Matt Coffin is in the money, to say the least. His company, LowerMyBills, is worth in excess of $400 million. But should he sell? Is he crazy to be thinking that life is good as is; why risk changing all that with a harvest? Ever since he began starting businesses, Matt Coffin's primary motivation was to create something big enough and exciting enough to draw in the best and the brightest. His two earlier ventures were profitable, but he tossed them aside the moment he saw they weren't 'amazing' opportunities. At the peak of the Internet wave in 1999, the 30 year-old entrepreneur hit upon his first big opportunity: a Web business to help consumers lower their monthly household bills. He put together a first round of investment from friends and a professional investor group and launched LowerMyBills.com. It grows rapidly, but when the Internet bubble bursts, Matt nearly goes under because his bank demands repayment of its credit line in full. Fortunately, unlike most other dot-com entrepreneurs at that time, Matt has been frugal and has focused on profitability. The company puts together a second round of financing, grows rapidly, and turns profitable in 2002. In 2005, Matt is inundated with offers to take LowerMyBills.com public, to refinance the company with a partial buyout, or to have LowerMyBills acquired by a billion dollar parent. He loves the life and work environment he's created, so what should he do?
Swot Analysis of "Matt Coffin" written by William Bygrave, Carl Hedberg includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Matt Lowermybills facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Matt Coffin case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Internet, Marketing, Sustainability and Sales & Marketing.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Matt Coffin casestudy better are - – banking and financial system is disrupted by Bitcoin and other crypto currencies, supply chains are disrupted by pandemic , customer relationship management is fast transforming because of increasing concerns over data privacy, wage bills are increasing, digital marketing is dominated by two big players Facebook and Google, technology disruption, increasing household debt because of falling income levels,
geopolitical disruptions, central banks are concerned over increasing inflation, etc
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Matt Coffin case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Matt Lowermybills, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Matt Lowermybills 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 Matt Coffin can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Matt Coffin case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Matt Lowermybills
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 Matt Lowermybills
Strengths Matt Coffin | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Matt Lowermybills in Matt Coffin Harvard Business Review case study are -
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of Matt Lowermybills in the sector have low bargaining power. Matt Coffin has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Matt Lowermybills to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Sales & Marketing industry
– Matt Coffin firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Matt Lowermybills to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Sales & Marketing industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Matt Lowermybills to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Training and development
– Matt Lowermybills has one of the best training and development program in the industry. The effectiveness of the training programs can be measured in Matt Coffin 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.
Learning organization
- Matt Lowermybills 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 Matt Lowermybills is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders in Matt Coffin Harvard Business Review case study emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
Diverse revenue streams
– Matt Lowermybills is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided firm in Matt Coffin 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.
Strong track record of project management
– Matt Lowermybills is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.
Cross disciplinary teams
– Horizontal connected teams at the Matt Lowermybills 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.
Innovation driven organization
– Matt Lowermybills is one of the most innovative firm in sector. Manager in Matt Coffin 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
– Matt Lowermybills is one of the leading recruiters in the industry. Managers in the Matt Coffin are in a position to attract the best talent available. The firm has a robust talent identification program that helps in identifying the brightest.
Successful track record of launching new products
– Matt Lowermybills has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Matt Lowermybills 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.
High brand equity
– Matt Lowermybills has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Matt Lowermybills to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Operational resilience
– The operational resilience strategy in the Matt Coffin 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.
Weaknesses Matt Coffin | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Matt Coffin are -
High dependence on star products
– The top 2 products and services of the firm as mentioned in the Matt Coffin 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 Matt Lowermybills has relatively successful track record of launching new products.
Slow to strategic competitive environment developments
– As Matt Coffin HBR case study mentions - Matt Lowermybills 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.
Ability to respond to the competition
– As the decision making is very deliberative, highlighted in the case study Matt Coffin, in the dynamic environment Matt Lowermybills has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. Matt Lowermybills has reasonably good record with similar level competitors but it has struggled with new entrants taking away niches of its business.
High bargaining power of channel partners
– Because of the regulatory requirements, William Bygrave, Carl Hedberg suggests that, Matt Lowermybills 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.
