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Reverend Musical Instruments: Playing a Different Tune (A) SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis

Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution

Case Study Description of Reverend Musical Instruments: Playing a Different Tune (A)


The electric guitar market is both enticing and daunting for a small company - a multi-billion $US sector that has grown almost constantly since the 1960s, but where competition is based as much on image as on substance. The market is naturally fragmented (similar to the market for many musical instruments), yet dominant players make entry and sustenance difficult. While Asian producers or branded imports dominate the low and mid-priced market, collectors and serious players seek high-end branded or handmade instruments that can be resold with only minor loss, if any. To augment collector value, high-end guitar manufacturers constantly modify components, making short-run series with unique features (often specified by "name" musicians and sold under their signature). For established brands, vintage instruments, and handmade instruments, used guitars may sell for their original purchase price or surprising multiples thereof; the value of some pieces increases after only ten years. From this standpoint, experienced buyers can make essentially risk-free purchases. The case tells the story of Joe Naylor, the owner-manager of Reverend Guitars, a small company that made a startling impact on the electric guitar market with a clever use of innovative products, innovative marketing and innovative use of the internet to a) leverage an existing community and b) build a new one.

Authors :: Mark Hunter, David A. Soberman

Topics :: Sales & Marketing

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

Swot Analysis of "Reverend Musical Instruments: Playing a Different Tune (A)" written by Mark Hunter, David A. Soberman includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Instruments Guitar facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Reverend Musical Instruments: Playing a Different Tune (A) case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, and Sales & Marketing.


Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Reverend Musical Instruments: Playing a Different Tune (A) casestudy better are - – customer relationship management is fast transforming because of increasing concerns over data privacy, there is increasing trade war between United States & China, talent flight as more people leaving formal jobs, digital marketing is dominated by two big players Facebook and Google, cloud computing is disrupting traditional business models, increasing energy prices, technology disruption, competitive advantages are harder to sustain because of technology dispersion, increasing government debt because of Covid-19 spendings, etc



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Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Reverend Musical Instruments: Playing a Different Tune (A)


SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Reverend Musical Instruments: Playing a Different Tune (A) case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Instruments Guitar, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Instruments Guitar 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 Reverend Musical Instruments: Playing a Different Tune (A) can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Reverend Musical Instruments: Playing a Different Tune (A) case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Instruments Guitar
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 Instruments Guitar




Strengths Reverend Musical Instruments: Playing a Different Tune (A) | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis

The strengths of Instruments Guitar in Reverend Musical Instruments: Playing a Different Tune (A) Harvard Business Review case study are -

Ability to recruit top talent

– Instruments Guitar is one of the leading recruiters in the industry. Managers in the Reverend Musical Instruments: Playing a Different Tune (A) are in a position to attract the best talent available. The firm has a robust talent identification program that helps in identifying the brightest.

Digital Transformation in Sales & Marketing segment

- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For Instruments Guitar digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Instruments Guitar 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.

High brand equity

– Instruments Guitar has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Instruments Guitar to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.

Sustainable margins compare to other players in Sales & Marketing industry

– Reverend Musical Instruments: Playing a Different Tune (A) firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Instruments Guitar to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Sales & Marketing industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Instruments Guitar to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.

Strong track record of project management

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

Highly skilled collaborators

– Instruments Guitar 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 Reverend Musical Instruments: Playing a Different Tune (A) HBR case study have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.

Effective Research and Development (R&D)

– Instruments Guitar 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 Reverend Musical Instruments: Playing a Different Tune (A) - staying ahead in the industry in terms of – new product launches, superior customer experience, highly competitive pricing strategies, and great returns to the shareholders.

High switching costs

– The high switching costs that Instruments Guitar 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.

Ability to lead change in Sales & Marketing field

– Instruments Guitar 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 Instruments Guitar in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.

Organizational Resilience of Instruments Guitar

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

Operational resilience

– The operational resilience strategy in the Reverend Musical Instruments: Playing a Different Tune (A) 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.

Innovation driven organization

– Instruments Guitar is one of the most innovative firm in sector. Manager in Reverend Musical Instruments: Playing a Different Tune (A) Harvard Business Review case study can use Clayton Christensen Disruptive Innovation strategies to further increase the scale of innovtions in the organization.






Weaknesses Reverend Musical Instruments: Playing a Different Tune (A) | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis

The weaknesses of Reverend Musical Instruments: Playing a Different Tune (A) are -

Employees’ incomplete understanding of strategy

– From the instances in the HBR case study Reverend Musical Instruments: Playing a Different Tune (A), it seems that the employees of Instruments Guitar 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 Reverend Musical Instruments: Playing a Different Tune (A), is just above the industry average. Instruments Guitar 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.

