ThoughtWorks (A): Targeting and Positioning Basics for a Services Firm SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Sales & Marketing
Strategy / MBA Resources
Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of ThoughtWorks (A): Targeting and Positioning Basics for a Services Firm
ThoughtWorks, a medium-size IT systems integrator, was growing quickly but identified "lack of clear positioning around which to build a brand" as the biggest impediment to continued growth. The company had identified features that it believed differentiated it from its competitors and was considering alternative segments to target. Asks readers to choose a target and develop a positioning statement for that target as well as identify the assumptions underlying the recommended positioning strategy and suggest how market research could help establish the validity of those assumptions.
Swot Analysis of "ThoughtWorks (A): Targeting and Positioning Basics for a Services Firm" written by Alice M. Tybout, Kyle Ragsdale includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Thoughtworks Positioning facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in ThoughtWorks (A): Targeting and Positioning Basics for a Services Firm case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Growth strategy, Market research and Sales & Marketing.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the ThoughtWorks (A): Targeting and Positioning Basics for a Services Firm casestudy better are - – challanges to central banks by blockchain based private currencies, competitive advantages are harder to sustain because of technology dispersion, talent flight as more people leaving formal jobs, technology disruption, central banks are concerned over increasing inflation, geopolitical disruptions, cloud computing is disrupting traditional business models,
banking and financial system is disrupted by Bitcoin and other crypto currencies, increasing commodity prices, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of ThoughtWorks (A): Targeting and Positioning Basics for a Services Firm
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in ThoughtWorks (A): Targeting and Positioning Basics for a Services Firm case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Thoughtworks Positioning, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Thoughtworks Positioning 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 ThoughtWorks (A): Targeting and Positioning Basics for a Services Firm can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in ThoughtWorks (A): Targeting and Positioning Basics for a Services Firm case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Thoughtworks Positioning
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 Thoughtworks Positioning
Strengths ThoughtWorks (A): Targeting and Positioning Basics for a Services Firm | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Thoughtworks Positioning in ThoughtWorks (A): Targeting and Positioning Basics for a Services Firm Harvard Business Review case study are -
Cross disciplinary teams
– Horizontal connected teams at the Thoughtworks Positioning are driving operational speed, building greater agility, and keeping the organization nimble to compete with new competitors. It helps are organization to ideate new ideas, and execute them swiftly in the marketplace.
Highly skilled collaborators
– Thoughtworks Positioning 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 ThoughtWorks (A): Targeting and Positioning Basics for a Services Firm 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 ThoughtWorks (A): Targeting and Positioning Basics for a Services Firm 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.
Ability to lead change in Sales & Marketing field
– Thoughtworks Positioning 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 Thoughtworks Positioning in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.
High switching costs
– The high switching costs that Thoughtworks Positioning 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.
Training and development
– Thoughtworks Positioning has one of the best training and development program in the industry. The effectiveness of the training programs can be measured in ThoughtWorks (A): Targeting and Positioning Basics for a Services Firm 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.
High brand equity
– Thoughtworks Positioning has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Thoughtworks Positioning to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Successful track record of launching new products
– Thoughtworks Positioning has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Thoughtworks Positioning 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.
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of Thoughtworks Positioning in the sector have low bargaining power. ThoughtWorks (A): Targeting and Positioning Basics for a Services Firm has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Thoughtworks Positioning to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
Organizational Resilience of Thoughtworks Positioning
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing that Thoughtworks Positioning does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
Superior customer experience
– The customer experience strategy of Thoughtworks Positioning in the segment is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.
Innovation driven organization
– Thoughtworks Positioning is one of the most innovative firm in sector. Manager in ThoughtWorks (A): Targeting and Positioning Basics for a Services Firm Harvard Business Review case study can use Clayton Christensen Disruptive Innovation strategies to further increase the scale of innovtions in the organization.
Weaknesses ThoughtWorks (A): Targeting and Positioning Basics for a Services Firm | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of ThoughtWorks (A): Targeting and Positioning Basics for a Services Firm are -
Aligning sales with marketing
– It come across in the case study ThoughtWorks (A): Targeting and Positioning Basics for a Services Firm 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 ThoughtWorks (A): Targeting and Positioning Basics for a Services Firm can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Thoughtworks Positioning is planning to shift buying processes online.
Lack of clear differentiation of Thoughtworks Positioning products
– To increase the profitability and margins on the products, Thoughtworks Positioning needs to provide more differentiated products than what it is currently offering in the marketplace.
Slow to harness new channels of communication
– Even though competitors are using new communication channels such as Instagram, Tiktok, and Snap, Thoughtworks Positioning is slow explore the new channels of communication. These new channels of communication mentioned in marketing section of case study ThoughtWorks (A): Targeting and Positioning Basics for a Services Firm can help to provide better information regarding products and services. It can also build an online community to further reach out to potential customers.
