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Konica Minolta Business Solutions: A Professional Approach to Selling (A) SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis

Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution

Case Study Description of Konica Minolta Business Solutions: A Professional Approach to Selling (A)


Konica Minolta Business Solutions (KMBS) was a leader in advanced document management technologies. Its business solutions were grouped under office systems, print production, and printers. Its business solutions were grouped under office systems, print production, and printers. Peter Daniel, Branch Manager for northern New Jersey at KMBS, recently assigned Bill Swanson to be the sales rep responsible for Bergen and Passaic counties in New Jersey. Swanson was assigned the responsibility of winning an important account away from competitors, namely, NYCG, a large global accounting and consulting firm in Wayne, New Jersey. Swanson had to draft a plan to gather information from the prospect. The sales process can be classified into three key phases: prospecting, needs identification, and proposing a solution and closing the deal. The KMBS cases (A), (B), and (C) primarily focus on needs identification. In KMBS(A), Swanson had to develop the plan of action for planning, preparing, and approaching NYCG. In KMBS(B), Swanson met with the Global Procurement Director at NYCG, Bob Benedict, to understand NYCG's needs. He also met with Peter Daniel to discuss how they should continue to identify NYCG's needs. Finally, in KMBS(C), Swanson met with the heads of the Distributed Print Services and Central Print Services divisions, as well as other users at NYCG, to understand their needs. These efforts should help KMBS create a custom solution for NYCG. Swanson and Daniel thus must decide which solutions to present to NYCG.

Authors :: Prabakar Kothandaraman, Sudha Mani, William J. Healy

Topics :: Sales & Marketing

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

Swot Analysis of "Konica Minolta Business Solutions: A Professional Approach to Selling (A)" written by Prabakar Kothandaraman, Sudha Mani, William J. Healy includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Kmbs Swanson facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Konica Minolta Business Solutions: A Professional Approach to Selling (A) case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Manufacturing, Sales, Technology and Sales & Marketing.


Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Konica Minolta Business Solutions: A Professional Approach to Selling (A) casestudy better are - – increasing inequality as vast percentage of new income is going to the top 1%, challanges to central banks by blockchain based private currencies, increasing government debt because of Covid-19 spendings, wage bills are increasing, increasing commodity prices, banking and financial system is disrupted by Bitcoin and other crypto currencies, there is increasing trade war between United States & China, there is backlash against globalization, customer relationship management is fast transforming because of increasing concerns over data privacy, etc



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Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Konica Minolta Business Solutions: A Professional Approach to Selling (A)


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




Strengths Konica Minolta Business Solutions: A Professional Approach to Selling (A) | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis

The strengths of Kmbs Swanson in Konica Minolta Business Solutions: A Professional Approach to Selling (A) Harvard Business Review case study are -

Highly skilled collaborators

– Kmbs Swanson 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 Konica Minolta Business Solutions: A Professional Approach to Selling (A) HBR case study have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.

Effective Research and Development (R&D)

– Kmbs Swanson 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 Konica Minolta Business Solutions: A Professional Approach to Selling (A) - staying ahead in the industry in terms of – new product launches, superior customer experience, highly competitive pricing strategies, and great returns to the shareholders.

Diverse revenue streams

– Kmbs Swanson is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided firm in Konica Minolta Business Solutions: A Professional Approach to Selling (A) 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.

High switching costs

– The high switching costs that Kmbs Swanson 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.

Cross disciplinary teams

– Horizontal connected teams at the Kmbs Swanson 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.

Learning organization

- Kmbs Swanson 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 Kmbs Swanson is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders in Konica Minolta Business Solutions: A Professional Approach to Selling (A) Harvard Business Review case study emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.

Sustainable margins compare to other players in Sales & Marketing industry

– Konica Minolta Business Solutions: A Professional Approach to Selling (A) firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Kmbs Swanson to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Sales & Marketing industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Kmbs Swanson to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.

Superior customer experience

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

Strong track record of project management

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

Analytics focus

– Kmbs Swanson 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 Prabakar Kothandaraman, Sudha Mani, William J. Healy 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.

Operational resilience

– The operational resilience strategy in the Konica Minolta Business Solutions: A Professional Approach to Selling (A) Harvard Business Review case study comprises – understanding the underlying the factors in the industry, building diversified operations across different geographies so that disruption in one part of the world doesn’t impact the overall performance of the firm, and integrating the various business operations and processes through its digital transformation drive.

Training and development

– Kmbs Swanson has one of the best training and development program in the industry. The effectiveness of the training programs can be measured in Konica Minolta Business Solutions: A Professional Approach to Selling (A) 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.






Weaknesses Konica Minolta Business Solutions: A Professional Approach to Selling (A) | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis

The weaknesses of Konica Minolta Business Solutions: A Professional Approach to Selling (A) are -

Workers concerns about automation

– As automation is fast increasing in the segment, Kmbs Swanson 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.

Interest costs

– Compare to the competition, Kmbs Swanson 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.

Lack of clear differentiation of Kmbs Swanson products

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

Low market penetration in new markets

– Outside its home market of Kmbs Swanson, firm in the HBR case study Konica Minolta Business Solutions: A Professional Approach to Selling (A) needs to spend more promotional, marketing, and advertising efforts to penetrate international markets.

