Swot Analysis of "Facebook's Initial Public Offering: The Aftermath (B)" written by Michael R King includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Facebook's Aftermath facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Facebook's Initial Public Offering: The Aftermath (B) case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, and Finance & Accounting.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Facebook's Initial Public Offering: The Aftermath (B) casestudy better are - – geopolitical disruptions, wage bills are increasing, increasing commodity prices, increasing government debt because of Covid-19 spendings, customer relationship management is fast transforming because of increasing concerns over data privacy, challanges to central banks by blockchain based private currencies, cloud computing is disrupting traditional business models,
supply chains are disrupted by pandemic , increasing energy prices, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Facebook's Initial Public Offering: The Aftermath (B)
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Facebook's Initial Public Offering: The Aftermath (B) case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Facebook's Aftermath, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Facebook's Aftermath 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 Facebook's Initial Public Offering: The Aftermath (B) can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Facebook's Initial Public Offering: The Aftermath (B) case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Facebook's Aftermath
3. Assessing feasibility of the new initiative in Finance & Accounting field.
4. Making a Finance & Accounting topic specific business decision
5. Set goals for the organization
6. Organizational restructuring of Facebook's Aftermath
Strengths Facebook's Initial Public Offering: The Aftermath (B) | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Facebook's Aftermath in Facebook's Initial Public Offering: The Aftermath (B) Harvard Business Review case study are -
Innovation driven organization
– Facebook's Aftermath is one of the most innovative firm in sector. Manager in Facebook's Initial Public Offering: The Aftermath (B) Harvard Business Review case study can use Clayton Christensen Disruptive Innovation strategies to further increase the scale of innovtions in the organization.
Ability to recruit top talent
– Facebook's Aftermath is one of the leading recruiters in the industry. Managers in the Facebook's Initial Public Offering: The Aftermath (B) 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 Finance & Accounting segment
- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For Facebook's Aftermath digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Facebook's Aftermath 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.
Learning organization
- Facebook's Aftermath 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 Facebook's Aftermath is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders in Facebook's Initial Public Offering: The Aftermath (B) Harvard Business Review case study emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
Superior customer experience
– The customer experience strategy of Facebook's Aftermath in the segment is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.
Highly skilled collaborators
– Facebook's Aftermath 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 Facebook's Initial Public Offering: The Aftermath (B) HBR case study have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
Diverse revenue streams
– Facebook's Aftermath is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided firm in Facebook's Initial Public Offering: The Aftermath (B) 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.
Training and development
– Facebook's Aftermath has one of the best training and development program in the industry. The effectiveness of the training programs can be measured in Facebook's Initial Public Offering: The Aftermath (B) 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.
Analytics focus
– Facebook's Aftermath 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 Michael R King 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.
Successful track record of launching new products
– Facebook's Aftermath has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Facebook's Aftermath 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 Facebook's Aftermath in the sector have low bargaining power. Facebook's Initial Public Offering: The Aftermath (B) has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Facebook's Aftermath to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
High switching costs
– The high switching costs that Facebook's Aftermath 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.
Weaknesses Facebook's Initial Public Offering: The Aftermath (B) | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Facebook's Initial Public Offering: The Aftermath (B) are -
Skills based hiring
– The stress on hiring functional specialists at Facebook's Aftermath 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.
Ability to respond to the competition
– As the decision making is very deliberative, highlighted in the case study Facebook's Initial Public Offering: The Aftermath (B), in the dynamic environment Facebook's Aftermath has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. Facebook's Aftermath has reasonably good record with similar level competitors but it has struggled with new entrants taking away niches of its business.
Employees’ incomplete understanding of strategy
– From the instances in the HBR case study Facebook's Initial Public Offering: The Aftermath (B), it seems that the employees of Facebook's Aftermath 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 Facebook's Initial Public Offering: The Aftermath (B), is just above the industry average. Facebook's Aftermath 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.
Slow decision making process
– As mentioned earlier in the report, Facebook's Aftermath 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. Facebook's Aftermath 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.
Need for greater diversity
– Facebook's Aftermath 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.
