An Entrepreneur's Future Calling: Human Capital Risk and Exit Dilemmas SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Leadership & Managing People
Strategy / MBA Resources
Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of An Entrepreneur's Future Calling: Human Capital Risk and Exit Dilemmas
A novice entrepreneur and a strong believer in ethical business practice has tried to build a family-oriented culture in his business process outsourcing company. However, although he created a friendly atmosphere, he still faced performance and attrition issues. The company grew in size and financial worth but the entrepreneur persisted in looking for better opportunities for a new business venture. He developed the idea of a new e-commerce venture that would sell Chinese products online. Juggling human capital risks and entrepreneurial exit, he had to consider the merits of his decision and determine whether to leverage the same team or hire a dedicated team for his new venture. Anshu Sharma is affiliated with Management Development Institute.
Swot Analysis of "An Entrepreneur's Future Calling: Human Capital Risk and Exit Dilemmas" written by Anshu Sharma, Jyotsna Bhatnagar includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Exit Anshu facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in An Entrepreneur's Future Calling: Human Capital Risk and Exit Dilemmas case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, International business, Leadership, Organizational culture, Risk management and Leadership & Managing People.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the An Entrepreneur's Future Calling: Human Capital Risk and Exit Dilemmas casestudy better are - – supply chains are disrupted by pandemic , cloud computing is disrupting traditional business models, increasing government debt because of Covid-19 spendings, challanges to central banks by blockchain based private currencies, increasing energy prices, central banks are concerned over increasing inflation, increasing transportation and logistics costs,
increasing household debt because of falling income levels, banking and financial system is disrupted by Bitcoin and other crypto currencies, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of An Entrepreneur's Future Calling: Human Capital Risk and Exit Dilemmas
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in An Entrepreneur's Future Calling: Human Capital Risk and Exit Dilemmas case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Exit Anshu, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Exit Anshu 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 An Entrepreneur's Future Calling: Human Capital Risk and Exit Dilemmas can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in An Entrepreneur's Future Calling: Human Capital Risk and Exit Dilemmas case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Exit Anshu
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 Exit Anshu
Strengths An Entrepreneur's Future Calling: Human Capital Risk and Exit Dilemmas | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Exit Anshu in An Entrepreneur's Future Calling: Human Capital Risk and Exit Dilemmas Harvard Business Review case study are -
Successful track record of launching new products
– Exit Anshu has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Exit Anshu 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.
High brand equity
– Exit Anshu has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Exit Anshu to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of Exit Anshu in the sector have low bargaining power. An Entrepreneur's Future Calling: Human Capital Risk and Exit Dilemmas has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Exit Anshu to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
Digital Transformation in Leadership & Managing People segment
- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For Exit Anshu digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Exit Anshu 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.
Ability to lead change in Leadership & Managing People field
– Exit Anshu 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 Exit Anshu in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.
Diverse revenue streams
– Exit Anshu is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided firm in An Entrepreneur's Future Calling: Human Capital Risk and Exit Dilemmas 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)
– Exit Anshu 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 An Entrepreneur's Future Calling: Human Capital Risk and Exit Dilemmas - staying ahead in the industry in terms of – new product launches, superior customer experience, highly competitive pricing strategies, and great returns to the shareholders.
Operational resilience
– The operational resilience strategy in the An Entrepreneur's Future Calling: Human Capital Risk and Exit Dilemmas 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.
Cross disciplinary teams
– Horizontal connected teams at the Exit Anshu 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.
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Leadership & Managing People industry
– An Entrepreneur's Future Calling: Human Capital Risk and Exit Dilemmas firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Exit Anshu to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Leadership & Managing People industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Exit Anshu to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
High switching costs
– The high switching costs that Exit Anshu 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.
Ability to recruit top talent
– Exit Anshu is one of the leading recruiters in the industry. Managers in the An Entrepreneur's Future Calling: Human Capital Risk and Exit Dilemmas 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 An Entrepreneur's Future Calling: Human Capital Risk and Exit Dilemmas | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of An Entrepreneur's Future Calling: Human Capital Risk and Exit Dilemmas are -
High dependence on star products
– The top 2 products and services of the firm as mentioned in the An Entrepreneur's Future Calling: Human Capital Risk and Exit Dilemmas 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 Exit Anshu has relatively successful track record of launching new products.
Low market penetration in new markets
– Outside its home market of Exit Anshu, firm in the HBR case study An Entrepreneur's Future Calling: Human Capital Risk and Exit Dilemmas needs to spend more promotional, marketing, and advertising efforts to penetrate international markets.
Increasing silos among functional specialists
– The organizational structure of Exit Anshu is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Leadership & Managing People segment. Exit Anshu needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Exit Anshu to focus more on services rather than just following the product oriented approach.
