Crowded Identity: Managing Crowdsourcing Initiatives to Maximize Value for Participants through Identity Creation SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis

Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution

Case Study Description of Crowded Identity: Managing Crowdsourcing Initiatives to Maximize Value for Participants through Identity Creation

In this article, we consider crowdsourcing from the consumer perspective. Specifically, we examine the identity value (i.e., sense of self) that consumers accrue by participating in creative crowds. How can managers structure crowdsourcing initiatives to maximize value for participants through identity creation and expression? We strive to answer this question first by examining the different types of crowdsourcing initiatives from a value co-creation perspective. Then, we evaluate how consumers construct identities through consumption and review the literature on identity theory. Finally, we link the identity type-personal, extended, or social-to the management of crowdsourcing ventures and offer suggestions for practitioners.

Authors :: Ivan Fedorenko, Pierre R. Berthon, Tamara Rabinovich

Topics :: Leadership & Managing People

Tags :: Growth strategy, SWOT Analysis, SWOT Matrix, TOWS, Weighted SWOT Analysis

Swot Analysis of "Crowded Identity: Managing Crowdsourcing Initiatives to Maximize Value for Participants through Identity Creation" written by Ivan Fedorenko, Pierre R. Berthon, Tamara Rabinovich includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Crowdsourcing Identity facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Crowded Identity: Managing Crowdsourcing Initiatives to Maximize Value for Participants through Identity Creation case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Growth strategy and Leadership & Managing People.

Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Crowded Identity: Managing Crowdsourcing Initiatives to Maximize Value for Participants through Identity Creation casestudy better are - – wage bills are increasing, there is backlash against globalization, increasing energy prices, competitive advantages are harder to sustain because of technology dispersion, customer relationship management is fast transforming because of increasing concerns over data privacy, increasing inequality as vast percentage of new income is going to the top 1%, increasing household debt because of falling income levels, increasing transportation and logistics costs, technology disruption, etc

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Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Crowded Identity: Managing Crowdsourcing Initiatives to Maximize Value for Participants through Identity Creation

SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Crowded Identity: Managing Crowdsourcing Initiatives to Maximize Value for Participants through Identity Creation case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Crowdsourcing Identity, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Crowdsourcing Identity 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.

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SWOT Objectives / Importance of SWOT Analysis and SWOT Matrix

SWOT analysis of Crowded Identity: Managing Crowdsourcing Initiatives to Maximize Value for Participants through Identity Creation can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Crowded Identity: Managing Crowdsourcing Initiatives to Maximize Value for Participants through Identity Creation case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Crowdsourcing Identity
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 Crowdsourcing Identity

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Strengths Crowded Identity: Managing Crowdsourcing Initiatives to Maximize Value for Participants through Identity Creation | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis

The strengths of Crowdsourcing Identity in Crowded Identity: Managing Crowdsourcing Initiatives to Maximize Value for Participants through Identity Creation Harvard Business Review case study are -

Effective Research and Development (R&D)

– Crowdsourcing Identity 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 Crowded Identity: Managing Crowdsourcing Initiatives to Maximize Value for Participants through Identity Creation - staying ahead in the industry in terms of – new product launches, superior customer experience, highly competitive pricing strategies, and great returns to the shareholders.

Strong track record of project management

– Crowdsourcing Identity is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.

Ability to recruit top talent

– Crowdsourcing Identity is one of the leading recruiters in the industry. Managers in the Crowded Identity: Managing Crowdsourcing Initiatives to Maximize Value for Participants through Identity Creation are in a position to attract the best talent available. The firm has a robust talent identification program that helps in identifying the brightest.

Analytics focus

– Crowdsourcing Identity 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 Ivan Fedorenko, Pierre R. Berthon, Tamara Rabinovich 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.

High switching costs

– The high switching costs that Crowdsourcing Identity 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.

Organizational Resilience of Crowdsourcing Identity

– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing that Crowdsourcing Identity does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.

