Towards the (Strategic) Management of Intellectual Property: Retrospective and Prospective SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Leadership & Managing People
Strategy / MBA Resources
Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of Towards the (Strategic) Management of Intellectual Property: Retrospective and Prospective
The systematic integrated management of intellectual property (IP) is a recent phenomenon. This is despite the fact that intellectual property has been around for several centuries. Today, matters are more complicated, and integrated IP management is required. By integrated IP management we mean not only that the various forms of intellectual property (patents, trade secrets, trademarks, copyright) are managed together, but that intellectual property management is in turn integrated with overall business model design and corporate strategy. Integrated management is more than simply establishing a licensing model, or manufacturing a product that incorporates new invention.
Swot Analysis of "Towards the (Strategic) Management of Intellectual Property: Retrospective and Prospective" written by Abdulrahman Y. Al-Aali, David J. Teece includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Intellectual Property facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Towards the (Strategic) Management of Intellectual Property: Retrospective and Prospective case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Innovation, Intellectual property and Leadership & Managing People.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Towards the (Strategic) Management of Intellectual Property: Retrospective and Prospective casestudy better are - – challanges to central banks by blockchain based private currencies, increasing government debt because of Covid-19 spendings, there is backlash against globalization, supply chains are disrupted by pandemic , increasing household debt because of falling income levels, geopolitical disruptions, increasing energy prices,
talent flight as more people leaving formal jobs, increasing inequality as vast percentage of new income is going to the top 1%, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Towards the (Strategic) Management of Intellectual Property: Retrospective and Prospective
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Towards the (Strategic) Management of Intellectual Property: Retrospective and Prospective case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Intellectual Property, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Intellectual Property 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 Towards the (Strategic) Management of Intellectual Property: Retrospective and Prospective can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Towards the (Strategic) Management of Intellectual Property: Retrospective and Prospective case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Intellectual Property
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 Intellectual Property
Strengths Towards the (Strategic) Management of Intellectual Property: Retrospective and Prospective | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Intellectual Property in Towards the (Strategic) Management of Intellectual Property: Retrospective and Prospective Harvard Business Review case study are -
Learning organization
- Intellectual Property 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 Intellectual Property is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders in Towards the (Strategic) Management of Intellectual Property: Retrospective and Prospective Harvard Business Review case study emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
Digital Transformation in Leadership & Managing People segment
- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For Intellectual Property digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Intellectual Property 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.
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Leadership & Managing People industry
– Towards the (Strategic) Management of Intellectual Property: Retrospective and Prospective firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Intellectual Property to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Leadership & Managing People industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Intellectual Property to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Training and development
– Intellectual Property has one of the best training and development program in the industry. The effectiveness of the training programs can be measured in Towards the (Strategic) Management of Intellectual Property: Retrospective and Prospective Harvard Business Review case study by analyzing – employees retention, in-house promotion, loyalty, new venture initiation, lack of conflict, and high level of both employees and customer engagement.
Superior customer experience
– The customer experience strategy of Intellectual Property in the segment is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.
High switching costs
– The high switching costs that Intellectual Property 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.
Strong track record of project management
– Intellectual Property 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
– Intellectual Property has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Intellectual Property to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Innovation driven organization
– Intellectual Property is one of the most innovative firm in sector. Manager in Towards the (Strategic) Management of Intellectual Property: Retrospective and Prospective Harvard Business Review case study can use Clayton Christensen Disruptive Innovation strategies to further increase the scale of innovtions in the organization.
Diverse revenue streams
– Intellectual Property is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided firm in Towards the (Strategic) Management of Intellectual Property: Retrospective and Prospective 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.
Effective Research and Development (R&D)
– Intellectual Property 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 Towards the (Strategic) Management of Intellectual Property: Retrospective and Prospective - 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
– Intellectual Property 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 Towards the (Strategic) Management of Intellectual Property: Retrospective and Prospective HBR case study have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
Weaknesses Towards the (Strategic) Management of Intellectual Property: Retrospective and Prospective | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Towards the (Strategic) Management of Intellectual Property: Retrospective and Prospective are -
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 Intellectual Property supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes mentioned in the HBR case study - Towards the (Strategic) Management of Intellectual Property: Retrospective and Prospective, it is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left Intellectual Property vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.
