The Ingenuity Imperative: What Big Data Means for Big Business SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Leadership & Managing People
Strategy / MBA Resources
Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of The Ingenuity Imperative: What Big Data Means for Big Business
Big data' is hailed as the next mega-problem for business, and rightly so, says the author. He argues that business has to solve two different sets of problems here: prediction problems (what will happen if we do this?) and optimization problems (what is the best way to get this to happen?) Intelligence is not enough to tackle these issues, he says: big data requires ingenuity. He defines 'the ingenuity effect' and shows that it entails three key skills: modeling, coding and sensing.
Swot Analysis of "The Ingenuity Imperative: What Big Data Means for Big Business" written by Mihnea C. Moldoveanu includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Ingenuity Happen facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in The Ingenuity Imperative: What Big Data Means for Big Business case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Leadership and Leadership & Managing People.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the The Ingenuity Imperative: What Big Data Means for Big Business casestudy better are - – talent flight as more people leaving formal jobs, technology disruption, digital marketing is dominated by two big players Facebook and Google, increasing commodity prices, increasing transportation and logistics costs, geopolitical disruptions, wage bills are increasing,
increasing government debt because of Covid-19 spendings, there is backlash against globalization, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of The Ingenuity Imperative: What Big Data Means for Big Business
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in The Ingenuity Imperative: What Big Data Means for Big Business case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Ingenuity Happen, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Ingenuity Happen 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 The Ingenuity Imperative: What Big Data Means for Big Business can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in The Ingenuity Imperative: What Big Data Means for Big Business case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Ingenuity Happen
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 Ingenuity Happen
Strengths The Ingenuity Imperative: What Big Data Means for Big Business | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Ingenuity Happen in The Ingenuity Imperative: What Big Data Means for Big Business Harvard Business Review case study are -
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of Ingenuity Happen in the sector have low bargaining power. The Ingenuity Imperative: What Big Data Means for Big Business has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Ingenuity Happen 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
– The Ingenuity Imperative: What Big Data Means for Big Business firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Ingenuity Happen to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Leadership & Managing People industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Ingenuity Happen to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Cross disciplinary teams
– Horizontal connected teams at the Ingenuity Happen 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.
Analytics focus
– Ingenuity Happen 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 Mihnea C. Moldoveanu 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 The Ingenuity Imperative: What Big Data Means for Big Business 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 lead change in Leadership & Managing People field
– Ingenuity Happen 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 Ingenuity Happen in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.
Superior customer experience
– The customer experience strategy of Ingenuity Happen in the segment is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.
Digital Transformation in Leadership & Managing People segment
- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For Ingenuity Happen digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Ingenuity Happen 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.
Strong track record of project management
– Ingenuity Happen is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.
High brand equity
– Ingenuity Happen has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Ingenuity Happen to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Learning organization
- Ingenuity Happen 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 Ingenuity Happen is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders in The Ingenuity Imperative: What Big Data Means for Big Business Harvard Business Review case study emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
Ability to recruit top talent
– Ingenuity Happen is one of the leading recruiters in the industry. Managers in the The Ingenuity Imperative: What Big Data Means for Big Business are in a position to attract the best talent available. The firm has a robust talent identification program that helps in identifying the brightest.
Weaknesses The Ingenuity Imperative: What Big Data Means for Big Business | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of The Ingenuity Imperative: What Big Data Means for Big Business are -
Slow to harness new channels of communication
– Even though competitors are using new communication channels such as Instagram, Tiktok, and Snap, Ingenuity Happen is slow explore the new channels of communication. These new channels of communication mentioned in marketing section of case study The Ingenuity Imperative: What Big Data Means for Big Business can help to provide better information regarding products and services. It can also build an online community to further reach out to potential customers.
Workers concerns about automation
– As automation is fast increasing in the segment, Ingenuity Happen 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.
Products dominated business model
– Even though Ingenuity Happen 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 - The Ingenuity Imperative: What Big Data Means for Big Business should strive to include more intangible value offerings along with its core products and services.
Slow decision making process
– As mentioned earlier in the report, Ingenuity Happen 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. Ingenuity Happen 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 dependence on existing supply chain
– The disruption in the global supply chains because of the Covid-19 pandemic and blockage of the Suez Canal illustrated the fragile nature of Ingenuity Happen supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes mentioned in the HBR case study - The Ingenuity Imperative: What Big Data Means for Big Business, it is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left Ingenuity Happen vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.
