All Pain, no Gain? Why Adopting Sales Force Automation Tools is Insufficient for Performance Improvement SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
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Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of All Pain, no Gain? Why Adopting Sales Force Automation Tools is Insufficient for Performance Improvement
The dawning of the 21st century brought a wave of research into the phenomenon of sales force automation (SFA)--technology tools aimed at enabling sales organizations to better practice customer relationship management. While the academic literature has offered great insight into how an organization can increase the likelihood that its sales force will adopt a new technology system, a great majority of research stops there. This is unfortunate in that companies mistakenly infer that use of an SFA system is the major hurdle and that simply motivating SFA use will be the key to unlocking improved performance. However, this is often not the case; many organizations are able to get their sales force to use an SFA system but do not see improvements in performance. After briefly providing an overview of the factors affecting SFA use, this research provides insight into why use alone may not contribute to long-term improvements in a firm's sales performance. Key empirical findings and theoretical arguments from the extant literature are considered, and a list of best practices is offered here to help managers bridge the gap between SFA use and improved sales effectiveness and efficiency.
Swot Analysis of "All Pain, no Gain? Why Adopting Sales Force Automation Tools is Insufficient for Performance Improvement" written by Ronald Jelinek includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Sfa Sales facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in All Pain, no Gain? Why Adopting Sales Force Automation Tools is Insufficient for Performance Improvement case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Customers, Productivity, Sales, Technology and Sales & Marketing.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the All Pain, no Gain? Why Adopting Sales Force Automation Tools is Insufficient for Performance Improvement casestudy better are - – geopolitical disruptions, there is increasing trade war between United States & China, customer relationship management is fast transforming because of increasing concerns over data privacy, challanges to central banks by blockchain based private currencies, cloud computing is disrupting traditional business models, supply chains are disrupted by pandemic , central banks are concerned over increasing inflation,
talent flight as more people leaving formal jobs, digital marketing is dominated by two big players Facebook and Google, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of All Pain, no Gain? Why Adopting Sales Force Automation Tools is Insufficient for Performance Improvement
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in All Pain, no Gain? Why Adopting Sales Force Automation Tools is Insufficient for Performance Improvement case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Sfa Sales, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Sfa Sales 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 All Pain, no Gain? Why Adopting Sales Force Automation Tools is Insufficient for Performance Improvement can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in All Pain, no Gain? Why Adopting Sales Force Automation Tools is Insufficient for Performance Improvement case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Sfa Sales
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 Sfa Sales
Strengths All Pain, no Gain? Why Adopting Sales Force Automation Tools is Insufficient for Performance Improvement | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Sfa Sales in All Pain, no Gain? Why Adopting Sales Force Automation Tools is Insufficient for Performance Improvement Harvard Business Review case study are -
Innovation driven organization
– Sfa Sales is one of the most innovative firm in sector. Manager in All Pain, no Gain? Why Adopting Sales Force Automation Tools is Insufficient for Performance Improvement Harvard Business Review case study can use Clayton Christensen Disruptive Innovation strategies to further increase the scale of innovtions in the organization.
Learning organization
- Sfa Sales 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 Sfa Sales is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders in All Pain, no Gain? Why Adopting Sales Force Automation Tools is Insufficient for Performance Improvement Harvard Business Review case study emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
Operational resilience
– The operational resilience strategy in the All Pain, no Gain? Why Adopting Sales Force Automation Tools is Insufficient for Performance Improvement Harvard Business Review case study comprises – understanding the underlying the factors in the industry, building diversified operations across different geographies so that disruption in one part of the world doesn’t impact the overall performance of the firm, and integrating the various business operations and processes through its digital transformation drive.
Training and development
– Sfa Sales has one of the best training and development program in the industry. The effectiveness of the training programs can be measured in All Pain, no Gain? Why Adopting Sales Force Automation Tools is Insufficient for Performance Improvement 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.
Ability to lead change in Sales & Marketing field
– Sfa Sales 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 Sfa Sales in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.
Strong track record of project management
– Sfa Sales is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.
Organizational Resilience of Sfa Sales
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing that Sfa Sales does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Sales & Marketing industry
– All Pain, no Gain? Why Adopting Sales Force Automation Tools is Insufficient for Performance Improvement firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Sfa Sales to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Sales & Marketing industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Sfa Sales to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Cross disciplinary teams
– Horizontal connected teams at the Sfa Sales 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.
Ability to recruit top talent
– Sfa Sales is one of the leading recruiters in the industry. Managers in the All Pain, no Gain? Why Adopting Sales Force Automation Tools is Insufficient for Performance Improvement are in a position to attract the best talent available. The firm has a robust talent identification program that helps in identifying the brightest.
Diverse revenue streams
– Sfa Sales is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided firm in All Pain, no Gain? Why Adopting Sales Force Automation Tools is Insufficient for Performance Improvement 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.
Analytics focus
– Sfa Sales 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 Ronald Jelinek 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.
