Case Study Description of HCL Beanstalk: All-in-One Desktop Re-Launch
HCL Infosystems Ltd. is a reputable computer hardware firm and a major player in the Indian desktop market. Due to changes in consumer behaviour, the desktop market is shrinking and demand is shifting towards laptops, where HCL has a miniscule presence. At the same time, the desktop market is witnessing the emergence of a new form of devices called all-in-ones (AIOs). HCL needs a significant presence in AIOs to retain its position in the Indian PC market. The company was an early entrant in the Indian AIO market in 2007 and sought to capture a niche market for its premium range, but did not succeed and withdrew its product line. The category has, in the last four years, grown in the mass market segment and HCL needs a successful relaunch of the HCL Beanstalk AIO in the face of intense competition from multinational competitors who have a head start. The problem is compounded by the fact that the HCL brand is losing market share and that the company lacks the financial resources to invest heavily in brand building. HCL's management believes that the Beanstalk needs to capture eight per cent of the retail segment of the Indian AIO market in order to be able to gain the same share in the business-to-business market, which is slower to adopt new technologies. Jaydeep Mukherjee is affiliated with Management Development Institute
Swot Analysis of "HCL Beanstalk: All-in-One Desktop Re-Launch" written by Rahul Seth, Jaydeep Mukherjee includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Hcl Aio facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in HCL Beanstalk: All-in-One Desktop Re-Launch case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, and Sales & Marketing.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the HCL Beanstalk: All-in-One Desktop Re-Launch casestudy better are - – increasing government debt because of Covid-19 spendings, banking and financial system is disrupted by Bitcoin and other crypto currencies, increasing energy prices, supply chains are disrupted by pandemic , there is increasing trade war between United States & China, wage bills are increasing, central banks are concerned over increasing inflation,
increasing household debt because of falling income levels, competitive advantages are harder to sustain because of technology dispersion, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of HCL Beanstalk: All-in-One Desktop Re-Launch
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in HCL Beanstalk: All-in-One Desktop Re-Launch case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Hcl Aio, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Hcl Aio 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 HCL Beanstalk: All-in-One Desktop Re-Launch can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in HCL Beanstalk: All-in-One Desktop Re-Launch case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Hcl Aio
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 Hcl Aio
Strengths HCL Beanstalk: All-in-One Desktop Re-Launch | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Hcl Aio in HCL Beanstalk: All-in-One Desktop Re-Launch Harvard Business Review case study are -
Ability to recruit top talent
– Hcl Aio is one of the leading recruiters in the industry. Managers in the HCL Beanstalk: All-in-One Desktop Re-Launch are in a position to attract the best talent available. The firm has a robust talent identification program that helps in identifying the brightest.
Ability to lead change in Sales & Marketing field
– Hcl Aio 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 Hcl Aio in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.
Analytics focus
– Hcl Aio 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 Rahul Seth, Jaydeep Mukherjee 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.
Strong track record of project management
– Hcl Aio is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.
High brand equity
– Hcl Aio has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Hcl Aio to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Diverse revenue streams
– Hcl Aio is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided firm in HCL Beanstalk: All-in-One Desktop Re-Launch case study a diverse revenue stream that has helped it to survive disruptions such as global pandemic in Covid-19, financial disruption of 2008, and supply chain disruption of 2021.
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Sales & Marketing industry
– HCL Beanstalk: All-in-One Desktop Re-Launch firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Hcl Aio to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Sales & Marketing industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Hcl Aio to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Innovation driven organization
– Hcl Aio is one of the most innovative firm in sector. Manager in HCL Beanstalk: All-in-One Desktop Re-Launch Harvard Business Review case study can use Clayton Christensen Disruptive Innovation strategies to further increase the scale of innovtions in the organization.
Digital Transformation in Sales & Marketing segment
- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For Hcl Aio digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Hcl Aio 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.
Operational resilience
– The operational resilience strategy in the HCL Beanstalk: All-in-One Desktop Re-Launch 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
– Hcl Aio has one of the best training and development program in the industry. The effectiveness of the training programs can be measured in HCL Beanstalk: All-in-One Desktop Re-Launch 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.
Effective Research and Development (R&D)
– Hcl Aio 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 HCL Beanstalk: All-in-One Desktop Re-Launch - staying ahead in the industry in terms of – new product launches, superior customer experience, highly competitive pricing strategies, and great returns to the shareholders.
Weaknesses HCL Beanstalk: All-in-One Desktop Re-Launch | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of HCL Beanstalk: All-in-One Desktop Re-Launch are -
Ability to respond to the competition
– As the decision making is very deliberative, highlighted in the case study HCL Beanstalk: All-in-One Desktop Re-Launch, in the dynamic environment Hcl Aio has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. Hcl Aio has reasonably good record with similar level competitors but it has struggled with new entrants taking away niches of its business.
