Case Study Description of JFDI Asia: Southeast Asia's Leading Accelerator
In 2010, two entrepreneurs launched Joyful Frog Digital Incubator (JFDI), Southeast Asia's first start-up accelerator in Singapore. They aimed to help develop Singapore's start-up environment through a structured program that provided access to early stage funding and mentorship. More than 70 start-ups had graduated from the program, and more than half had raised substantial funding. However, five years later, in 2015, JFDI faced challenges as a result of Singapore's small market size, the more than 20 accelerators that had entered the market, and an uncertain macroeconomic climate. The founders wondered whether JFDI should open up new revenue streams by diversifying into advisory and consultancy services, such as in-house accelerator programs in established corporations. Alternatively, should the company expand geographically to broaden its access to capital, talent, and new markets? Or were there still other options that the founders should pursue? Lai Yin Sarah Cheah and Vivien K.G. Lim are affiliated with National University of Singapore.
Authors :: Sarah L.Y. Cheah, Vivien K.G. Lim, Norvin W. Chan
Swot Analysis of "JFDI Asia: Southeast Asia's Leading Accelerator" written by Sarah L.Y. Cheah, Vivien K.G. Lim, Norvin W. Chan includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Jfdi Accelerator facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in JFDI Asia: Southeast Asia's Leading Accelerator case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Financial management, Government, Innovation and Leadership & Managing People.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the JFDI Asia: Southeast Asia's Leading Accelerator casestudy better are - – supply chains are disrupted by pandemic , digital marketing is dominated by two big players Facebook and Google, wage bills are increasing, cloud computing is disrupting traditional business models, talent flight as more people leaving formal jobs, there is increasing trade war between United States & China, increasing government debt because of Covid-19 spendings,
challanges to central banks by blockchain based private currencies, technology disruption, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of JFDI Asia: Southeast Asia's Leading Accelerator
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in JFDI Asia: Southeast Asia's Leading Accelerator case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Jfdi Accelerator, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Jfdi Accelerator 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 JFDI Asia: Southeast Asia's Leading Accelerator can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in JFDI Asia: Southeast Asia's Leading Accelerator case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Jfdi Accelerator
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 Jfdi Accelerator
Strengths JFDI Asia: Southeast Asia's Leading Accelerator | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Jfdi Accelerator in JFDI Asia: Southeast Asia's Leading Accelerator Harvard Business Review case study are -
Effective Research and Development (R&D)
– Jfdi Accelerator 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 JFDI Asia: Southeast Asia's Leading Accelerator - staying ahead in the industry in terms of – new product launches, superior customer experience, highly competitive pricing strategies, and great returns to the shareholders.
Diverse revenue streams
– Jfdi Accelerator is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided firm in JFDI Asia: Southeast Asia's Leading Accelerator 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.
Successful track record of launching new products
– Jfdi Accelerator has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Jfdi Accelerator 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.
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Leadership & Managing People industry
– JFDI Asia: Southeast Asia's Leading Accelerator firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Jfdi Accelerator to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Leadership & Managing People industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Jfdi Accelerator to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Cross disciplinary teams
– Horizontal connected teams at the Jfdi Accelerator 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.
High brand equity
– Jfdi Accelerator has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Jfdi Accelerator to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Strong track record of project management
– Jfdi Accelerator 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 switching costs
– The high switching costs that Jfdi Accelerator 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.
Highly skilled collaborators
– Jfdi Accelerator 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 JFDI Asia: Southeast Asia's Leading Accelerator HBR case study have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
Operational resilience
– The operational resilience strategy in the JFDI Asia: Southeast Asia's Leading Accelerator 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.
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of Jfdi Accelerator in the sector have low bargaining power. JFDI Asia: Southeast Asia's Leading Accelerator has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Jfdi Accelerator to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
Ability to lead change in Leadership & Managing People field
– Jfdi Accelerator 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 Jfdi Accelerator in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.
Weaknesses JFDI Asia: Southeast Asia's Leading Accelerator | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of JFDI Asia: Southeast Asia's Leading Accelerator are -
Lack of clear differentiation of Jfdi Accelerator products
– To increase the profitability and margins on the products, Jfdi Accelerator needs to provide more differentiated products than what it is currently offering in the marketplace.
Low market penetration in new markets
– Outside its home market of Jfdi Accelerator, firm in the HBR case study JFDI Asia: Southeast Asia's Leading Accelerator needs to spend more promotional, marketing, and advertising efforts to penetrate international markets.
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 Jfdi Accelerator supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes mentioned in the HBR case study - JFDI Asia: Southeast Asia's Leading Accelerator, it is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left Jfdi Accelerator vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.