Ability to respond to the competition
– As the decision making is very deliberative, highlighted in the case study Towards the (Strategic) Management of Intellectual Property: Retrospective and Prospective, in the dynamic environment Intellectual Property has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. Intellectual Property has reasonably good record with similar level competitors but it has struggled with new entrants taking away niches of its business.
Workers concerns about automation
– As automation is fast increasing in the segment, Intellectual Property 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.
Aligning sales with marketing
– It come across in the case study Towards the (Strategic) Management of Intellectual Property: Retrospective and Prospective 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 Towards the (Strategic) Management of Intellectual Property: Retrospective and Prospective can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Intellectual Property is planning to shift buying processes online.
Slow to strategic competitive environment developments
– As Towards the (Strategic) Management of Intellectual Property: Retrospective and Prospective HBR case study mentions - Intellectual Property 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.
Increasing silos among functional specialists
– The organizational structure of Intellectual Property is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Leadership & Managing People segment. Intellectual Property needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Intellectual Property to focus more on services rather than just following the product oriented approach.
Slow decision making process
– As mentioned earlier in the report, Intellectual Property 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. Intellectual Property 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.
Products dominated business model
– Even though Intellectual Property 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 - Towards the (Strategic) Management of Intellectual Property: Retrospective and Prospective should strive to include more intangible value offerings along with its core products and services.
High bargaining power of channel partners
– Because of the regulatory requirements, Abdulrahman Y. Al-Aali, David J. Teece suggests that, Intellectual Property 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.
Skills based hiring
– The stress on hiring functional specialists at Intellectual Property 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.
Interest costs
– Compare to the competition, Intellectual Property 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 Towards the (Strategic) Management of Intellectual Property: Retrospective and Prospective | 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 Towards the (Strategic) Management of Intellectual Property: Retrospective and Prospective are -
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. Intellectual Property 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. Intellectual Property 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.
Increase in government spending
– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Intellectual Property can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Intellectual Property operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Leadership & Managing People sector.
Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains
– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Intellectual Property 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, Towards the (Strategic) Management of Intellectual Property: Retrospective and Prospective, to buy more products closer to the markets, and it can leverage its size and influence to get better deal from the local markets.
Developing new processes and practices
– Intellectual Property 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.
Manufacturing automation
– Intellectual Property 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.
Building a culture of innovation
– managers at Intellectual Property 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.
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Intellectual Property has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Intellectual Property to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the Towards the (Strategic) Management of Intellectual Property: Retrospective and Prospective case study. Intellectual Property can build new products and services such as - data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
Low interest rates
– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Intellectual Property can still utilize the low interest rates to borrow money for capital investment. Secondly it can also use the increase of government spending in infrastructure projects to get new business.
Learning at scale
– Online learning technologies has now opened space for Intellectual Property 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.
Leveraging digital technologies
– Intellectual Property 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.
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 Intellectual Property 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.
Buying journey improvements
– Intellectual Property can improve the customer journey of consumers in the industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. Towards the (Strategic) Management of Intellectual Property: Retrospective and Prospective 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.
Loyalty marketing
– Intellectual Property 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.
Threats Towards the (Strategic) Management of Intellectual Property: Retrospective and Prospective External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Towards the (Strategic) Management of Intellectual Property: Retrospective and Prospective are -
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry in the industry are lowering. It can presents Intellectual Property 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 Towards the (Strategic) Management of Intellectual Property: Retrospective and Prospective, Intellectual Property 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 Intellectual Property.
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.
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Intellectual Property is facing in Leadership & Managing People sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.
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. Intellectual Property can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
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 Intellectual Property business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
Increasing wage structure of Intellectual Property
– 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 Intellectual Property.
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 Intellectual Property in the Leadership & Managing People sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
Consumer confidence and its impact on Intellectual Property 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.
High dependence on third party suppliers
– Intellectual Property high dependence on third party suppliers can disrupt its processes and delivery mechanism. For example -the current troubles of car makers because of chip shortage is because the chip companies started producing chips for electronic companies rather than car manufacturers.
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. Intellectual Property needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Leadership & Managing People industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Intellectual Property 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 Towards the (Strategic) Management of Intellectual Property: Retrospective and Prospective 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 Towards the (Strategic) Management of Intellectual Property: Retrospective and Prospective 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 Towards the (Strategic) Management of Intellectual Property: Retrospective and Prospective 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 Towards the (Strategic) Management of Intellectual Property: Retrospective and Prospective 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 Towards the (Strategic) Management of Intellectual Property: Retrospective and Prospective 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 Intellectual Property needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.
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