Case Study Description of Quick Growth at QlikTech
QlikTech, with its disruptive technology and business model, seems to have found a market niche in the mid-market business-to-business software segment. The big 5 market participants are now starting to offer the in-memory technology that QlikTech has built its business upon. In the light of the traditional vendors' encroachment, can QlikTech's growth be sustained?
Swot Analysis of "Quick Growth at QlikTech" written by Jarish Dawn, Larreche Jean-Claude includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Qliktech Qliktech's facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Quick Growth at QlikTech case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Marketing, Organizational culture and Sales & Marketing.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Quick Growth at QlikTech casestudy better are - – geopolitical disruptions, increasing government debt because of Covid-19 spendings, banking and financial system is disrupted by Bitcoin and other crypto currencies, there is backlash against globalization, challanges to central banks by blockchain based private currencies, increasing inequality as vast percentage of new income is going to the top 1%, central banks are concerned over increasing inflation,
supply chains are disrupted by pandemic , wage bills are increasing, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Quick Growth at QlikTech
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Quick Growth at QlikTech case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Qliktech Qliktech's, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Qliktech Qliktech's 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 Quick Growth at QlikTech can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Quick Growth at QlikTech case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Qliktech Qliktech's
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 Qliktech Qliktech's
Strengths Quick Growth at QlikTech | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Qliktech Qliktech's in Quick Growth at QlikTech Harvard Business Review case study are -
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Sales & Marketing industry
– Quick Growth at QlikTech firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Qliktech Qliktech's to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Sales & Marketing industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Qliktech Qliktech's to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Strong track record of project management
– Qliktech Qliktech's 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 Qliktech Qliktech's 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.
Digital Transformation in Sales & Marketing segment
- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For Qliktech Qliktech's digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Qliktech Qliktech's 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.
Innovation driven organization
– Qliktech Qliktech's is one of the most innovative firm in sector. Manager in Quick Growth at QlikTech Harvard Business Review case study can use Clayton Christensen Disruptive Innovation strategies to further increase the scale of innovtions in the organization.
Successful track record of launching new products
– Qliktech Qliktech's has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Qliktech Qliktech's 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.
Diverse revenue streams
– Qliktech Qliktech's is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided firm in Quick Growth at QlikTech 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.
Effective Research and Development (R&D)
– Qliktech Qliktech's 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 Quick Growth at QlikTech - staying ahead in the industry in terms of – new product launches, superior customer experience, highly competitive pricing strategies, and great returns to the shareholders.
High brand equity
– Qliktech Qliktech's has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Qliktech Qliktech's to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Learning organization
- Qliktech Qliktech's 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 Qliktech Qliktech's is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders in Quick Growth at QlikTech Harvard Business Review case study emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
High switching costs
– The high switching costs that Qliktech Qliktech's 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.
Organizational Resilience of Qliktech Qliktech's
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing that Qliktech Qliktech's does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
Weaknesses Quick Growth at QlikTech | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Quick Growth at QlikTech are -
No frontier risks strategy
– After analyzing the HBR case study Quick Growth at QlikTech, 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.
Interest costs
– Compare to the competition, Qliktech Qliktech's 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.
Capital Spending Reduction
– Even during the low interest decade, Qliktech Qliktech's 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 Quick Growth at QlikTech, it seems that the employees of Qliktech Qliktech's 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.
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 Qliktech Qliktech's supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes mentioned in the HBR case study - Quick Growth at QlikTech, it is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left Qliktech Qliktech's vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.
Ability to respond to the competition
– As the decision making is very deliberative, highlighted in the case study Quick Growth at QlikTech, in the dynamic environment Qliktech Qliktech's has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. Qliktech Qliktech's has reasonably good record with similar level competitors but it has struggled with new entrants taking away niches of its business.
Compensation and incentives
– The revenue per employee as mentioned in the HBR case study Quick Growth at QlikTech, is just above the industry average. Qliktech Qliktech's 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 Qliktech Qliktech's is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Sales & Marketing segment. Qliktech Qliktech's needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Qliktech Qliktech's to focus more on services rather than just following the product oriented approach.
High cash cycle compare to competitors
Qliktech Qliktech's 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
– Qliktech Qliktech's 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.
Aligning sales with marketing
– It come across in the case study Quick Growth at QlikTech 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 Quick Growth at QlikTech can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Qliktech Qliktech's is planning to shift buying processes online.
Opportunities Quick Growth at QlikTech | 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 Quick Growth at QlikTech are -
Redefining models of collaboration and team work
– As explained in the weaknesses section, Qliktech Qliktech's is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. Quick Growth at QlikTech 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.
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Qliktech Qliktech's has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Qliktech Qliktech's to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the Quick Growth at QlikTech case study. Qliktech Qliktech's can build new products and services such as - data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
Buying journey improvements
– Qliktech Qliktech's can improve the customer journey of consumers in the industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. Quick Growth at QlikTech suggest that firm can provide automated chats to help consumers solve their own problems, provide online suggestions to get maximum out of the products and services, and help consumers to build a community where they can interact with each other to develop new features and uses.
Lowering marketing communication costs
– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Qliktech Qliktech's 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.
Developing new processes and practices
– Qliktech Qliktech's 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.
Leveraging digital technologies
– Qliktech Qliktech's 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.
Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains
– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Qliktech Qliktech's 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, Quick Growth at QlikTech, to buy more products closer to the markets, and it can leverage its size and influence to get better deal from the local markets.
Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities
– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Qliktech Qliktech's 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 Qliktech Qliktech's to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
Building a culture of innovation
– managers at Qliktech Qliktech's 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.
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. Qliktech Qliktech's 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. Qliktech Qliktech's 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.
Loyalty marketing
– Qliktech Qliktech's 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.
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– Qliktech Qliktech's 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 Quick Growth at QlikTech - to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Qliktech Qliktech's to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
Low interest rates
– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Qliktech Qliktech's 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.
Threats Quick Growth at QlikTech External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Quick Growth at QlikTech are -
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry in the industry are lowering. It can presents Qliktech Qliktech's 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 Quick Growth at QlikTech, Qliktech Qliktech's 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 .
Aging population
– As the populations of most advanced economies are aging, it will lead to high social security costs, higher savings among population, and lower demand for goods and services in the economy. The household savings in US, France, UK, Germany, and Japan are growing faster than predicted because of uncertainty caused by pandemic.
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. Qliktech Qliktech's can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Qliktech Qliktech's 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.
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Qliktech Qliktech's 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.
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Qliktech Qliktech's 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 Quick Growth at QlikTech .
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 Qliktech Qliktech's in the Sales & Marketing sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
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.
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. Qliktech Qliktech's needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Sales & Marketing industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
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 Qliktech Qliktech's.
High dependence on third party suppliers
– Qliktech Qliktech's 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 Qliktech Qliktech's
– 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 Qliktech Qliktech's.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Quick Growth at QlikTech 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 Quick Growth at QlikTech 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 Quick Growth at QlikTech 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 Quick Growth at QlikTech 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 Quick Growth at QlikTech 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 Qliktech Qliktech's needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.
