Improving Customer Engagement at VMWare through Analytics SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Sales & Marketing
Strategy / MBA Resources
Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of Improving Customer Engagement at VMWare through Analytics
VMware (VMW) is a listed software company with headquarters in Palo Alto, California selling products in the Software Defined Data Center that supports multiple devices, apps, and cloud to create an enterprise-ready cloud infrastructure. The company exclusively caters to business customers, that is, in the B2B environment. The company is characterized by 100% digital supply chain which implies that all products are downloadable from the website (www.vmware.com). The company also promotes these products online. Varied individuals across companies worldwide visit the site to familiarize themselves with the products and their features before making a decisive purchase. Along with the overview and use of the product, there are various customer-interaction triggers or ''digital assets'' that are shown to the VMW audience. These include triggers such as hands-on-learning, seminar/webinar registration, downloads, etc. Kiran R, the Director of the Data Science & Analytics team at VMW wants to know the optimal order of digital actions to be pushed towards customers to engage them effectively. Kiran's team has a rich source of online and offline available to model user's response to each of these digital assets. Kiran realized that the data is highly imbalanced and hence should be handled carefully. They wish to come up with a multinomial classification model for this purpose. Kiran decided that the model should fulfil the following objectives: 1. Determine the right order of digital assets to display to an individual e-mail id. 2. Since the website would like to target groups of e-mail ids, come up with a set of segment rules to identify top individuals for a digital asset and to target them with personalization on the website. 3. Have substantiated marketing and sales implications.
Swot Analysis of "Improving Customer Engagement at VMWare through Analytics" written by Nandini Seth, Dinesh Kumar Unnikrishnan includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Vmw Kiran facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Improving Customer Engagement at VMWare through Analytics case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Customers and Sales & Marketing.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Improving Customer Engagement at VMWare through Analytics casestudy better are - – increasing household debt because of falling income levels, increasing energy prices, customer relationship management is fast transforming because of increasing concerns over data privacy, there is increasing trade war between United States & China, geopolitical disruptions, there is backlash against globalization, central banks are concerned over increasing inflation,
increasing inequality as vast percentage of new income is going to the top 1%, wage bills are increasing, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Improving Customer Engagement at VMWare through Analytics
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Improving Customer Engagement at VMWare through Analytics case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Vmw Kiran, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Vmw Kiran 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 Improving Customer Engagement at VMWare through Analytics can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Improving Customer Engagement at VMWare through Analytics case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Vmw Kiran
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 Vmw Kiran
Strengths Improving Customer Engagement at VMWare through Analytics | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Vmw Kiran in Improving Customer Engagement at VMWare through Analytics Harvard Business Review case study are -
Ability to recruit top talent
– Vmw Kiran is one of the leading recruiters in the industry. Managers in the Improving Customer Engagement at VMWare through Analytics are in a position to attract the best talent available. The firm has a robust talent identification program that helps in identifying the brightest.
Strong track record of project management
– Vmw Kiran is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.
Learning organization
- Vmw Kiran 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 Vmw Kiran is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders in Improving Customer Engagement at VMWare through Analytics Harvard Business Review case study emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
Ability to lead change in Sales & Marketing field
– Vmw Kiran is one of the leading players in its industry. Over the years it has not only transformed the business landscape in its segment but also across the whole industry. The ability to lead change has enabled Vmw Kiran in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.
Digital Transformation in Sales & Marketing segment
- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For Vmw Kiran digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Vmw Kiran 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
– Vmw Kiran 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 Nandini Seth, Dinesh Kumar Unnikrishnan 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.
Highly skilled collaborators
– Vmw Kiran 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 Improving Customer Engagement at VMWare through Analytics HBR case study have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
Effective Research and Development (R&D)
– Vmw Kiran 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 Improving Customer Engagement at VMWare through Analytics - staying ahead in the industry in terms of – new product launches, superior customer experience, highly competitive pricing strategies, and great returns to the shareholders.
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of Vmw Kiran in the sector have low bargaining power. Improving Customer Engagement at VMWare through Analytics has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Vmw Kiran to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
Successful track record of launching new products
– Vmw Kiran has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Vmw Kiran 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.
Superior customer experience
– The customer experience strategy of Vmw Kiran in the segment is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.
Innovation driven organization
– Vmw Kiran is one of the most innovative firm in sector. Manager in Improving Customer Engagement at VMWare through Analytics Harvard Business Review case study can use Clayton Christensen Disruptive Innovation strategies to further increase the scale of innovtions in the organization.
Weaknesses Improving Customer Engagement at VMWare through Analytics | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Improving Customer Engagement at VMWare through Analytics are -
Workers concerns about automation
– As automation is fast increasing in the segment, Vmw Kiran 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.