Slow to harness new channels of communication
– Even though competitors are using new communication channels such as Instagram, Tiktok, and Snap, Facebook's Aftermath is slow explore the new channels of communication. These new channels of communication mentioned in marketing section of case study Facebook's Initial Public Offering: The Aftermath (B) 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 bargaining power of channel partners
– Because of the regulatory requirements, Michael R King suggests that, Facebook's Aftermath 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.
Interest costs
– Compare to the competition, Facebook's Aftermath has borrowed money from the capital market at higher rates. It needs to restructure the interest payment and costs so that it can compete better and improve profitability.
Products dominated business model
– Even though Facebook's Aftermath 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 - Facebook's Initial Public Offering: The Aftermath (B) should strive to include more intangible value offerings along with its core products and services.
High cash cycle compare to competitors
Facebook's Aftermath has a high cash cycle compare to other players in the industry. It needs to shorten the cash cycle by 12% to be more competitive in the marketplace, reduce inventory costs, and be more profitable.
Opportunities Facebook's Initial Public Offering: The Aftermath (B) | 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 Facebook's Initial Public Offering: The Aftermath (B) are -
Low interest rates
– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Facebook's Aftermath 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.
Building a culture of innovation
– managers at Facebook's Aftermath 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 Finance & Accounting segment.
Loyalty marketing
– Facebook's Aftermath 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.
Developing new processes and practices
– Facebook's Aftermath can develop new processes and procedures in Finance & Accounting 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.
Increase in government spending
– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Facebook's Aftermath can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Facebook's Aftermath operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Finance & Accounting sector.
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Facebook's Aftermath has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Facebook's Aftermath to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the Facebook's Initial Public Offering: The Aftermath (B) case study. Facebook's Aftermath can build new products and services such as - data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
Learning at scale
– Online learning technologies has now opened space for Facebook's Aftermath 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.
Buying journey improvements
– Facebook's Aftermath can improve the customer journey of consumers in the industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. Facebook's Initial Public Offering: The Aftermath (B) 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.
Lowering marketing communication costs
– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Facebook's Aftermath in the field of marketing communication. It will bring down the cost of doing business, provide technology platform to build new products in the Finance & Accounting segment, and it will provide faster access to the consumers.
Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains
– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Facebook's Aftermath 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, Facebook's Initial Public Offering: The Aftermath (B), to buy more products closer to the markets, and it can leverage its size and influence to get better deal from the local markets.
Better consumer reach
– The expansion of the 5G network will help Facebook's Aftermath to increase its market reach. Facebook's Aftermath 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.
Leveraging digital technologies
– Facebook's Aftermath 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.
Manufacturing automation
– Facebook's Aftermath can use the latest technology developments to improve its manufacturing and designing process in Finance & Accounting 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.
Threats Facebook's Initial Public Offering: The Aftermath (B) External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Facebook's Initial Public Offering: The Aftermath (B) 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 Facebook's Initial Public Offering: The Aftermath (B), Facebook's Aftermath may face longer learning curve for training and development of existing employees. This can open space for more nimble competitors in the field of Finance & Accounting .
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. Facebook's Aftermath needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Finance & Accounting 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.
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Facebook's Aftermath 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 Facebook's Initial Public Offering: The Aftermath (B) .
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 Facebook's Aftermath business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
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 Facebook's Aftermath in the Finance & Accounting sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
Increasing wage structure of Facebook's Aftermath
– 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 Facebook's Aftermath.
Environmental challenges
– Facebook's Aftermath 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. Facebook's Aftermath can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Finance & Accounting industry.
High dependence on third party suppliers
– Facebook's Aftermath 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.
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 Facebook's Aftermath.
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry in the industry are lowering. It can presents Facebook's Aftermath with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the sector.
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Facebook's Aftermath in the Finance & Accounting industry. The Finance & Accounting 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.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Facebook's Initial Public Offering: The Aftermath (B) 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 Facebook's Initial Public Offering: The Aftermath (B) 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 Facebook's Initial Public Offering: The Aftermath (B) 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 Facebook's Initial Public Offering: The Aftermath (B) 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 Facebook's Initial Public Offering: The Aftermath (B) 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 Facebook's Aftermath needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.