Weaknesses All Pain, no Gain? Why Adopting Sales Force Automation Tools is Insufficient for Performance Improvement | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of All Pain, no Gain? Why Adopting Sales Force Automation Tools is Insufficient for Performance Improvement are -
Interest costs
– Compare to the competition, Sfa Sales 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 operating costs
– Compare to the competitors, firm in the HBR case study All Pain, no Gain? Why Adopting Sales Force Automation Tools is Insufficient for Performance Improvement has high operating costs in the. This can be harder to sustain given the new emerging competition from nimble players who are using technology to attract Sfa Sales 's lucrative customers.
Ability to respond to the competition
– As the decision making is very deliberative, highlighted in the case study All Pain, no Gain? Why Adopting Sales Force Automation Tools is Insufficient for Performance Improvement, in the dynamic environment Sfa Sales has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. Sfa Sales 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, Ronald Jelinek suggests that, Sfa Sales 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.
Capital Spending Reduction
– Even during the low interest decade, Sfa Sales 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.
Slow decision making process
– As mentioned earlier in the report, Sfa Sales 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. Sfa Sales 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.
Skills based hiring
– The stress on hiring functional specialists at Sfa Sales 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.
Compensation and incentives
– The revenue per employee as mentioned in the HBR case study All Pain, no Gain? Why Adopting Sales Force Automation Tools is Insufficient for Performance Improvement, is just above the industry average. Sfa Sales 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.
Slow to strategic competitive environment developments
– As All Pain, no Gain? Why Adopting Sales Force Automation Tools is Insufficient for Performance Improvement HBR case study mentions - Sfa Sales 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.
Lack of clear differentiation of Sfa Sales products
– To increase the profitability and margins on the products, Sfa Sales needs to provide more differentiated products than what it is currently offering in the marketplace.
High cash cycle compare to competitors
Sfa Sales 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.
Opportunities All Pain, no Gain? Why Adopting Sales Force Automation Tools is Insufficient for Performance Improvement | 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 All Pain, no Gain? Why Adopting Sales Force Automation Tools is Insufficient for Performance Improvement are -
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. Sfa Sales can tie-up with other value chain partners to explore new opportunities regarding meeting customer demands and building a rewarding and engaging relationship.
Use of Bitcoin and other crypto currencies for transactions
– The popularity of Bitcoin and other crypto currencies as asset class and medium of transaction has opened new opportunities for Sfa Sales in the consumer business. Now Sfa Sales can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.
Buying journey improvements
– Sfa Sales can improve the customer journey of consumers in the industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. All Pain, no Gain? Why Adopting Sales Force Automation Tools is Insufficient for Performance Improvement 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.
Building a culture of innovation
– managers at Sfa Sales 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. Sfa Sales 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. Sfa Sales 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.
Reforming the budgeting process
- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects Sfa Sales can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.
Learning at scale
– Online learning technologies has now opened space for Sfa Sales 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.
Developing new processes and practices
– Sfa Sales 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.
Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities
– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Sfa Sales 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 Sfa Sales to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– Sfa Sales 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 All Pain, no Gain? Why Adopting Sales Force Automation Tools is Insufficient for Performance Improvement - to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Sfa Sales to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
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. Sfa Sales can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.
Leveraging digital technologies
– Sfa Sales 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.
Lowering marketing communication costs
– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Sfa Sales 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 All Pain, no Gain? Why Adopting Sales Force Automation Tools is Insufficient for Performance Improvement External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study All Pain, no Gain? Why Adopting Sales Force Automation Tools is Insufficient for Performance Improvement are -
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, as highlighted in case study All Pain, no Gain? Why Adopting Sales Force Automation Tools is Insufficient for Performance Improvement, Sfa Sales 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. Sfa Sales needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Sales & Marketing industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Sfa Sales 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.
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. Sfa Sales can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
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. Sfa Sales 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.
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Sfa Sales 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 All Pain, no Gain? Why Adopting Sales Force Automation Tools is Insufficient for Performance Improvement .
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Sfa Sales in the Sales & Marketing industry. The Sales & Marketing industry is already at various protected from local competition in China, with the rise of trade war the protection levels may go up. This presents a clear threat of current business model in Chinese market.
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Sfa Sales has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Sales & Marketing industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Sfa Sales 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.
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 Sfa Sales.
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.
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.
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 Sfa Sales business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
Increasing wage structure of Sfa Sales
– 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 Sfa Sales.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of All Pain, no Gain? Why Adopting Sales Force Automation Tools is Insufficient for Performance Improvement 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 All Pain, no Gain? Why Adopting Sales Force Automation Tools is Insufficient for Performance Improvement 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 All Pain, no Gain? Why Adopting Sales Force Automation Tools is Insufficient for Performance Improvement 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 All Pain, no Gain? Why Adopting Sales Force Automation Tools is Insufficient for Performance Improvement 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 All Pain, no Gain? Why Adopting Sales Force Automation Tools is Insufficient for Performance Improvement 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 Sfa Sales needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.
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