High bargaining power of channel partners

– Because of the regulatory requirements, Prabakar Kothandaraman, Sudha Mani, William J. Healy suggests that, Kmbs Swanson 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.

High operating costs

– Compare to the competitors, firm in the HBR case study Konica Minolta Business Solutions: A Professional Approach to Selling (A) has high operating costs in the. This can be harder to sustain given the new emerging competition from nimble players who are using technology to attract Kmbs Swanson 's lucrative customers.

High cash cycle compare to competitors

Kmbs Swanson 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.

Need for greater diversity

– Kmbs Swanson has taken concrete steps on diversity, equity, and inclusion. But the efforts so far has resulted in limited success. It needs to expand the recruitment and selection process to hire more people from the minorities and underprivileged background.

High 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 Kmbs Swanson supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes mentioned in the HBR case study - Konica Minolta Business Solutions: A Professional Approach to Selling (A), it is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left Kmbs Swanson vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.

Aligning sales with marketing

– It come across in the case study Konica Minolta Business Solutions: A Professional Approach to Selling (A) 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 Konica Minolta Business Solutions: A Professional Approach to Selling (A) can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Kmbs Swanson is planning to shift buying processes online.

Ability to respond to the competition

– As the decision making is very deliberative, highlighted in the case study Konica Minolta Business Solutions: A Professional Approach to Selling (A), in the dynamic environment Kmbs Swanson has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. Kmbs Swanson has reasonably good record with similar level competitors but it has struggled with new entrants taking away niches of its business.




Opportunities Konica Minolta Business Solutions: A Professional Approach to Selling (A) | External Strategic Factors
What are Opportunities in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis


The opportunities highlighted in the Harvard Business Review case study Konica Minolta Business Solutions: A Professional Approach to Selling (A) are -

Reforming the budgeting process

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

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. Kmbs Swanson 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. Kmbs Swanson 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.

Learning at scale

– Online learning technologies has now opened space for Kmbs Swanson 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.

Finding new ways to collaborate

– Covid-19 has not only transformed business models of companies in Sales & Marketing industry, but it has also influenced the consumer preferences. Kmbs Swanson can tie-up with other value chain partners to explore new opportunities regarding meeting customer demands and building a rewarding and engaging relationship.

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. Kmbs Swanson can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.

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

Better consumer reach

– The expansion of the 5G network will help Kmbs Swanson to increase its market reach. Kmbs Swanson 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.

Loyalty marketing

– Kmbs Swanson 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 Kmbs Swanson 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.

Using analytics as competitive advantage

– Kmbs Swanson 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 Konica Minolta Business Solutions: A Professional Approach to Selling (A) - to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Kmbs Swanson to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.

Lowering marketing communication costs

– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Kmbs Swanson 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.

Building a culture of innovation

– managers at Kmbs Swanson 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

– Kmbs Swanson 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.




Threats Konica Minolta Business Solutions: A Professional Approach to Selling (A) External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis


The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Konica Minolta Business Solutions: A Professional Approach to Selling (A) are -

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 Kmbs Swanson in the Sales & Marketing sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.

Capital market disruption

– During the Covid-19, Dow Jones has touched record high. The valuations of a number of companies are way beyond their existing business model potential. This can lead to capital market correction which can put a number of suppliers, collaborators, value chain partners in great financial difficulty. It will directly impact the business of Kmbs Swanson.

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. Kmbs Swanson 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.

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 Kmbs Swanson business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.

Consumer confidence and its impact on Kmbs Swanson 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.

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

Trade war between China and United States

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

Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution

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

Increasing wage structure of Kmbs Swanson

– 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 Kmbs Swanson.

Environmental challenges

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

Shortening product life cycle

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

High dependence on third party suppliers

– Kmbs Swanson 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.

Regulatory challenges

– Kmbs Swanson 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.




Weighted SWOT Analysis of Konica Minolta Business Solutions: A Professional Approach to Selling (A) Template, Example


Not all factors mentioned under the Strengths, Weakness, Opportunities, and Threats quadrants in the SWOT Analysis are equal. Managers in the HBR case study Konica Minolta Business Solutions: A Professional Approach to Selling (A) needs to zero down on the relative importance of each factor mentioned in the Strengths, Weakness, Opportunities, and Threats quadrants. We can provide the relative importance to each factor by assigning relative weights. Weighted SWOT analysis process is a three stage process –

First stage for doing weighted SWOT analysis of the case study Konica Minolta Business Solutions: A Professional Approach to Selling (A) is to rank the strengths and weaknesses of the organization. This will help you to assess the most important strengths and weaknesses of the firm and which one of the strengths and weaknesses mentioned in the initial lists are marginal and can be left out.

Second stage for conducting weighted SWOT analysis of the Harvard case study Konica Minolta Business Solutions: A Professional Approach to Selling (A) is to give probabilities to the external strategic factors thus better understanding the opportunities and threats arising out of macro environment changes and developments.

Third stage of constructing weighted SWOT analysis of Konica Minolta Business Solutions: A Professional Approach to Selling (A) is to provide strategic recommendations includes – joining likelihood of external strategic factors such as opportunities and threats to the internal strategic factors – strengths and weaknesses. You should start with external factors as they will provide the direction of the overall industry. Secondly by joining probabilities with internal strategic factors can help the company not only strategic fit but also the most probably strategic trade-off that Kmbs Swanson needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.



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