Innovation driven organization

– Crowdsourcing Identity is one of the most innovative firm in sector. Manager in Crowded Identity: Managing Crowdsourcing Initiatives to Maximize Value for Participants through Identity Creation Harvard Business Review case study can use Clayton Christensen Disruptive Innovation strategies to further increase the scale of innovtions in the organization.

Superior customer experience

– The customer experience strategy of Crowdsourcing Identity in the segment is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.

Operational resilience

– The operational resilience strategy in the Crowded Identity: Managing Crowdsourcing Initiatives to Maximize Value for Participants through Identity Creation 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.

Successful track record of launching new products

– Crowdsourcing Identity has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Crowdsourcing Identity 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.

Cross disciplinary teams

– Horizontal connected teams at the Crowdsourcing Identity are driving operational speed, building greater agility, and keeping the organization nimble to compete with new competitors. It helps are organization to ideate new ideas, and execute them swiftly in the marketplace.

Diverse revenue streams

– Crowdsourcing Identity is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided firm in Crowded Identity: Managing Crowdsourcing Initiatives to Maximize Value for Participants through Identity Creation 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.

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Weaknesses Crowded Identity: Managing Crowdsourcing Initiatives to Maximize Value for Participants through Identity Creation | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis

The weaknesses of Crowded Identity: Managing Crowdsourcing Initiatives to Maximize Value for Participants through Identity Creation are -

Ability to respond to the competition

– As the decision making is very deliberative, highlighted in the case study Crowded Identity: Managing Crowdsourcing Initiatives to Maximize Value for Participants through Identity Creation, in the dynamic environment Crowdsourcing Identity has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. Crowdsourcing Identity has reasonably good record with similar level competitors but it has struggled with new entrants taking away niches of its business.

Lack of clear differentiation of Crowdsourcing Identity products

– To increase the profitability and margins on the products, Crowdsourcing Identity needs to provide more differentiated products than what it is currently offering in the marketplace.

Slow to harness new channels of communication

– Even though competitors are using new communication channels such as Instagram, Tiktok, and Snap, Crowdsourcing Identity is slow explore the new channels of communication. These new channels of communication mentioned in marketing section of case study Crowded Identity: Managing Crowdsourcing Initiatives to Maximize Value for Participants through Identity Creation can help to provide better information regarding products and services. It can also build an online community to further reach out to potential customers.

Low market penetration in new markets

– Outside its home market of Crowdsourcing Identity, firm in the HBR case study Crowded Identity: Managing Crowdsourcing Initiatives to Maximize Value for Participants through Identity Creation needs to spend more promotional, marketing, and advertising efforts to penetrate international markets.

Compensation and incentives

– The revenue per employee as mentioned in the HBR case study Crowded Identity: Managing Crowdsourcing Initiatives to Maximize Value for Participants through Identity Creation, is just above the industry average. Crowdsourcing Identity needs to redesign the compensation structure and incentives to increase the revenue per employees. Some of the steps that it can take are – hiring more specialists on project basis, etc.

Employees’ incomplete understanding of strategy

– From the instances in the HBR case study Crowded Identity: Managing Crowdsourcing Initiatives to Maximize Value for Participants through Identity Creation, it seems that the employees of Crowdsourcing Identity 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.

Slow to strategic competitive environment developments

– As Crowded Identity: Managing Crowdsourcing Initiatives to Maximize Value for Participants through Identity Creation HBR case study mentions - Crowdsourcing Identity 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.

Aligning sales with marketing

– It come across in the case study Crowded Identity: Managing Crowdsourcing Initiatives to Maximize Value for Participants through Identity Creation 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 Crowded Identity: Managing Crowdsourcing Initiatives to Maximize Value for Participants through Identity Creation can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Crowdsourcing Identity is planning to shift buying processes online.

Workers concerns about automation

– As automation is fast increasing in the segment, Crowdsourcing Identity 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.

Interest costs

– Compare to the competition, Crowdsourcing Identity 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.