Interest costs
– Compare to the competition, Exit Anshu 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.
Aligning sales with marketing
– It come across in the case study An Entrepreneur's Future Calling: Human Capital Risk and Exit Dilemmas 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 An Entrepreneur's Future Calling: Human Capital Risk and Exit Dilemmas can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Exit Anshu is planning to shift buying processes online.
High cash cycle compare to competitors
Exit Anshu 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.
Capital Spending Reduction
– Even during the low interest decade, Exit Anshu 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.
Slow to harness new channels of communication
– Even though competitors are using new communication channels such as Instagram, Tiktok, and Snap, Exit Anshu is slow explore the new channels of communication. These new channels of communication mentioned in marketing section of case study An Entrepreneur's Future Calling: Human Capital Risk and Exit Dilemmas can help to provide better information regarding products and services. It can also build an online community to further reach out to potential customers.
Lack of clear differentiation of Exit Anshu products
– To increase the profitability and margins on the products, Exit Anshu needs to provide more differentiated products than what it is currently offering in the marketplace.
High operating costs
– Compare to the competitors, firm in the HBR case study An Entrepreneur's Future Calling: Human Capital Risk and Exit Dilemmas 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 Exit Anshu 's lucrative customers.
Ability to respond to the competition
– As the decision making is very deliberative, highlighted in the case study An Entrepreneur's Future Calling: Human Capital Risk and Exit Dilemmas, in the dynamic environment Exit Anshu has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. Exit Anshu has reasonably good record with similar level competitors but it has struggled with new entrants taking away niches of its business.
Opportunities An Entrepreneur's Future Calling: Human Capital Risk and Exit Dilemmas | 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 An Entrepreneur's Future Calling: Human Capital Risk and Exit Dilemmas are -
Learning at scale
– Online learning technologies has now opened space for Exit Anshu 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
– Exit Anshu 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.
Increase in government spending
– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Exit Anshu can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Exit Anshu operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Leadership & Managing People sector.
Loyalty marketing
– Exit Anshu 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.
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Exit Anshu has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Exit Anshu to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the An Entrepreneur's Future Calling: Human Capital Risk and Exit Dilemmas case study. Exit Anshu can build new products and services such as - data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, 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 Exit Anshu 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.
Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities
– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Exit Anshu to expand its talent hiring zone. According to McKinsey Global Institute, 20% of the high end workforce in fields such as finance, information technology, can continously work from remote local post Covid-19. This presents a really great opportunity for Exit Anshu to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
Buying journey improvements
– Exit Anshu can improve the customer journey of consumers in the industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. An Entrepreneur's Future Calling: Human Capital Risk and Exit Dilemmas 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.
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. Exit Anshu can tie-up with other value chain partners to explore new opportunities regarding meeting customer demands and building a rewarding and engaging relationship.
Building a culture of innovation
– managers at Exit Anshu 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.
Manufacturing automation
– Exit Anshu 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 Exit Anshu 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.
Reforming the budgeting process
- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects Exit Anshu can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.
Threats An Entrepreneur's Future Calling: Human Capital Risk and Exit Dilemmas External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study An Entrepreneur's Future Calling: Human Capital Risk and Exit Dilemmas are -
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 Exit Anshu.
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 Exit Anshu business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Exit Anshu 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.
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, as highlighted in case study An Entrepreneur's Future Calling: Human Capital Risk and Exit Dilemmas, Exit Anshu 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 .
Consumer confidence and its impact on Exit Anshu 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.
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 Exit Anshu in the Leadership & Managing People sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Exit Anshu has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Leadership & Managing People industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Exit Anshu 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.
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.
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry in the industry are lowering. It can presents Exit Anshu with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the sector.
Regulatory challenges
– Exit Anshu 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.
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Exit Anshu is facing in Leadership & Managing People sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.
Environmental challenges
– Exit Anshu 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. Exit Anshu can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Leadership & Managing People industry.
Aging population
– As the populations of most advanced economies are aging, it will lead to high social security costs, higher savings among population, and lower demand for goods and services in the economy. The household savings in US, France, UK, Germany, and Japan are growing faster than predicted because of uncertainty caused by pandemic.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of An Entrepreneur's Future Calling: Human Capital Risk and Exit Dilemmas 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 An Entrepreneur's Future Calling: Human Capital Risk and Exit Dilemmas 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 An Entrepreneur's Future Calling: Human Capital Risk and Exit Dilemmas 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 An Entrepreneur's Future Calling: Human Capital Risk and Exit Dilemmas 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 An Entrepreneur's Future Calling: Human Capital Risk and Exit Dilemmas 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 Exit Anshu needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.
