Case Study Description of Qualtrics: Bootstrapping Growth
In March 2012 the founders of Qualtrics sat together in the Provo, Utah, office of advisor Duff Thompson. They stared down one of the toughest decisions in the ten-year history of the company. Thompson and Qualtrics' CEO Ryan Smith had spent the last few months fielding calls from venture capitalists and strategic partners who were interested in becoming a part of the Qualtrics story. The culmination of their effort was a $500 million buyout offer, several venture capital (VC) term sheets, and a line-up of prominent institutional partners. This case examines Qualtrics' growth through ten years of bootstrapping and challenges the reader to evaluate four potential liquidity options for the next phase in Qualtrics' evolution.
Swot Analysis of "Qualtrics: Bootstrapping Growth" written by Jonathan Levav, Maryanna V Quigless includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Qualtrics Bootstrapping facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Qualtrics: Bootstrapping Growth case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Entrepreneurship, Financial management, Market research, Strategic planning and Sales & Marketing.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Qualtrics: Bootstrapping Growth casestudy better are - – banking and financial system is disrupted by Bitcoin and other crypto currencies, customer relationship management is fast transforming because of increasing concerns over data privacy, challanges to central banks by blockchain based private currencies, competitive advantages are harder to sustain because of technology dispersion, technology disruption, there is backlash against globalization, increasing inequality as vast percentage of new income is going to the top 1%,
increasing household debt because of falling income levels, increasing government debt because of Covid-19 spendings, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Qualtrics: Bootstrapping Growth
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Qualtrics: Bootstrapping Growth case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Qualtrics Bootstrapping, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Qualtrics Bootstrapping 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 Qualtrics: Bootstrapping Growth can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Qualtrics: Bootstrapping Growth case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Qualtrics Bootstrapping
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 Qualtrics Bootstrapping
Strengths Qualtrics: Bootstrapping Growth | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Qualtrics Bootstrapping in Qualtrics: Bootstrapping Growth Harvard Business Review case study are -
Ability to lead change in Sales & Marketing field
– Qualtrics Bootstrapping 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 Qualtrics Bootstrapping in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.
Strong track record of project management
– Qualtrics Bootstrapping 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
- Qualtrics Bootstrapping 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 Qualtrics Bootstrapping is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders in Qualtrics: Bootstrapping Growth Harvard Business Review case study emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
Innovation driven organization
– Qualtrics Bootstrapping is one of the most innovative firm in sector. Manager in Qualtrics: Bootstrapping Growth Harvard Business Review case study can use Clayton Christensen Disruptive Innovation strategies to further increase the scale of innovtions in the organization.
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Sales & Marketing industry
– Qualtrics: Bootstrapping Growth firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Qualtrics Bootstrapping to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Sales & Marketing industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Qualtrics Bootstrapping to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of Qualtrics Bootstrapping in the sector have low bargaining power. Qualtrics: Bootstrapping Growth has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Qualtrics Bootstrapping to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
Superior customer experience
– The customer experience strategy of Qualtrics Bootstrapping in the segment is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.
Organizational Resilience of Qualtrics Bootstrapping
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing that Qualtrics Bootstrapping does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
Digital Transformation in Sales & Marketing segment
- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For Qualtrics Bootstrapping digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Qualtrics Bootstrapping 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.
Highly skilled collaborators
– Qualtrics Bootstrapping 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 Qualtrics: Bootstrapping Growth HBR case study have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
Training and development
– Qualtrics Bootstrapping has one of the best training and development program in the industry. The effectiveness of the training programs can be measured in Qualtrics: Bootstrapping Growth 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.
Successful track record of launching new products
– Qualtrics Bootstrapping has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Qualtrics Bootstrapping 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.
Weaknesses Qualtrics: Bootstrapping Growth | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Qualtrics: Bootstrapping Growth are -
Aligning sales with marketing
– It come across in the case study Qualtrics: Bootstrapping Growth 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 Qualtrics: Bootstrapping Growth can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Qualtrics Bootstrapping is planning to shift buying processes online.
No frontier risks strategy
– After analyzing the HBR case study Qualtrics: Bootstrapping Growth, it seems that company is thinking about the frontier risks that can impact Sales & Marketing strategy. But it has very little resources allocation to manage the risks emerging from events such as natural disasters, climate change, melting of permafrost, tacking the rise of artificial intelligence, opportunities and threats emerging from commercialization of space etc.
Low market penetration in new markets
– Outside its home market of Qualtrics Bootstrapping, firm in the HBR case study Qualtrics: Bootstrapping Growth needs to spend more promotional, marketing, and advertising efforts to penetrate international markets.
