Red Force Labs: Securing Online Transactions, at What Price? SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Sales & Marketing
Strategy / MBA Resources
Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of Red Force Labs: Securing Online Transactions, at What Price?
The market for security solutions is highly fragmented with no dominant players in the market. Yash finds himself in a situation in which the Indian banking industry is just about waking up to the emerging threats of cyber security. In order to communicate the value that his products create, he will need to identify the value drivers in the banking space, calibrate this value, and come up with a pricing plan that can effectively capture this value. He will also need to make a plan to roll out his product, part of which involves identifying partners who will help make the commercialization a success.
Swot Analysis of "Red Force Labs: Securing Online Transactions, at What Price?" written by Sreelata Jonnalagedda includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Security Yash facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Red Force Labs: Securing Online Transactions, at What Price? case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, IT, Marketing, Pricing and Sales & Marketing.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Red Force Labs: Securing Online Transactions, at What Price? casestudy better are - – central banks are concerned over increasing inflation, increasing energy prices, technology disruption, increasing commodity prices, challanges to central banks by blockchain based private currencies, increasing transportation and logistics costs, customer relationship management is fast transforming because of increasing concerns over data privacy,
cloud computing is disrupting traditional business models, wage bills are increasing, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Red Force Labs: Securing Online Transactions, at What Price?
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Red Force Labs: Securing Online Transactions, at What Price? case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Security Yash, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Security Yash 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 Red Force Labs: Securing Online Transactions, at What Price? can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Red Force Labs: Securing Online Transactions, at What Price? case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Security Yash
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 Security Yash
Strengths Red Force Labs: Securing Online Transactions, at What Price? | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Security Yash in Red Force Labs: Securing Online Transactions, at What Price? Harvard Business Review case study are -
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of Security Yash in the sector have low bargaining power. Red Force Labs: Securing Online Transactions, at What Price? has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Security Yash to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
Organizational Resilience of Security Yash
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing that Security Yash does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
High brand equity
– Security Yash has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Security Yash to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Successful track record of launching new products
– Security Yash has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Security Yash 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
– Security Yash is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided firm in Red Force Labs: Securing Online Transactions, at What Price? case study a diverse revenue stream that has helped it to survive disruptions such as global pandemic in Covid-19, financial disruption of 2008, and supply chain disruption of 2021.
Strong track record of project management
– Security Yash 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 Security Yash 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
– Security Yash is one of the leading recruiters in the industry. Managers in the Red Force Labs: Securing Online Transactions, at What Price? are in a position to attract the best talent available. The firm has a robust talent identification program that helps in identifying the brightest.
Highly skilled collaborators
– Security Yash 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 Red Force Labs: Securing Online Transactions, at What Price? HBR case study have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
Superior customer experience
– The customer experience strategy of Security Yash in the segment is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.
Innovation driven organization
– Security Yash is one of the most innovative firm in sector. Manager in Red Force Labs: Securing Online Transactions, at What Price? Harvard Business Review case study can use Clayton Christensen Disruptive Innovation strategies to further increase the scale of innovtions in the organization.
Training and development
– Security Yash has one of the best training and development program in the industry. The effectiveness of the training programs can be measured in Red Force Labs: Securing Online Transactions, at What Price? 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.
Weaknesses Red Force Labs: Securing Online Transactions, at What Price? | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Red Force Labs: Securing Online Transactions, at What Price? are -
Slow to strategic competitive environment developments
– As Red Force Labs: Securing Online Transactions, at What Price? HBR case study mentions - Security Yash takes time to assess the upcoming competitions. This has led to missing out on atleast 2-3 big opportunities in the industry in last five years.
Ability to respond to the competition
– As the decision making is very deliberative, highlighted in the case study Red Force Labs: Securing Online Transactions, at What Price?, in the dynamic environment Security Yash has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. Security Yash 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 Red Force Labs: Securing Online Transactions, at What Price?, is just above the industry average. Security Yash 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.
Workers concerns about automation
– As automation is fast increasing in the segment, Security Yash 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.