Slow to strategic competitive environment developments
– As HCL Beanstalk: All-in-One Desktop Re-Launch HBR case study mentions - Hcl Aio 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.
Products dominated business model
– Even though Hcl Aio 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 - HCL Beanstalk: All-in-One Desktop Re-Launch should strive to include more intangible value offerings along with its core products and services.
No frontier risks strategy
– After analyzing the HBR case study HCL Beanstalk: All-in-One Desktop Re-Launch, 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.
Lack of clear differentiation of Hcl Aio products
– To increase the profitability and margins on the products, Hcl Aio needs to provide more differentiated products than what it is currently offering in the marketplace.
High dependence on star products
– The top 2 products and services of the firm as mentioned in the HCL Beanstalk: All-in-One Desktop Re-Launch 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 Hcl Aio has relatively successful track record of launching new products.
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 Hcl Aio supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes mentioned in the HBR case study - HCL Beanstalk: All-in-One Desktop Re-Launch, it is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left Hcl Aio vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.
High operating costs
– Compare to the competitors, firm in the HBR case study HCL Beanstalk: All-in-One Desktop Re-Launch 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 Hcl Aio 's lucrative customers.
Increasing silos among functional specialists
– The organizational structure of Hcl Aio is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Sales & Marketing segment. Hcl Aio needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Hcl Aio to focus more on services rather than just following the product oriented approach.
Aligning sales with marketing
– It come across in the case study HCL Beanstalk: All-in-One Desktop Re-Launch 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 HCL Beanstalk: All-in-One Desktop Re-Launch can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Hcl Aio is planning to shift buying processes online.
Employees’ incomplete understanding of strategy
– From the instances in the HBR case study HCL Beanstalk: All-in-One Desktop Re-Launch, it seems that the employees of Hcl Aio 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.
Opportunities HCL Beanstalk: All-in-One Desktop Re-Launch | 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 HCL Beanstalk: All-in-One Desktop Re-Launch are -
Redefining models of collaboration and team work
– As explained in the weaknesses section, Hcl Aio is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. HCL Beanstalk: All-in-One Desktop Re-Launch 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.
Building a culture of innovation
– managers at Hcl Aio can make experimentation a productive activity and build a culture of innovation using approaches such as – mining transaction data, A/B testing of websites and selling platforms, engaging potential customers over various needs, and building on small ideas in the Sales & Marketing segment.
Leveraging digital technologies
– Hcl Aio 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.
Lowering marketing communication costs
– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Hcl Aio 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.
Loyalty marketing
– Hcl Aio 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.
Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities
– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Hcl Aio 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 Hcl Aio to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
Buying journey improvements
– Hcl Aio can improve the customer journey of consumers in the industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. HCL Beanstalk: All-in-One Desktop Re-Launch 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.
Increase in government spending
– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Hcl Aio can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Hcl Aio operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Sales & Marketing sector.
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. Hcl Aio can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– Hcl Aio 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 HCL Beanstalk: All-in-One Desktop Re-Launch - to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Hcl Aio to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
Low interest rates
– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Hcl Aio 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.
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 Hcl Aio 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.
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 Hcl Aio in the consumer business. Now Hcl Aio can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.
Threats HCL Beanstalk: All-in-One Desktop Re-Launch External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study HCL Beanstalk: All-in-One Desktop Re-Launch are -
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.
High dependence on third party suppliers
– Hcl Aio 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.
Increasing wage structure of Hcl Aio
– 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 Hcl Aio.
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. Hcl Aio 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.
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.
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. Hcl Aio can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
Consumer confidence and its impact on Hcl Aio 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.
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Hcl Aio has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Sales & Marketing industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Hcl Aio 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.
Regulatory challenges
– Hcl Aio 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.
Environmental challenges
– Hcl Aio 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. Hcl Aio can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Sales & Marketing industry.
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 Hcl Aio in the Sales & Marketing sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, as highlighted in case study HCL Beanstalk: All-in-One Desktop Re-Launch, Hcl Aio 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 .
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Hcl Aio 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.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of HCL Beanstalk: All-in-One Desktop Re-Launch 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 HCL Beanstalk: All-in-One Desktop Re-Launch 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 HCL Beanstalk: All-in-One Desktop Re-Launch 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 HCL Beanstalk: All-in-One Desktop Re-Launch 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 HCL Beanstalk: All-in-One Desktop Re-Launch 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 Hcl Aio needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.