriented approach.
Slow to strategic competitive environment developments
– As Autodesk in 2016: Transforming to Meet a Changing Industry HBR case study mentions - Autodesk's Branches 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.
Skills based hiring
– The stress on hiring functional specialists at Autodesk's Branches 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.
No frontier risks strategy
– After analyzing the HBR case study Autodesk in 2016: Transforming to Meet a Changing Industry, it seems that company is thinking about the frontier risks that can impact Leadership & Managing People strategy. But it has very little resources allocation to manage the risks emerging from events such as natural disasters, climate change, melting of permafrost, tacking the rise of artificial intelligence, opportunities and threats emerging from commercialization of space etc.
High operating costs
– Compare to the competitors, firm in the HBR case study Autodesk in 2016: Transforming to Meet a Changing Industry 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 Autodesk's Branches 's lucrative customers.
Compensation and incentives
– The revenue per employee as mentioned in the HBR case study Autodesk in 2016: Transforming to Meet a Changing Industry, is just above the industry average. Autodesk's Branches 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.
Interest costs
– Compare to the competition, Autodesk's Branches 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.
Opportunities Autodesk in 2016: Transforming to Meet a Changing Industry | 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 Autodesk in 2016: Transforming to Meet a Changing Industry are -
Learning at scale
– Online learning technologies has now opened space for Autodesk's Branches 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.
Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains
– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Autodesk's Branches 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, Autodesk in 2016: Transforming to Meet a Changing Industry, to buy more products closer to the markets, and it can leverage its size and influence to get better deal from the local markets.
Increase in government spending
– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Autodesk's Branches can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Autodesk's Branches operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Leadership & Managing People sector.
Leveraging digital technologies
– Autodesk's Branches 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.
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. Autodesk's Branches can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.
Building a culture of innovation
– managers at Autodesk's Branches 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.
Redefining models of collaboration and team work
– As explained in the weaknesses section, Autodesk's Branches is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. Autodesk in 2016: Transforming to Meet a Changing Industry 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.
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– Autodesk's Branches 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 Autodesk in 2016: Transforming to Meet a Changing Industry - to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Autodesk's Branches to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
Loyalty marketing
– Autodesk's Branches 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.
Better consumer reach
– The expansion of the 5G network will help Autodesk's Branches to increase its market reach. Autodesk's Branches 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.
Lowering marketing communication costs
– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Autodesk's Branches 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
– Autodesk's Branches 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.
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 Autodesk's Branches 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.
Threats Autodesk in 2016: Transforming to Meet a Changing Industry External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Autodesk in 2016: Transforming to Meet a Changing Industry are -
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Autodesk's Branches is facing in Leadership & Managing People sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.
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 Autodesk's Branches in the Leadership & Managing People sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
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.
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. Autodesk's Branches 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.
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry in the industry are lowering. It can presents Autodesk's Branches with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the sector.
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.
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 Autodesk's Branches.
Increasing wage structure of Autodesk's Branches
– 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 Autodesk's Branches.
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Autodesk's Branches 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.
Regulatory challenges
– Autodesk's Branches 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.
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Autodesk's Branches has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Leadership & Managing People industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Autodesk's Branches needs to keep up with the evolution of technology in the Leadership & Managing People sector. According to Mckinsey study top managers believe that the adoption of technology in operations, communications is 20-25 times faster than what they planned in the beginning of 2019.
High 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. Autodesk's Branches needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Leadership & Managing People industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Autodesk's Branches 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 Autodesk in 2016: Transforming to Meet a Changing Industry .
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Autodesk in 2016: Transforming to Meet a Changing Industry 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 Autodesk in 2016: Transforming to Meet a Changing Industry 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 Autodesk in 2016: Transforming to Meet a Changing Industry 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 Autodesk in 2016: Transforming to Meet a Changing Industry 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 Autodesk in 2016: Transforming to Meet a Changing Industry 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 Autodesk's Branches needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.
