Optima Business Group: Leveraging Information Technology for Salesforce Enablement SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis

Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution

Case Study Description of Optima Business Group: Leveraging Information Technology for Salesforce Enablement

Optima Business Group (OBG), a consumer packaged goods firm, achieved significant improvements in its sales and distribution processes through the implementation of sales force automation (SFA). The implementation was carried out in the urban markets of OBG, but it was not an easy journey. The chief technology officer has to decide whether OBG should implement SFA in its rural markets and, if so, how it should be executed. What are the risks and benefits of implementing the system? Competitors are fast leveraging information technology in other functions such as finance, HR and vendor management and OBG needs to catch up. Finally, competitors of OBG are adopting innovative methods to share the costs of IT implementation (e.g., handheld devices) with their partners. Faced with different options, and a unique terrain of conducting business in the emerging economy of India, the chief technology officer has to decide on OBG's future IT strategy. Authors are affiliated with Indian Institute of Management Calcutta.

Authors :: Ritu Mehta, Debabrata Ghosh

Topics :: Sales & Marketing

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

Swot Analysis of "Optima Business Group: Leveraging Information Technology for Salesforce Enablement" written by Ritu Mehta, Debabrata Ghosh includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Obg Optima facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Optima Business Group: Leveraging Information Technology for Salesforce Enablement case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Technology and Sales & Marketing.

Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Optima Business Group: Leveraging Information Technology for Salesforce Enablement casestudy better are - – increasing household debt because of falling income levels, central banks are concerned over increasing inflation, increasing government debt because of Covid-19 spendings, banking and financial system is disrupted by Bitcoin and other crypto currencies, customer relationship management is fast transforming because of increasing concerns over data privacy, there is increasing trade war between United States & China, increasing transportation and logistics costs, supply chains are disrupted by pandemic , cloud computing is disrupting traditional business models, etc

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Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Optima Business Group: Leveraging Information Technology for Salesforce Enablement

SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Optima Business Group: Leveraging Information Technology for Salesforce Enablement case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Obg Optima, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Obg Optima 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.

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SWOT Objectives / Importance of SWOT Analysis and SWOT Matrix

SWOT analysis of Optima Business Group: Leveraging Information Technology for Salesforce Enablement can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Optima Business Group: Leveraging Information Technology for Salesforce Enablement case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Obg Optima
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 Obg Optima

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Strengths Optima Business Group: Leveraging Information Technology for Salesforce Enablement | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis

The strengths of Obg Optima in Optima Business Group: Leveraging Information Technology for Salesforce Enablement Harvard Business Review case study are -

Low bargaining power of suppliers

– Suppliers of Obg Optima in the sector have low bargaining power. Optima Business Group: Leveraging Information Technology for Salesforce Enablement has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Obg Optima to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.

Cross disciplinary teams

– Horizontal connected teams at the Obg Optima 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.

Superior customer experience

– The customer experience strategy of Obg Optima in the segment is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.

Innovation driven organization

– Obg Optima is one of the most innovative firm in sector. Manager in Optima Business Group: Leveraging Information Technology for Salesforce Enablement Harvard Business Review case study can use Clayton Christensen Disruptive Innovation strategies to further increase the scale of innovtions in the organization.

Effective Research and Development (R&D)

– Obg Optima 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 Optima Business Group: Leveraging Information Technology for Salesforce Enablement - staying ahead in the industry in terms of – new product launches, superior customer experience, highly competitive pricing strategies, and great returns to the shareholders.

Highly skilled collaborators

– Obg Optima 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 Optima Business Group: Leveraging Information Technology for Salesforce Enablement HBR case study have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.

High switching costs

– The high switching costs that Obg Optima 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.

Operational resilience

– The operational resilience strategy in the Optima Business Group: Leveraging Information Technology for Salesforce Enablement 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 recruit top talent

– Obg Optima is one of the leading recruiters in the industry. Managers in the Optima Business Group: Leveraging Information Technology for Salesforce Enablement 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 Obg Optima digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Obg Optima 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.

Analytics focus

– Obg Optima 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 Ritu Mehta, Debabrata Ghosh 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.

