Veracity Worldwide in Syria: Assessing Political Risk in a Volatile Environment SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
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Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of Veracity Worldwide in Syria: Assessing Political Risk in a Volatile Environment
This case explores the dynamic set of political risks raised by a local-partner contract renewal within the context of Syria's unfolding political upheaval. Cambell Technologies, a US-based software firm, was evaluating whether to renew its licensing agreement with Elevate, its Damascus-based distributor. Elevate's strong sales performance and sound management seemed to justify a renewal of its agreement, but the possibility of political change in Syria added potential new variables to Campbell's calculus. The case protagonist, Steven Fox, CEO of risk assessment and advisory firm Veracity Worldwide, had to evaluate the risks at play and advise Campbell's CEO on whether to renew its relationship with Elevate Software Solutions.
Swot Analysis of "Veracity Worldwide in Syria: Assessing Political Risk in a Volatile Environment" written by Aldo Musacchio includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Veracity Syria facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Veracity Worldwide in Syria: Assessing Political Risk in a Volatile Environment case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Ethics, Government, Risk management and Sales & Marketing.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Veracity Worldwide in Syria: Assessing Political Risk in a Volatile Environment casestudy better are - – central banks are concerned over increasing inflation, there is increasing trade war between United States & China, wage bills are increasing, increasing energy prices, increasing household debt because of falling income levels, customer relationship management is fast transforming because of increasing concerns over data privacy, there is backlash against globalization,
banking and financial system is disrupted by Bitcoin and other crypto currencies, increasing inequality as vast percentage of new income is going to the top 1%, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Veracity Worldwide in Syria: Assessing Political Risk in a Volatile Environment
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Veracity Worldwide in Syria: Assessing Political Risk in a Volatile Environment case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Veracity Syria, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Veracity Syria 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 Veracity Worldwide in Syria: Assessing Political Risk in a Volatile Environment can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Veracity Worldwide in Syria: Assessing Political Risk in a Volatile Environment case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Veracity Syria
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 Veracity Syria
Strengths Veracity Worldwide in Syria: Assessing Political Risk in a Volatile Environment | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Veracity Syria in Veracity Worldwide in Syria: Assessing Political Risk in a Volatile Environment Harvard Business Review case study are -
Learning organization
- Veracity Syria 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 Veracity Syria is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders in Veracity Worldwide in Syria: Assessing Political Risk in a Volatile Environment Harvard Business Review case study emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
High brand equity
– Veracity Syria has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Veracity Syria to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of Veracity Syria in the sector have low bargaining power. Veracity Worldwide in Syria: Assessing Political Risk in a Volatile Environment has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Veracity Syria to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
Ability to recruit top talent
– Veracity Syria is one of the leading recruiters in the industry. Managers in the Veracity Worldwide in Syria: Assessing Political Risk in a Volatile Environment are in a position to attract the best talent available. The firm has a robust talent identification program that helps in identifying the brightest.
Effective Research and Development (R&D)
– Veracity Syria 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 Veracity Worldwide in Syria: Assessing Political Risk in a Volatile Environment - staying ahead in the industry in terms of – new product launches, superior customer experience, highly competitive pricing strategies, and great returns to the shareholders.
Analytics focus
– Veracity Syria 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 Aldo Musacchio 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.
Ability to lead change in Sales & Marketing field
– Veracity Syria 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 Veracity Syria 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
– Veracity Syria is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.
Organizational Resilience of Veracity Syria
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing that Veracity Syria does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
Successful track record of launching new products
– Veracity Syria has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Veracity Syria 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.
Highly skilled collaborators
– Veracity Syria 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 Veracity Worldwide in Syria: Assessing Political Risk in a Volatile Environment HBR case study have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
Operational resilience
– The operational resilience strategy in the Veracity Worldwide in Syria: Assessing Political Risk in a Volatile Environment 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.
Weaknesses Veracity Worldwide in Syria: Assessing Political Risk in a Volatile Environment | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Veracity Worldwide in Syria: Assessing Political Risk in a Volatile Environment are -
Slow to strategic competitive environment developments
– As Veracity Worldwide in Syria: Assessing Political Risk in a Volatile Environment HBR case study mentions - Veracity Syria 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.
High dependence on star products
– The top 2 products and services of the firm as mentioned in the Veracity Worldwide in Syria: Assessing Political Risk in a Volatile Environment 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 Veracity Syria has relatively successful track record of launching new products.
Increasing silos among functional specialists
– The organizational structure of Veracity Syria is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Sales & Marketing segment. Veracity Syria needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Veracity Syria to focus more on services rather than just following the product oriented approach.
