This case touches on the problems faced by a company, a global leader with a presence all over the world, dedicated to selling machinery at high prices ($1 million average purchase) in a B2B environment. The case discusses how and why the company should develop its digital presence as opposed to increasing its commercial presence by hiring more salespeople to sell its products. Should the company look for new salespeople? Does it make sense for it to build up a presence in social media? How can it best make use of the Internet?
Swot Analysis of "Hiperbaric: B2B 2.0" written by Pablo Foncillas includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Presence Salespeople facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Hiperbaric: B2B 2.0 case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Marketing and Sales & Marketing.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Hiperbaric: B2B 2.0 casestudy better are - – there is increasing trade war between United States & China, central banks are concerned over increasing inflation, increasing energy prices, challanges to central banks by blockchain based private currencies, technology disruption, increasing household debt because of falling income levels, increasing commodity prices,
geopolitical disruptions, increasing government debt because of Covid-19 spendings, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Hiperbaric: B2B 2.0
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Hiperbaric: B2B 2.0 case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Presence Salespeople, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Presence Salespeople 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 Hiperbaric: B2B 2.0 can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Hiperbaric: B2B 2.0 case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Presence Salespeople
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 Presence Salespeople
Strengths Hiperbaric: B2B 2.0 | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Presence Salespeople in Hiperbaric: B2B 2.0 Harvard Business Review case study are -
High brand equity
– Presence Salespeople has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Presence Salespeople to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Strong track record of project management
– Presence Salespeople is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.
Operational resilience
– The operational resilience strategy in the Hiperbaric: B2B 2.0 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.
Diverse revenue streams
– Presence Salespeople is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided firm in Hiperbaric: B2B 2.0 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.
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of Presence Salespeople in the sector have low bargaining power. Hiperbaric: B2B 2.0 has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Presence Salespeople to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
Ability to recruit top talent
– Presence Salespeople is one of the leading recruiters in the industry. Managers in the Hiperbaric: B2B 2.0 are in a position to attract the best talent available. The firm has a robust talent identification program that helps in identifying the brightest.
High switching costs
– The high switching costs that Presence Salespeople 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.
Successful track record of launching new products
– Presence Salespeople has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Presence Salespeople 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.
Innovation driven organization
– Presence Salespeople is one of the most innovative firm in sector. Manager in Hiperbaric: B2B 2.0 Harvard Business Review case study can use Clayton Christensen Disruptive Innovation strategies to further increase the scale of innovtions in the organization.
Learning organization
- Presence Salespeople 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 Presence Salespeople is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders in Hiperbaric: B2B 2.0 Harvard Business Review case study emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
Training and development
– Presence Salespeople has one of the best training and development program in the industry. The effectiveness of the training programs can be measured in Hiperbaric: B2B 2.0 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.
Highly skilled collaborators
– Presence Salespeople 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 Hiperbaric: B2B 2.0 HBR case study have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
Weaknesses Hiperbaric: B2B 2.0 | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Hiperbaric: B2B 2.0 are -
Products dominated business model
– Even though Presence Salespeople 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 - Hiperbaric: B2B 2.0 should strive to include more intangible value offerings along with its core products and services.
Skills based hiring
– The stress on hiring functional specialists at Presence Salespeople 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.
Interest costs
– Compare to the competition, Presence Salespeople 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
Presence Salespeople 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.
Capital Spending Reduction
– Even during the low interest decade, Presence Salespeople 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.
Employees’ incomplete understanding of strategy
– From the instances in the HBR case study Hiperbaric: B2B 2.0, it seems that the employees of Presence Salespeople 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 Hiperbaric: B2B 2.0, is just above the industry average. Presence Salespeople 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.
Increasing silos among functional specialists
– The organizational structure of Presence Salespeople is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Sales & Marketing segment. Presence Salespeople needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Presence Salespeople to focus more on services rather than just following the product oriented approach.
Ability to respond to the competition
– As the decision making is very deliberative, highlighted in the case study Hiperbaric: B2B 2.0, in the dynamic environment Presence Salespeople has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. Presence Salespeople has reasonably good record with similar level competitors but it has struggled with new entrants taking away niches of its business.
Slow to strategic competitive environment developments
– As Hiperbaric: B2B 2.0 HBR case study mentions - Presence Salespeople 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.
Aligning sales with marketing
– It come across in the case study Hiperbaric: B2B 2.0 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 Hiperbaric: B2B 2.0 can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Presence Salespeople is planning to shift buying processes online.
Opportunities Hiperbaric: B2B 2.0 | 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 Hiperbaric: B2B 2.0 are -
Manufacturing automation
– Presence Salespeople can use the latest technology developments to improve its manufacturing and designing process in Sales & Marketing 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.
Leveraging digital technologies
– Presence Salespeople 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.
Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities
– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Presence Salespeople 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 Presence Salespeople to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
Learning at scale
– Online learning technologies has now opened space for Presence Salespeople 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.
Redefining models of collaboration and team work
– As explained in the weaknesses section, Presence Salespeople is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. Hiperbaric: B2B 2.0 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.
Building a culture of innovation
– managers at Presence Salespeople 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.
Low interest rates
– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Presence Salespeople 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.
Loyalty marketing
– Presence Salespeople 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.
Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains
– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Presence Salespeople 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, Hiperbaric: B2B 2.0, to buy more products closer to the markets, and it can leverage its size and influence to get better deal from the local markets.
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Presence Salespeople has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Presence Salespeople to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the Hiperbaric: B2B 2.0 case study. Presence Salespeople can build new products and services such as - data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, 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, Presence Salespeople can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Presence Salespeople 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 Presence Salespeople to increase its market reach. Presence Salespeople 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.
Lowering marketing communication costs
– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Presence Salespeople 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.
Threats Hiperbaric: B2B 2.0 External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Hiperbaric: B2B 2.0 are -
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Presence Salespeople 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.
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Presence Salespeople is facing in Sales & Marketing sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry in the industry are lowering. It can presents Presence Salespeople with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the sector.
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 Presence Salespeople in the Sales & Marketing sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
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 Presence Salespeople business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
Increasing wage structure of Presence Salespeople
– 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 Presence Salespeople.
Regulatory challenges
– Presence Salespeople 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.
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. Presence Salespeople will face different problems in different parts of Europe. For example it will face inflationary pressures in UK, France, and Germany, balance sheet expansion and demand challenges in Southern European countries, and geopolitical instability in the Eastern Europe.
High dependence on third party suppliers
– Presence Salespeople 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.
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 Presence Salespeople.
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, as highlighted in case study Hiperbaric: B2B 2.0, Presence Salespeople 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 .
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Presence Salespeople 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.
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. Presence Salespeople needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Sales & Marketing industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Hiperbaric: B2B 2.0 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 Hiperbaric: B2B 2.0 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 Hiperbaric: B2B 2.0 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 Hiperbaric: B2B 2.0 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 Hiperbaric: B2B 2.0 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 Presence Salespeople needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.