High dependence on star products
– The top 2 products and services of the firm as mentioned in the ThoughtWorks (A): Targeting and Positioning Basics for a Services Firm 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 Thoughtworks Positioning has relatively successful track record of launching new products.
Increasing silos among functional specialists
– The organizational structure of Thoughtworks Positioning is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Sales & Marketing segment. Thoughtworks Positioning needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Thoughtworks Positioning to focus more on services rather than just following the product oriented approach.
Employees’ incomplete understanding of strategy
– From the instances in the HBR case study ThoughtWorks (A): Targeting and Positioning Basics for a Services Firm, it seems that the employees of Thoughtworks Positioning 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.
Slow to strategic competitive environment developments
– As ThoughtWorks (A): Targeting and Positioning Basics for a Services Firm HBR case study mentions - Thoughtworks Positioning 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.
Slow decision making process
– As mentioned earlier in the report, Thoughtworks Positioning has a very deliberative decision making approach. This approach has resulted in prudent decisions, but it has also resulted in missing opportunities in the industry over the last five years. Thoughtworks Positioning even though has strong showing on digital transformation primary two stages, it has struggled to capitalize the power of digital transformation in marketing efforts and new venture efforts.
Workers concerns about automation
– As automation is fast increasing in the segment, Thoughtworks Positioning needs to come up with a strategy to reduce the workers concern regarding automation. Without a clear strategy, it could lead to disruption and uncertainty within the organization.
Products dominated business model
– Even though Thoughtworks Positioning 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 - ThoughtWorks (A): Targeting and Positioning Basics for a Services Firm should strive to include more intangible value offerings along with its core products and services.
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 Thoughtworks Positioning supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes mentioned in the HBR case study - ThoughtWorks (A): Targeting and Positioning Basics for a Services Firm, it is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left Thoughtworks Positioning vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.
Opportunities ThoughtWorks (A): Targeting and Positioning Basics for a Services Firm | 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 ThoughtWorks (A): Targeting and Positioning Basics for a Services Firm are -
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– Thoughtworks Positioning 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 ThoughtWorks (A): Targeting and Positioning Basics for a Services Firm - to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Thoughtworks Positioning to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
Leveraging digital technologies
– Thoughtworks Positioning 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.
Loyalty marketing
– Thoughtworks Positioning 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.
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 Thoughtworks Positioning 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.
Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities
– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Thoughtworks Positioning 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 Thoughtworks Positioning to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
Increase in government spending
– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Thoughtworks Positioning can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Thoughtworks Positioning operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Sales & Marketing sector.
Reforming the budgeting process
- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects Thoughtworks Positioning can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.
Buying journey improvements
– Thoughtworks Positioning can improve the customer journey of consumers in the industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. ThoughtWorks (A): Targeting and Positioning Basics for a Services Firm 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.
Building a culture of innovation
– managers at Thoughtworks Positioning 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.
Developing new processes and practices
– Thoughtworks Positioning 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.
Redefining models of collaboration and team work
– As explained in the weaknesses section, Thoughtworks Positioning is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. ThoughtWorks (A): Targeting and Positioning Basics for a Services Firm 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.
Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains
– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Thoughtworks Positioning 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, ThoughtWorks (A): Targeting and Positioning Basics for a Services Firm, to buy more products closer to the markets, and it can leverage its size and influence to get better deal from the local markets.
Low interest rates
– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Thoughtworks Positioning 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.
Threats ThoughtWorks (A): Targeting and Positioning Basics for a Services Firm External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study ThoughtWorks (A): Targeting and Positioning Basics for a Services Firm are -
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. Thoughtworks Positioning 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.
High dependence on third party suppliers
– Thoughtworks Positioning 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 Thoughtworks Positioning
– 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 Thoughtworks Positioning.
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Thoughtworks Positioning 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.
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. Thoughtworks Positioning can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
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.
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 Thoughtworks Positioning.
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 Thoughtworks Positioning in the Sales & Marketing sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
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. Thoughtworks Positioning needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Sales & Marketing industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
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.
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Thoughtworks Positioning can face lack of demand in the market place because of Fed actions to reduce inflation. This can lead to sluggish growth in the economy, lower demands, lower investments, higher borrowing costs, and consolidation in the field.
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Thoughtworks Positioning has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Sales & Marketing industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Thoughtworks Positioning 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.
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 Thoughtworks Positioning business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of ThoughtWorks (A): Targeting and Positioning Basics for a Services Firm 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 ThoughtWorks (A): Targeting and Positioning Basics for a Services Firm 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 ThoughtWorks (A): Targeting and Positioning Basics for a Services Firm 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 ThoughtWorks (A): Targeting and Positioning Basics for a Services Firm 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 ThoughtWorks (A): Targeting and Positioning Basics for a Services Firm 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 Thoughtworks Positioning needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.