FeedHenry – innovating in the cloud

Questions

1. Analyze using appropriate strategy tools, the external environmental challenges
faced by FeedHenry. Discuss their implications for FeedHenry’s management team
in making strategic decisions to guide the company’s growth and innovation
strategy.
2. Assess the business strategy of FeedHenry, its stage of entrepreneurial growth
and discuss their alignment with the business environment and overall strategic
objectives.
3. Analyze and evaluate the key innovation dilemmas faced by FeedHenry and
recommend where they should concentrate their limited resources to compete
effectively in international markets.
4. Assess the pace of innovation diffusion of FeedHenry and discuss the
implications for their technology platform and business model.
Overview
The case focuses on the innovation and strategic dilemmas faced by a small technology startup
firm that is competing internationally in emerging technology arenas of cloud computing
and mobile apps for business and enterprise users. The case explores, the decisions
management must make, with limited resources, in balancing the type (technological or
business model); source (open or closed innovation) and focus (demand push or market pull)
of their innovatory activities.
The case explores the business strategies of a small technological firm and the strategic
options they need to evaluate to capture market share with a disruptive technology in a
dynamic and uncertain business environment. These issues relate primarily to Chapter 9 of
Exploring Strategy. Further, the case highlights the complexity of managing internal and
external relationships in bringing new products to market and developing the small firm. Subthemes
concern business model design and the business activities organized to produce
technological and business model Innovation.
As a disruptive innovator with many established market incumbents, their business strategies
for winning market share are developed, which ties the case in with Chapters 6 and 7. The
business environment discussed in Exploring Strategy Chapter 2 is also set out to illustrate the
dynamic, fast-changing nature of the industry sector and inherit challenges of strategizing in
such environments. Further, as a start-up enterprise, the key challenges faced by the lead
entrepreneur(s) as the firm grows are explored. The case addresses key themes of small
business management such as changing roles, building social capital and market credibility
and entrepreneurial strategy. Students need to be familiar with analysis of strategic pos