Ability to respond to the competition
– As the decision making is very deliberative, highlighted in the case study Improving Customer Engagement at VMWare through Analytics, in the dynamic environment Vmw Kiran has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. Vmw Kiran has reasonably good record with similar level competitors but it has struggled with new entrants taking away niches of its business.
No frontier risks strategy
– After analyzing the HBR case study Improving Customer Engagement at VMWare through Analytics, it seems that company is thinking about the frontier risks that can impact Sales & Marketing strategy. But it has very little resources allocation to manage the risks emerging from events such as natural disasters, climate change, melting of permafrost, tacking the rise of artificial intelligence, opportunities and threats emerging from commercialization of space etc.
Employees’ incomplete understanding of strategy
– From the instances in the HBR case study Improving Customer Engagement at VMWare through Analytics, it seems that the employees of Vmw Kiran 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.
Slow to harness new channels of communication
– Even though competitors are using new communication channels such as Instagram, Tiktok, and Snap, Vmw Kiran is slow explore the new channels of communication. These new channels of communication mentioned in marketing section of case study Improving Customer Engagement at VMWare through Analytics can help to provide better information regarding products and services. It can also build an online community to further reach out to potential customers.
Products dominated business model
– Even though Vmw Kiran 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 - Improving Customer Engagement at VMWare through Analytics should strive to include more intangible value offerings along with its core products and services.
Slow decision making process
– As mentioned earlier in the report, Vmw Kiran 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. Vmw Kiran 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.
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 Vmw Kiran supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes mentioned in the HBR case study - Improving Customer Engagement at VMWare through Analytics, it is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left Vmw Kiran vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.
High dependence on star products
– The top 2 products and services of the firm as mentioned in the Improving Customer Engagement at VMWare through Analytics 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 Vmw Kiran has relatively successful track record of launching new products.
Low market penetration in new markets
– Outside its home market of Vmw Kiran, firm in the HBR case study Improving Customer Engagement at VMWare through Analytics needs to spend more promotional, marketing, and advertising efforts to penetrate international markets.
Compensation and incentives
– The revenue per employee as mentioned in the HBR case study Improving Customer Engagement at VMWare through Analytics, is just above the industry average. Vmw Kiran 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.
Opportunities Improving Customer Engagement at VMWare through Analytics | 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 Improving Customer Engagement at VMWare through Analytics are -
Manufacturing automation
– Vmw Kiran 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.
Learning at scale
– Online learning technologies has now opened space for Vmw Kiran 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. Vmw Kiran can tie-up with other value chain partners to explore new opportunities regarding meeting customer demands and building a rewarding and engaging relationship.
Low interest rates
– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Vmw Kiran 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.
Reforming the budgeting process
- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects Vmw Kiran 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, Vmw Kiran 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, Improving Customer Engagement at VMWare through Analytics, to buy more products closer to the markets, and it can leverage its size and influence to get better deal from the local markets.
Leveraging digital technologies
– Vmw Kiran 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.
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. Vmw Kiran 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. Vmw Kiran 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.
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Vmw Kiran has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Vmw Kiran to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the Improving Customer Engagement at VMWare through Analytics case study. Vmw Kiran can build new products and services such as - data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– Vmw Kiran 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 Improving Customer Engagement at VMWare through Analytics - to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Vmw Kiran to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
Loyalty marketing
– Vmw Kiran 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.
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. Vmw Kiran can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.
Redefining models of collaboration and team work
– As explained in the weaknesses section, Vmw Kiran is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. Improving Customer Engagement at VMWare through Analytics 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.
Threats Improving Customer Engagement at VMWare through Analytics External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Improving Customer Engagement at VMWare through Analytics are -
Environmental challenges
– Vmw Kiran 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. Vmw Kiran can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Sales & Marketing industry.
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 Vmw Kiran in the Sales & Marketing sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Vmw Kiran 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.
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. Vmw Kiran needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Sales & Marketing industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Vmw Kiran 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 Vmw Kiran with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the sector.
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, as highlighted in case study Improving Customer Engagement at VMWare through Analytics, Vmw Kiran 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 .
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. Vmw Kiran can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
High dependence on third party suppliers
– Vmw Kiran 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.
Increasing wage structure of Vmw Kiran
– 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 Vmw Kiran.
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 Vmw Kiran.
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Vmw Kiran 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 Improving Customer Engagement at VMWare through Analytics .
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Improving Customer Engagement at VMWare through Analytics 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 Improving Customer Engagement at VMWare through Analytics 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 Improving Customer Engagement at VMWare through Analytics 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 Improving Customer Engagement at VMWare through Analytics 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 Improving Customer Engagement at VMWare through Analytics 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 Vmw Kiran needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.