Learning organization

- Obg Optima 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 Obg Optima is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders in Optima Business Group: Leveraging Information Technology for Salesforce Enablement Harvard Business Review case study emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.

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Weaknesses Optima Business Group: Leveraging Information Technology for Salesforce Enablement | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis

The weaknesses of Optima Business Group: Leveraging Information Technology for Salesforce Enablement are -

Increasing silos among functional specialists

– The organizational structure of Obg Optima is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Sales & Marketing segment. Obg Optima needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Obg Optima to focus more on services rather than just following the product oriented approach.

Slow to strategic competitive environment developments

– As Optima Business Group: Leveraging Information Technology for Salesforce Enablement HBR case study mentions - Obg Optima 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.

Interest costs

– Compare to the competition, Obg Optima 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.

High cash cycle compare to competitors

Obg Optima 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.

Slow decision making process

– As mentioned earlier in the report, Obg Optima 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. Obg Optima 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, Obg Optima 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.

Low market penetration in new markets

– Outside its home market of Obg Optima, firm in the HBR case study Optima Business Group: Leveraging Information Technology for Salesforce Enablement needs to spend more promotional, marketing, and advertising efforts to penetrate international markets.

High operating costs

– Compare to the competitors, firm in the HBR case study Optima Business Group: Leveraging Information Technology for Salesforce Enablement 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 Obg Optima 's lucrative customers.

Slow to harness new channels of communication

– Even though competitors are using new communication channels such as Instagram, Tiktok, and Snap, Obg Optima is slow explore the new channels of communication. These new channels of communication mentioned in marketing section of case study Optima Business Group: Leveraging Information Technology for Salesforce Enablement 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, Ritu Mehta, Debabrata Ghosh suggests that, Obg Optima 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.

Compensation and incentives

– The revenue per employee as mentioned in the HBR case study Optima Business Group: Leveraging Information Technology for Salesforce Enablement, is just above the industry average. Obg Optima 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.

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Opportunities Optima Business Group: Leveraging Information Technology for Salesforce Enablement | 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 Optima Business Group: Leveraging Information Technology for Salesforce Enablement are -

Using analytics as competitive advantage

– Obg Optima 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 Optima Business Group: Leveraging Information Technology for Salesforce Enablement - to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Obg Optima to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.

Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities

– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Obg Optima 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 Obg Optima to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.

Learning at scale

– Online learning technologies has now opened space for Obg Optima 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.

Loyalty marketing

– Obg Optima 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.

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

Lowering marketing communication costs

– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Obg Optima 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.

Redefining models of collaboration and team work

– As explained in the weaknesses section, Obg Optima is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. Optima Business Group: Leveraging Information Technology for Salesforce Enablement 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.

Reforming the budgeting process

- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects Obg Optima can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.

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. Obg Optima can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.

Building a culture of innovation

– managers at Obg Optima 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.

Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains

– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Obg Optima 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, Optima Business Group: Leveraging Information Technology for Salesforce Enablement, 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 Obg Optima 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.

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. Obg Optima 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. Obg Optima 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.

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Threats Optima Business Group: Leveraging Information Technology for Salesforce Enablement External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis

The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Optima Business Group: Leveraging Information Technology for Salesforce Enablement are -

Barriers of entry lowering

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

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 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. Obg Optima needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Sales & Marketing industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.

Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution

– Obg Optima has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Sales & Marketing industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Obg Optima 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.

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. Obg Optima can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.

Regulatory challenges

– Obg Optima 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.

Shortening product life cycle

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

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 Obg Optima business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.

Environmental challenges

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

Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins

– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Obg Optima 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 Optima Business Group: Leveraging Information Technology for Salesforce Enablement .

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. Obg Optima 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.

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 Obg Optima.

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Weighted SWOT Analysis of Optima Business Group: Leveraging Information Technology for Salesforce Enablement 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 Optima Business Group: Leveraging Information Technology for Salesforce Enablement 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 Optima Business Group: Leveraging Information Technology for Salesforce Enablement 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 Optima Business Group: Leveraging Information Technology for Salesforce Enablement 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 Optima Business Group: Leveraging Information Technology for Salesforce Enablement 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 Obg Optima needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.

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