Case Study Description of Marketing Research: Cui Bono?
There is a rising concern that marketing research is drifting away from the practical. With an ever-widening gap between business and academia, people are asking: What do practitioners want from marketing research? What do the researchers provide? Do the two coincide? In the short-term, parochial point of view, practitioners will never get what they are looking for in academic research. However, in the long term, research increases knowledge crucial to educating future marketing managers and enhancing their scientific decision making. Its essence is to level the playing field and intensify competitiveness among all firms, with the result of improved market efficiency and benefits to consumers and society as a whole.
Swot Analysis of "Marketing Research: Cui Bono?" written by Chiquan Guo includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Research Practitioners facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Marketing Research: Cui Bono? case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Managing people, Marketing and Sales & Marketing.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Marketing Research: Cui Bono? casestudy better are - – wage bills are increasing, central banks are concerned over increasing inflation, supply chains are disrupted by pandemic , increasing energy prices, digital marketing is dominated by two big players Facebook and Google, geopolitical disruptions, customer relationship management is fast transforming because of increasing concerns over data privacy,
banking and financial system is disrupted by Bitcoin and other crypto currencies, increasing household debt because of falling income levels, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Marketing Research: Cui Bono?
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Marketing Research: Cui Bono? case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Research Practitioners, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Research Practitioners 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 Marketing Research: Cui Bono? can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Marketing Research: Cui Bono? case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Research Practitioners
3. Assessing feasibility of the new initiative in Sales & Marketing field.
4. Making a Sales & Marketing topic specific business decision
5. Set goals for the organization
6. Organizational restructuring of Research Practitioners
Strengths Marketing Research: Cui Bono? | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Research Practitioners in Marketing Research: Cui Bono? Harvard Business Review case study are -
Operational resilience
– The operational resilience strategy in the Marketing Research: Cui Bono? 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.
Training and development
– Research Practitioners has one of the best training and development program in the industry. The effectiveness of the training programs can be measured in Marketing Research: Cui Bono? 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.
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Sales & Marketing industry
– Marketing Research: Cui Bono? firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Research Practitioners to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Sales & Marketing industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Research Practitioners to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of Research Practitioners in the sector have low bargaining power. Marketing Research: Cui Bono? has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Research Practitioners to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
Digital Transformation in Sales & Marketing segment
- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For Research Practitioners digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Research Practitioners 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.
Cross disciplinary teams
– Horizontal connected teams at the Research Practitioners 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.
Effective Research and Development (R&D)
– Research Practitioners 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 Marketing Research: Cui Bono? - 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
– Research Practitioners is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.
Learning organization
- Research Practitioners 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 Research Practitioners is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders in Marketing Research: Cui Bono? Harvard Business Review case study emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
Ability to lead change in Sales & Marketing field
– Research Practitioners 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 Research Practitioners in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.
High switching costs
– The high switching costs that Research Practitioners 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
– Research Practitioners 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 Marketing Research: Cui Bono? HBR case study have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
Weaknesses Marketing Research: Cui Bono? | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Marketing Research: Cui Bono? are -
Employees’ incomplete understanding of strategy
– From the instances in the HBR case study Marketing Research: Cui Bono?, it seems that the employees of Research Practitioners 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.
Ability to respond to the competition
– As the decision making is very deliberative, highlighted in the case study Marketing Research: Cui Bono?, in the dynamic environment Research Practitioners has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. Research Practitioners 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 Marketing Research: Cui Bono? 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 Marketing Research: Cui Bono? can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Research Practitioners is planning to shift buying processes online.
Interest costs
– Compare to the competition, Research Practitioners 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.
Capital Spending Reduction
– Even during the low interest decade, Research Practitioners 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.
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 Research Practitioners supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes mentioned in the HBR case study - Marketing Research: Cui Bono?, it is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left Research Practitioners vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.
Products dominated business model
– Even though Research Practitioners 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 - Marketing Research: Cui Bono? should strive to include more intangible value offerings along with its core products and services.
Increasing silos among functional specialists
– The organizational structure of Research Practitioners is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Sales & Marketing segment. Research Practitioners needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Research Practitioners to focus more on services rather than just following the product oriented approach.
Low market penetration in new markets
– Outside its home market of Research Practitioners, firm in the HBR case study Marketing Research: Cui Bono? needs to spend more promotional, marketing, and advertising efforts to penetrate international markets.
High cash cycle compare to competitors
Research Practitioners 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.
Slow to harness new channels of communication
– Even though competitors are using new communication channels such as Instagram, Tiktok, and Snap, Research Practitioners is slow explore the new channels of communication. These new channels of communication mentioned in marketing section of case study Marketing Research: Cui Bono? can help to provide better information regarding products and services. It can also build an online community to further reach out to potential customers.
Opportunities Marketing Research: Cui Bono? | 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 Marketing Research: Cui Bono? are -
Finding new ways to collaborate
– Covid-19 has not only transformed business models of companies in Sales & Marketing industry, but it has also influenced the consumer preferences. Research Practitioners can tie-up with other value chain partners to explore new opportunities regarding meeting customer demands and building a rewarding and engaging relationship.
Developing new processes and practices
– Research Practitioners can develop new processes and procedures in Sales & Marketing 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.
Loyalty marketing
– Research Practitioners 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.
Reforming the budgeting process
- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects Research Practitioners can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.
Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities
– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Research Practitioners 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 Research Practitioners to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– Research Practitioners 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 Marketing Research: Cui Bono? - to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Research Practitioners to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains
– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Research Practitioners 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, Marketing Research: Cui Bono?, to buy more products closer to the markets, and it can leverage its size and influence to get better deal from the local markets.
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Research Practitioners has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Research Practitioners to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the Marketing Research: Cui Bono? case study. Research Practitioners 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 Research Practitioners 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.
Learning at scale
– Online learning technologies has now opened space for Research Practitioners 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.
Low interest rates
– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Research Practitioners 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.
Redefining models of collaboration and team work
– As explained in the weaknesses section, Research Practitioners is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. Marketing Research: Cui Bono? 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.
Buying journey improvements
– Research Practitioners can improve the customer journey of consumers in the industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. Marketing Research: Cui Bono? 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.
Threats Marketing Research: Cui Bono? External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Marketing Research: Cui Bono? 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 Research Practitioners.
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Research Practitioners is facing in Sales & Marketing sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Research Practitioners 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.
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.
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Research Practitioners 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 Marketing Research: Cui Bono? .
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry in the industry are lowering. It can presents Research Practitioners with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the sector.
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. Research Practitioners 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.
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 Research Practitioners in the Sales & Marketing sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
Regulatory challenges
– Research Practitioners 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 Sales & Marketing industry regulations.
High dependence on third party suppliers
– Research Practitioners 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.
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 Research Practitioners business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
Easy access to finance
– Easy access to finance in Sales & Marketing field will also reduce the barriers to entry in the industry, thus putting downward pressure on the prices because of increasing competition. Research Practitioners can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
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 Marketing Research: Cui Bono? 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 Marketing Research: Cui Bono? 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 Marketing Research: Cui Bono? 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 Marketing Research: Cui Bono? 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 Marketing Research: Cui Bono? 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 Research Practitioners needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.