Lack of clear differentiation of Ingenuity Happen products
– To increase the profitability and margins on the products, Ingenuity Happen needs to provide more differentiated products than what it is currently offering in the marketplace.
Employees’ incomplete understanding of strategy
– From the instances in the HBR case study The Ingenuity Imperative: What Big Data Means for Big Business, it seems that the employees of Ingenuity Happen 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.
High cash cycle compare to competitors
Ingenuity Happen has a high cash cycle compare to other players in the industry. It needs to shorten the cash cycle by 12% to be more competitive in the marketplace, reduce inventory costs, and be more profitable.
Need for greater diversity
– Ingenuity Happen has taken concrete steps on diversity, equity, and inclusion. But the efforts so far has resulted in limited success. It needs to expand the recruitment and selection process to hire more people from the minorities and underprivileged background.
High operating costs
– Compare to the competitors, firm in the HBR case study The Ingenuity Imperative: What Big Data Means for Big Business 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 Ingenuity Happen 's lucrative customers.
Ability to respond to the competition
– As the decision making is very deliberative, highlighted in the case study The Ingenuity Imperative: What Big Data Means for Big Business, in the dynamic environment Ingenuity Happen has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. Ingenuity Happen has reasonably good record with similar level competitors but it has struggled with new entrants taking away niches of its business.
Opportunities The Ingenuity Imperative: What Big Data Means for Big Business | 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 The Ingenuity Imperative: What Big Data Means for Big Business are -
Better consumer reach
– The expansion of the 5G network will help Ingenuity Happen to increase its market reach. Ingenuity Happen 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 Ingenuity Happen 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
– Ingenuity Happen 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.
Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains
– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Ingenuity Happen 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, The Ingenuity Imperative: What Big Data Means for Big Business, to buy more products closer to the markets, and it can leverage its size and influence to get better deal from the local markets.
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– Ingenuity Happen 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 The Ingenuity Imperative: What Big Data Means for Big Business - to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Ingenuity Happen to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
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 Ingenuity Happen 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.
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. Ingenuity Happen can tie-up with other value chain partners to explore new opportunities regarding meeting customer demands and building a rewarding and engaging relationship.
Learning at scale
– Online learning technologies has now opened space for Ingenuity Happen 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.
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 Ingenuity Happen in the consumer business. Now Ingenuity Happen can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.
Building a culture of innovation
– managers at Ingenuity Happen 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.
Leveraging digital technologies
– Ingenuity Happen 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.
Redefining models of collaboration and team work
– As explained in the weaknesses section, Ingenuity Happen is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. The Ingenuity Imperative: What Big Data Means for Big Business 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.
Buying journey improvements
– Ingenuity Happen can improve the customer journey of consumers in the industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. The Ingenuity Imperative: What Big Data Means for Big Business 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.
Threats The Ingenuity Imperative: What Big Data Means for Big Business External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study The Ingenuity Imperative: What Big Data Means for Big Business are -
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Ingenuity Happen 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 Ingenuity Happen in the Leadership & Managing People sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, as highlighted in case study The Ingenuity Imperative: What Big Data Means for Big Business, Ingenuity Happen 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 .
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Ingenuity Happen 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 The Ingenuity Imperative: What Big Data Means for Big Business .
Regulatory challenges
– Ingenuity Happen 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.
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 Ingenuity Happen.
Environmental challenges
– Ingenuity Happen 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. Ingenuity Happen can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Leadership & Managing People industry.
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry in the industry are lowering. It can presents Ingenuity Happen with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the sector.
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. Ingenuity Happen needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Leadership & Managing People industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
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.
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. Ingenuity Happen 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. Ingenuity Happen can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
Consumer confidence and its impact on Ingenuity Happen 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.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of The Ingenuity Imperative: What Big Data Means for Big Business 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 The Ingenuity Imperative: What Big Data Means for Big Business 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 The Ingenuity Imperative: What Big Data Means for Big Business 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 The Ingenuity Imperative: What Big Data Means for Big Business 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 The Ingenuity Imperative: What Big Data Means for Big Business 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 Ingenuity Happen needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.