High operating costs
– Compare to the competitors, firm in the HBR case study Qualtrics: Bootstrapping Growth 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 Qualtrics Bootstrapping 's lucrative customers.
Lack of clear differentiation of Qualtrics Bootstrapping products
– To increase the profitability and margins on the products, Qualtrics Bootstrapping needs to provide more differentiated products than what it is currently offering in the marketplace.
Employees’ incomplete understanding of strategy
– From the instances in the HBR case study Qualtrics: Bootstrapping Growth, it seems that the employees of Qualtrics Bootstrapping 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.
Compensation and incentives
– The revenue per employee as mentioned in the HBR case study Qualtrics: Bootstrapping Growth, is just above the industry average. Qualtrics Bootstrapping 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.
Need for greater diversity
– Qualtrics Bootstrapping has taken concrete steps on diversity, equity, and inclusion. But the efforts so far has resulted in limited success. It needs to expand the recruitment and selection process to hire more people from the minorities and underprivileged background.
Skills based hiring
– The stress on hiring functional specialists at Qualtrics Bootstrapping 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.
Products dominated business model
– Even though Qualtrics Bootstrapping 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 - Qualtrics: Bootstrapping Growth should strive to include more intangible value offerings along with its core products and services.
Interest costs
– Compare to the competition, Qualtrics Bootstrapping 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 Qualtrics: Bootstrapping Growth | 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 Qualtrics: Bootstrapping Growth are -
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Qualtrics Bootstrapping has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Qualtrics Bootstrapping to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the Qualtrics: Bootstrapping Growth case study. Qualtrics Bootstrapping can build new products and services such as - data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
Lowering marketing communication costs
– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Qualtrics Bootstrapping in the field of marketing communication. It will bring down the cost of doing business, provide technology platform to build new products in the Sales & Marketing segment, and it will provide faster access to the consumers.
Learning at scale
– Online learning technologies has now opened space for Qualtrics Bootstrapping 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, Qualtrics Bootstrapping 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.
Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities
– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Qualtrics Bootstrapping 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 Qualtrics Bootstrapping to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
Redefining models of collaboration and team work
– As explained in the weaknesses section, Qualtrics Bootstrapping is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. Qualtrics: Bootstrapping Growth 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.
Developing new processes and practices
– Qualtrics Bootstrapping 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.
Manufacturing automation
– Qualtrics Bootstrapping can use the latest technology developments to improve its manufacturing and designing process in Sales & Marketing 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.
Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains
– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Qualtrics Bootstrapping 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, Qualtrics: Bootstrapping Growth, to buy more products closer to the markets, and it can leverage its size and influence to get better deal from the local markets.
Leveraging digital technologies
– Qualtrics Bootstrapping 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.
Identify volunteer opportunities
– Covid-19 has impacted working population in two ways – it has led to people soul searching about their professional choices, resulting in mass resignation. Secondly it has encouraged people to do things that they are passionate about. This has opened opportunities for businesses to build volunteer oriented socially driven projects. Qualtrics Bootstrapping can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.
Changes in consumer behavior post Covid-19
– Consumer behavior has changed in the Sales & Marketing industry because of Covid-19 restrictions. Some of this behavior will stay once things get back to normal. Qualtrics Bootstrapping 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. Qualtrics Bootstrapping 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.
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. Qualtrics Bootstrapping can tie-up with other value chain partners to explore new opportunities regarding meeting customer demands and building a rewarding and engaging relationship.
Threats Qualtrics: Bootstrapping Growth External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Qualtrics: Bootstrapping Growth are -
Increasing wage structure of Qualtrics Bootstrapping
– 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 Qualtrics Bootstrapping.
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Qualtrics Bootstrapping has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Sales & Marketing industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Qualtrics Bootstrapping needs to keep up with the evolution of technology in the Sales & Marketing 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.
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Qualtrics Bootstrapping in the Sales & Marketing industry. The Sales & Marketing 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.
Consumer confidence and its impact on Qualtrics Bootstrapping 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 Qualtrics Bootstrapping in the Sales & Marketing sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
High dependence on third party suppliers
– Qualtrics Bootstrapping 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.
Environmental challenges
– Qualtrics Bootstrapping 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. Qualtrics Bootstrapping can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Sales & Marketing industry.
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Qualtrics Bootstrapping 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.
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. Qualtrics Bootstrapping needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Sales & Marketing industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
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. Qualtrics Bootstrapping 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.
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 Qualtrics Bootstrapping business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
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.
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 Qualtrics: Bootstrapping Growth 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 Qualtrics: Bootstrapping Growth 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 Qualtrics: Bootstrapping Growth 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 Qualtrics: Bootstrapping Growth 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 Qualtrics: Bootstrapping Growth 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 Qualtrics Bootstrapping needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.