Increasing silos among functional specialists
– The organizational structure of Security Yash is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Sales & Marketing segment. Security Yash needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Security Yash to focus more on services rather than just following the product oriented approach.
Slow decision making process
– As mentioned earlier in the report, Security Yash 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. Security Yash 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 operating costs
– Compare to the competitors, firm in the HBR case study Red Force Labs: Securing Online Transactions, at What Price? 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 Security Yash 's lucrative customers.
Slow to harness new channels of communication
– Even though competitors are using new communication channels such as Instagram, Tiktok, and Snap, Security Yash is slow explore the new channels of communication. These new channels of communication mentioned in marketing section of case study Red Force Labs: Securing Online Transactions, at What Price? can help to provide better information regarding products and services. It can also build an online community to further reach out to potential customers.
Lack of clear differentiation of Security Yash products
– To increase the profitability and margins on the products, Security Yash needs to provide more differentiated products than what it is currently offering in the marketplace.
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 Security Yash supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes mentioned in the HBR case study - Red Force Labs: Securing Online Transactions, at What Price?, it is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left Security Yash vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.
Aligning sales with marketing
– It come across in the case study Red Force Labs: Securing Online Transactions, at What Price? 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 Red Force Labs: Securing Online Transactions, at What Price? can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Security Yash is planning to shift buying processes online.
Opportunities Red Force Labs: Securing Online Transactions, at What Price? | 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 Red Force Labs: Securing Online Transactions, at What Price? are -
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 Security Yash in the consumer business. Now Security Yash can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.
Lowering marketing communication costs
– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Security Yash 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.
Learning at scale
– Online learning technologies has now opened space for Security Yash 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.
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Security Yash has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Security Yash to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the Red Force Labs: Securing Online Transactions, at What Price? case study. Security Yash can build new products and services such as - data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
Loyalty marketing
– Security Yash 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
– Security Yash 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 Red Force Labs: Securing Online Transactions, at What Price? - to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Security Yash to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
Reforming the budgeting process
- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects Security Yash can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.
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. Security Yash can tie-up with other value chain partners to explore new opportunities regarding meeting customer demands and building a rewarding and engaging relationship.
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. Security Yash 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. Security Yash 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.
Buying journey improvements
– Security Yash can improve the customer journey of consumers in the industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. Red Force Labs: Securing Online Transactions, at What Price? 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.
Reconfiguring business model
– The expansion of digital payment system, the bringing down of international transactions costs using Bitcoin and other blockchain based currencies, etc can help Security Yash to reconfigure its entire business model. For example it can used blockchain based technologies to reduce piracy of its products in the big markets such as China. Secondly it can use the popularity of e-commerce in various developing markets to build a Direct to Customer business model rather than the current Channel Heavy distribution network.
Redefining models of collaboration and team work
– As explained in the weaknesses section, Security Yash is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. Red Force Labs: Securing Online Transactions, at What Price? 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.
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. Security Yash can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.
Threats Red Force Labs: Securing Online Transactions, at What Price? External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Red Force Labs: Securing Online Transactions, at What Price? are -
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.
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 Security Yash in the Sales & Marketing sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
Environmental challenges
– Security Yash 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. Security Yash can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Sales & Marketing industry.
Increasing wage structure of Security Yash
– 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 Security Yash.
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 Security Yash business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
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. Security Yash 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
– Security Yash 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.
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Security Yash is facing in Sales & Marketing sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Security Yash 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 Red Force Labs: Securing Online Transactions, at What Price? .
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. Security Yash 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.
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Security Yash 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.
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 Security Yash.
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. Security Yash needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Sales & Marketing industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Red Force Labs: Securing Online Transactions, at What Price? 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 Red Force Labs: Securing Online Transactions, at What Price? 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 Red Force Labs: Securing Online Transactions, at What Price? 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 Red Force Labs: Securing Online Transactions, at What Price? 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 Red Force Labs: Securing Online Transactions, at What Price? 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 Security Yash needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.