Capital Spending Reduction
– Even during the low interest decade, Veracity Syria 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 Veracity Syria supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes mentioned in the HBR case study - Veracity Worldwide in Syria: Assessing Political Risk in a Volatile Environment, it is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left Veracity Syria vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.
Lack of clear differentiation of Veracity Syria products
– To increase the profitability and margins on the products, Veracity Syria needs to provide more differentiated products than what it is currently offering in the marketplace.
Low market penetration in new markets
– Outside its home market of Veracity Syria, firm in the HBR case study Veracity Worldwide in Syria: Assessing Political Risk in a Volatile Environment needs to spend more promotional, marketing, and advertising efforts to penetrate international markets.
Employees’ incomplete understanding of strategy
– From the instances in the HBR case study Veracity Worldwide in Syria: Assessing Political Risk in a Volatile Environment, it seems that the employees of Veracity Syria 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.
Skills based hiring
– The stress on hiring functional specialists at Veracity Syria 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.
Slow to harness new channels of communication
– Even though competitors are using new communication channels such as Instagram, Tiktok, and Snap, Veracity Syria is slow explore the new channels of communication. These new channels of communication mentioned in marketing section of case study Veracity Worldwide in Syria: Assessing Political Risk in a Volatile Environment can help to provide better information regarding products and services. It can also build an online community to further reach out to potential customers.
Aligning sales with marketing
– It come across in the case study Veracity Worldwide in Syria: Assessing Political Risk in a Volatile Environment 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 Veracity Worldwide in Syria: Assessing Political Risk in a Volatile Environment can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Veracity Syria is planning to shift buying processes online.
Opportunities Veracity Worldwide in Syria: Assessing Political Risk in a Volatile Environment | 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 Veracity Worldwide in Syria: Assessing Political Risk in a Volatile Environment are -
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 Veracity Syria in the consumer business. Now Veracity Syria can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.
Better consumer reach
– The expansion of the 5G network will help Veracity Syria to increase its market reach. Veracity Syria 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.
Low interest rates
– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Veracity Syria 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 Veracity Syria 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 Veracity Syria to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
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. Veracity Syria 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. Veracity Syria 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.
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 Veracity Syria 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.
Manufacturing automation
– Veracity Syria 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.
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. Veracity Syria can tie-up with other value chain partners to explore new opportunities regarding meeting customer demands and building a rewarding and engaging relationship.
Leveraging digital technologies
– Veracity Syria 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.
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– Veracity Syria 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 Veracity Worldwide in Syria: Assessing Political Risk in a Volatile Environment - to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Veracity Syria 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, Veracity Syria 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, Veracity Worldwide in Syria: Assessing Political Risk in a Volatile Environment, to buy more products closer to the markets, and it can leverage its size and influence to get better deal from the local markets.
Increase in government spending
– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Veracity Syria can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Veracity Syria operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Sales & Marketing sector.
Developing new processes and practices
– Veracity Syria 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.
Threats Veracity Worldwide in Syria: Assessing Political Risk in a Volatile Environment External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Veracity Worldwide in Syria: Assessing Political Risk in a Volatile Environment are -
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, as highlighted in case study Veracity Worldwide in Syria: Assessing Political Risk in a Volatile Environment, Veracity Syria may face longer learning curve for training and development of existing employees. This can open space for more nimble competitors in the field of Sales & Marketing .
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. Veracity Syria needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Sales & Marketing industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
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 Veracity Syria in the Sales & Marketing sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
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 Veracity Syria business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
Consumer confidence and its impact on Veracity Syria 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.
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Veracity Syria is facing in Sales & Marketing sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.
Regulatory challenges
– Veracity Syria 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.
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 Veracity Syria.
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Veracity Syria 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 Veracity Worldwide in Syria: Assessing Political Risk in a Volatile Environment .
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. Veracity Syria can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
High dependence on third party suppliers
– Veracity Syria 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.
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. Veracity Syria 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.
Increasing wage structure of Veracity Syria
– 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 Veracity Syria.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Veracity Worldwide in Syria: Assessing Political Risk in a Volatile Environment 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 Veracity Worldwide in Syria: Assessing Political Risk in a Volatile Environment 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 Veracity Worldwide in Syria: Assessing Political Risk in a Volatile Environment 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 Veracity Worldwide in Syria: Assessing Political Risk in a Volatile Environment 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 Veracity Worldwide in Syria: Assessing Political Risk in a Volatile Environment 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 Veracity Syria needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.