High dependence on star products
– The top 2 products and services of the firm as mentioned in the JFDI Asia: Southeast Asia's Leading Accelerator HBR case study still accounts for major business revenue. This dependence on star products in has resulted into insufficient focus on developing new products, even though Jfdi Accelerator has relatively successful track record of launching new products.
Slow decision making process
– As mentioned earlier in the report, Jfdi Accelerator 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. Jfdi Accelerator 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.
Slow to harness new channels of communication
– Even though competitors are using new communication channels such as Instagram, Tiktok, and Snap, Jfdi Accelerator is slow explore the new channels of communication. These new channels of communication mentioned in marketing section of case study JFDI Asia: Southeast Asia's Leading Accelerator can help to provide better information regarding products and services. It can also build an online community to further reach out to potential customers.
Ability to respond to the competition
– As the decision making is very deliberative, highlighted in the case study JFDI Asia: Southeast Asia's Leading Accelerator, in the dynamic environment Jfdi Accelerator has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. Jfdi Accelerator has reasonably good record with similar level competitors but it has struggled with new entrants taking away niches of its business.
Aligning sales with marketing
– It come across in the case study JFDI Asia: Southeast Asia's Leading Accelerator 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 JFDI Asia: Southeast Asia's Leading Accelerator can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Jfdi Accelerator is planning to shift buying processes online.
Need for greater diversity
– Jfdi Accelerator 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.
Skills based hiring
– The stress on hiring functional specialists at Jfdi Accelerator has created an environment where the organization is dominated by functional specialists rather than management generalist. This has resulted into product oriented approach rather than marketing oriented approach or consumers oriented approach.
High bargaining power of channel partners
– Because of the regulatory requirements, Sarah L.Y. Cheah, Vivien K.G. Lim, Norvin W. Chan suggests that, Jfdi Accelerator 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.
Opportunities JFDI Asia: Southeast Asia's Leading Accelerator | 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 JFDI Asia: Southeast Asia's Leading Accelerator are -
Redefining models of collaboration and team work
– As explained in the weaknesses section, Jfdi Accelerator is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. JFDI Asia: Southeast Asia's Leading Accelerator 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.
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 Jfdi Accelerator in the consumer business. Now Jfdi Accelerator can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.
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. Jfdi Accelerator can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.
Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains
– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Jfdi Accelerator 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, JFDI Asia: Southeast Asia's Leading Accelerator, 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
– Jfdi Accelerator 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 JFDI Asia: Southeast Asia's Leading Accelerator - to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Jfdi Accelerator to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Jfdi Accelerator has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Jfdi Accelerator to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the JFDI Asia: Southeast Asia's Leading Accelerator case study. Jfdi Accelerator can build new products and services such as - data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
Manufacturing automation
– Jfdi Accelerator 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.
Lowering marketing communication costs
– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Jfdi Accelerator 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.
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. Jfdi Accelerator 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. Jfdi Accelerator 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.
Better consumer reach
– The expansion of the 5G network will help Jfdi Accelerator to increase its market reach. Jfdi Accelerator 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
– Jfdi Accelerator can improve the customer journey of consumers in the industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. JFDI Asia: Southeast Asia's Leading Accelerator 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.
Reforming the budgeting process
- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects Jfdi Accelerator can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.
Building a culture of innovation
– managers at Jfdi Accelerator 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.
Threats JFDI Asia: Southeast Asia's Leading Accelerator External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study JFDI Asia: Southeast Asia's Leading Accelerator are -
Environmental challenges
– Jfdi Accelerator 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. Jfdi Accelerator can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Leadership & Managing People industry.
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 Jfdi Accelerator.
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 Jfdi Accelerator business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Jfdi Accelerator is facing in Leadership & Managing People sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, as highlighted in case study JFDI Asia: Southeast Asia's Leading Accelerator, Jfdi Accelerator 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 .
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 Jfdi Accelerator in the Leadership & Managing People sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
Consumer confidence and its impact on Jfdi Accelerator 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.
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Jfdi Accelerator has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Leadership & Managing People industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Jfdi Accelerator 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. Jfdi Accelerator needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Leadership & Managing People industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Jfdi Accelerator 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.
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. Jfdi Accelerator 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.
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Jfdi Accelerator 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.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of JFDI Asia: Southeast Asia's Leading Accelerator 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 JFDI Asia: Southeast Asia's Leading Accelerator 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 JFDI Asia: Southeast Asia's Leading Accelerator 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 JFDI Asia: Southeast Asia's Leading Accelerator 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 JFDI Asia: Southeast Asia's Leading Accelerator 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 Jfdi Accelerator needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.