Slow to harness new channels of communication
– Even though competitors are using new communication channels such as Instagram, Tiktok, and Snap, Matt Lowermybills is slow explore the new channels of communication. These new channels of communication mentioned in marketing section of case study Matt Coffin can help to provide better information regarding products and services. It can also build an online community to further reach out to potential customers.
Capital Spending Reduction
– Even during the low interest decade, Matt Lowermybills has not been able to do capital spending to the tune of the competition. This has resulted into fewer innovations and company facing stiff competition from both existing competitors and new entrants who are disrupting the industry using digital technology.
Lack of clear differentiation of Matt Lowermybills products
– To increase the profitability and margins on the products, Matt Lowermybills needs to provide more differentiated products than what it is currently offering in the marketplace.
Compensation and incentives
– The revenue per employee as mentioned in the HBR case study Matt Coffin, is just above the industry average. Matt Lowermybills 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.
Interest costs
– Compare to the competition, Matt Lowermybills 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.
Increasing silos among functional specialists
– The organizational structure of Matt Lowermybills is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Sales & Marketing segment. Matt Lowermybills needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Matt Lowermybills 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 Matt Coffin, it seems that the employees of Matt Lowermybills don’t have comprehensive understanding of the firm’s strategy. This is reflected in number of promotional campaigns over the last few years that had mixed messaging and competing priorities. Some of the strategic activities and services promoted in the promotional campaigns were not consistent with the organization’s strategy.
Opportunities Matt Coffin | 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 Matt Coffin are -
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Matt Lowermybills has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Matt Lowermybills to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the Matt Coffin case study. Matt Lowermybills can build new products and services such as - data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
Lowering marketing communication costs
– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Matt Lowermybills 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.
Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities
– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Matt Lowermybills 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 Matt Lowermybills to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
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 Matt Lowermybills 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.
Leveraging digital technologies
– Matt Lowermybills 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.
Reforming the budgeting process
- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects Matt Lowermybills can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.
Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains
– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Matt Lowermybills 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, Matt Coffin, to buy more products closer to the markets, and it can leverage its size and influence to get better deal from the local markets.
Redefining models of collaboration and team work
– As explained in the weaknesses section, Matt Lowermybills is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. Matt Coffin 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.
Increase in government spending
– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Matt Lowermybills can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Matt Lowermybills operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Sales & Marketing sector.
Better consumer reach
– The expansion of the 5G network will help Matt Lowermybills to increase its market reach. Matt Lowermybills 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
– Matt Lowermybills 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.
Learning at scale
– Online learning technologies has now opened space for Matt Lowermybills 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. Matt Lowermybills can tie-up with other value chain partners to explore new opportunities regarding meeting customer demands and building a rewarding and engaging relationship.
Threats Matt Coffin External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Matt Coffin 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. Matt Lowermybills 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 Matt Lowermybills business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Matt Lowermybills 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 disruption because of hacks, piracy etc
– The colonial pipeline illustrated, how vulnerable modern organization are to international hackers, miscreants, and disruptors. The cyber security interruption, data leaks, etc can seriously jeopardize the future growth of the organization.
Easy access to finance
– Easy access to finance in Sales & Marketing field will also reduce the barriers to entry in the industry, thus putting downward pressure on the prices because of increasing competition. Matt Lowermybills can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Matt Lowermybills 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 Matt Coffin .
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Matt Lowermybills has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Sales & Marketing industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Matt Lowermybills 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.
Environmental challenges
– Matt Lowermybills 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. Matt Lowermybills can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Sales & Marketing industry.
Increasing wage structure of Matt Lowermybills
– 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 Matt Lowermybills.
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, as highlighted in case study Matt Coffin, Matt Lowermybills may face longer learning curve for training and development of existing employees. This can open space for more nimble competitors in the field of Sales & Marketing .
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. Matt Lowermybills needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Sales & Marketing industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Matt Lowermybills 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.
Regulatory challenges
– Matt Lowermybills 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 Matt Coffin 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 Matt Coffin 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 Matt Coffin 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 Matt Coffin 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 Matt Coffin 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 Matt Lowermybills needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.