Capital Spending Reduction

– Even during the low interest decade, Instruments Guitar 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.

Low market penetration in new markets

– Outside its home market of Instruments Guitar, firm in the HBR case study Reverend Musical Instruments: Playing a Different Tune (A) needs to spend more promotional, marketing, and advertising efforts to penetrate international markets.

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 Instruments Guitar supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes mentioned in the HBR case study - Reverend Musical Instruments: Playing a Different Tune (A), it is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left Instruments Guitar vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.

Slow to harness new channels of communication

– Even though competitors are using new communication channels such as Instagram, Tiktok, and Snap, Instruments Guitar is slow explore the new channels of communication. These new channels of communication mentioned in marketing section of case study Reverend Musical Instruments: Playing a Different Tune (A) can help to provide better information regarding products and services. It can also build an online community to further reach out to potential customers.

Skills based hiring

– The stress on hiring functional specialists at Instruments Guitar 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.

Need for greater diversity

– Instruments Guitar 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.

High operating costs

– Compare to the competitors, firm in the HBR case study Reverend Musical Instruments: Playing a Different Tune (A) 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 Instruments Guitar 's lucrative customers.

High bargaining power of channel partners

– Because of the regulatory requirements, Mark Hunter, David A. Soberman suggests that, Instruments Guitar is facing high bargaining power of the channel partners. So far it has not able to streamline the operations to reduce the bargaining power of the value chain partners in the industry.

Lack of clear differentiation of Instruments Guitar products

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




Opportunities Reverend Musical Instruments: Playing a Different Tune (A) | 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 Reverend Musical Instruments: Playing a Different Tune (A) are -

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. Instruments Guitar 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. Instruments Guitar 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.

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 Instruments Guitar in the consumer business. Now Instruments Guitar can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.

Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains

– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Instruments Guitar 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, Reverend Musical Instruments: Playing a Different Tune (A), to buy more products closer to the markets, and it can leverage its size and influence to get better deal from the local markets.

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 Instruments Guitar 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.

Loyalty marketing

– Instruments Guitar 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.

Creating value in data economy

– The success of analytics program of Instruments Guitar has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Instruments Guitar to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the Reverend Musical Instruments: Playing a Different Tune (A) case study. Instruments Guitar can build new products and services such as - data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.

Increase in government spending

– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Instruments Guitar can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Instruments Guitar operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Sales & Marketing sector.

Using analytics as competitive advantage

– Instruments Guitar 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 Reverend Musical Instruments: Playing a Different Tune (A) - to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Instruments Guitar to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.

Learning at scale

– Online learning technologies has now opened space for Instruments Guitar 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.

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. Instruments Guitar can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.

Leveraging digital technologies

– Instruments Guitar 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.

Low interest rates

– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Instruments Guitar 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.

Lowering marketing communication costs

– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Instruments Guitar 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.




Threats Reverend Musical Instruments: Playing a Different Tune (A) External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis


The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Reverend Musical Instruments: Playing a Different Tune (A) are -

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.

Stagnating economy with rate increase

– Instruments Guitar 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.

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 Instruments Guitar in the Sales & Marketing sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.

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 Instruments Guitar.

Shortening product life cycle

– it is one of the major threat that Instruments Guitar is facing in Sales & Marketing sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.

Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins

– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Instruments Guitar 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 Reverend Musical Instruments: Playing a Different Tune (A) .

Trade war between China and United States

– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Instruments Guitar 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.

Increasing wage structure of Instruments Guitar

– 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 Instruments Guitar.

Consumer confidence and its impact on Instruments Guitar 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.

High dependence on third party suppliers

– Instruments Guitar 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.

Learning curve for new practices

– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, as highlighted in case study Reverend Musical Instruments: Playing a Different Tune (A), Instruments Guitar 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 .

Environmental challenges

– Instruments Guitar 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. Instruments Guitar can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Sales & Marketing industry.

Barriers of entry lowering

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




Weighted SWOT Analysis of Reverend Musical Instruments: Playing a Different Tune (A) 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 Reverend Musical Instruments: Playing a Different Tune (A) 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 Reverend Musical Instruments: Playing a Different Tune (A) 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 Reverend Musical Instruments: Playing a Different Tune (A) 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 Reverend Musical Instruments: Playing a Different Tune (A) 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 Instruments Guitar needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.



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