High dependence on star products

– The top 2 products and services of the firm as mentioned in the Crowded Identity: Managing Crowdsourcing Initiatives to Maximize Value for Participants through Identity Creation 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 Crowdsourcing Identity has relatively successful track record of launching new products.

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Opportunities Crowded Identity: Managing Crowdsourcing Initiatives to Maximize Value for Participants through Identity Creation | 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 Crowded Identity: Managing Crowdsourcing Initiatives to Maximize Value for Participants through Identity Creation are -

Creating value in data economy

– The success of analytics program of Crowdsourcing Identity has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Crowdsourcing Identity to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the Crowded Identity: Managing Crowdsourcing Initiatives to Maximize Value for Participants through Identity Creation case study. Crowdsourcing Identity can build new products and services such as - data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, 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 Crowdsourcing Identity in the consumer business. Now Crowdsourcing Identity can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.

Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities

– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Crowdsourcing Identity 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 Crowdsourcing Identity to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.

Learning at scale

– Online learning technologies has now opened space for Crowdsourcing Identity 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

– Crowdsourcing Identity 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 Crowdsourcing Identity 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.

Developing new processes and practices

– Crowdsourcing Identity 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.

Redefining models of collaboration and team work

– As explained in the weaknesses section, Crowdsourcing Identity is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. Crowded Identity: Managing Crowdsourcing Initiatives to Maximize Value for Participants through Identity Creation 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.

Loyalty marketing

– Crowdsourcing Identity 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.

Building a culture of innovation

– managers at Crowdsourcing Identity 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.

Better consumer reach

– The expansion of the 5G network will help Crowdsourcing Identity to increase its market reach. Crowdsourcing Identity 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.

Using analytics as competitive advantage

– Crowdsourcing Identity 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 Crowded Identity: Managing Crowdsourcing Initiatives to Maximize Value for Participants through Identity Creation - to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Crowdsourcing Identity to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.

Buying journey improvements

– Crowdsourcing Identity can improve the customer journey of consumers in the industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. Crowded Identity: Managing Crowdsourcing Initiatives to Maximize Value for Participants through Identity Creation 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.

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Threats Crowded Identity: Managing Crowdsourcing Initiatives to Maximize Value for Participants through Identity Creation External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis

The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Crowded Identity: Managing Crowdsourcing Initiatives to Maximize Value for Participants through Identity Creation are -

Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution

– Crowdsourcing Identity has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Leadership & Managing People industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Crowdsourcing Identity 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.

Barriers of entry lowering

– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry in the industry are lowering. It can presents Crowdsourcing Identity with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the sector.

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 Crowdsourcing Identity business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.

Increasing wage structure of Crowdsourcing Identity

– 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 Crowdsourcing Identity.

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 Crowdsourcing Identity in the Leadership & Managing People sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.

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. Crowdsourcing Identity can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.

Environmental challenges

– Crowdsourcing Identity 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. Crowdsourcing Identity can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Leadership & Managing People industry.

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. Crowdsourcing Identity 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.

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 Crowdsourcing Identity.

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.

Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins

– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Crowdsourcing Identity 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 Crowded Identity: Managing Crowdsourcing Initiatives to Maximize Value for Participants through Identity Creation .

Shortening product life cycle

– it is one of the major threat that Crowdsourcing Identity is facing in Leadership & Managing People sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.

Stagnating economy with rate increase

– Crowdsourcing Identity 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.

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Weighted SWOT Analysis of Crowded Identity: Managing Crowdsourcing Initiatives to Maximize Value for Participants through Identity Creation 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 Crowded Identity: Managing Crowdsourcing Initiatives to Maximize Value for Participants through Identity Creation 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 Crowded Identity: Managing Crowdsourcing Initiatives to Maximize Value for Participants through Identity Creation 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 Crowded Identity: Managing Crowdsourcing Initiatives to Maximize Value for Participants through Identity Creation 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 Crowded Identity: Managing Crowdsourcing Initiatives to Maximize Value for Participants through Identity Creation 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 Crowdsourcing Identity needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.

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