If You Can't Beat Them, Let Them Join: The Development of Strategies to Foster Consumers' Co-Creative Practices SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
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Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of If You Can't Beat Them, Let Them Join: The Development of Strategies to Foster Consumers' Co-Creative Practices
Faced with the challenges of consumer resistance due to the separation of roles between producer and consumer, as well as overpowering marketing tools and techniques, a company can resolve the problem by letting consumers join in the process of value co-creation. Advocating the consumer-oriented perspective, this article explains how and why consumers co-create, which leads to the development of a typology of consumers' co-creative practices. Four interrelated categories (participation-for-self, creation-for-self, participation-for-others, creation-for-others) are illustrated with the proposed four Cs strategies-choice, complement, cause, and communality-to foster these different practices accordingly. From well-established to newly-developed, these consumer-oriented strategies work to enhance deeper consumer involvement yielding a possibility to attain continual and interconnected benefits for a company. However, implementation is based on a company's readiness and willingness to achieve different degrees of commitment. This article promotes collaborative efforts between consumers and companies, and highlights mutuality of benefits which leads to sustainable relationships.
Swot Analysis of "If You Can't Beat Them, Let Them Join: The Development of Strategies to Foster Consumers' Co-Creative Practices" written by Krittinee Nuttavuthisit includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Consumers Consumer facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in If You Can't Beat Them, Let Them Join: The Development of Strategies to Foster Consumers' Co-Creative Practices case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Customers and Sales & Marketing.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the If You Can't Beat Them, Let Them Join: The Development of Strategies to Foster Consumers' Co-Creative Practices casestudy better are - – there is backlash against globalization, central banks are concerned over increasing inflation, increasing energy prices, challanges to central banks by blockchain based private currencies, wage bills are increasing, talent flight as more people leaving formal jobs, increasing inequality as vast percentage of new income is going to the top 1%,
customer relationship management is fast transforming because of increasing concerns over data privacy, banking and financial system is disrupted by Bitcoin and other crypto currencies, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of If You Can't Beat Them, Let Them Join: The Development of Strategies to Foster Consumers' Co-Creative Practices
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in If You Can't Beat Them, Let Them Join: The Development of Strategies to Foster Consumers' Co-Creative Practices case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Consumers Consumer, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Consumers Consumer 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 If You Can't Beat Them, Let Them Join: The Development of Strategies to Foster Consumers' Co-Creative Practices can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in If You Can't Beat Them, Let Them Join: The Development of Strategies to Foster Consumers' Co-Creative Practices case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Consumers Consumer
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 Consumers Consumer
Strengths If You Can't Beat Them, Let Them Join: The Development of Strategies to Foster Consumers' Co-Creative Practices | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Consumers Consumer in If You Can't Beat Them, Let Them Join: The Development of Strategies to Foster Consumers' Co-Creative Practices Harvard Business Review case study are -
Cross disciplinary teams
– Horizontal connected teams at the Consumers Consumer 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.
High switching costs
– The high switching costs that Consumers Consumer 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.
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Sales & Marketing industry
– If You Can't Beat Them, Let Them Join: The Development of Strategies to Foster Consumers' Co-Creative Practices firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Consumers Consumer to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Sales & Marketing industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Consumers Consumer to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Analytics focus
– Consumers Consumer 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 Krittinee Nuttavuthisit 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.
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of Consumers Consumer in the sector have low bargaining power. If You Can't Beat Them, Let Them Join: The Development of Strategies to Foster Consumers' Co-Creative Practices has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Consumers Consumer to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
Innovation driven organization
– Consumers Consumer is one of the most innovative firm in sector. Manager in If You Can't Beat Them, Let Them Join: The Development of Strategies to Foster Consumers' Co-Creative Practices Harvard Business Review case study can use Clayton Christensen Disruptive Innovation strategies to further increase the scale of innovtions in the organization.
Strong track record of project management
– Consumers Consumer is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.
Diverse revenue streams
– Consumers Consumer is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided firm in If You Can't Beat Them, Let Them Join: The Development of Strategies to Foster Consumers' Co-Creative Practices 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.
Learning organization
- Consumers Consumer 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 Consumers Consumer is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders in If You Can't Beat Them, Let Them Join: The Development of Strategies to Foster Consumers' Co-Creative Practices Harvard Business Review case study emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
Highly skilled collaborators
– Consumers Consumer 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 If You Can't Beat Them, Let Them Join: The Development of Strategies to Foster Consumers' Co-Creative Practices 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 Consumers Consumer in the segment is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.
Organizational Resilience of Consumers Consumer
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing that Consumers Consumer does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
Weaknesses If You Can't Beat Them, Let Them Join: The Development of Strategies to Foster Consumers' Co-Creative Practices | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of If You Can't Beat Them, Let Them Join: The Development of Strategies to Foster Consumers' Co-Creative Practices are -
Slow to strategic competitive environment developments
– As If You Can't Beat Them, Let Them Join: The Development of Strategies to Foster Consumers' Co-Creative Practices HBR case study mentions - Consumers Consumer 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.
High cash cycle compare to competitors
Consumers Consumer 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.
Aligning sales with marketing
– It come across in the case study If You Can't Beat Them, Let Them Join: The Development of Strategies to Foster Consumers' Co-Creative Practices 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 If You Can't Beat Them, Let Them Join: The Development of Strategies to Foster Consumers' Co-Creative Practices can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Consumers Consumer is planning to shift buying processes online.
Products dominated business model
– Even though Consumers Consumer 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 - If You Can't Beat Them, Let Them Join: The Development of Strategies to Foster Consumers' Co-Creative Practices should strive to include more intangible value offerings along with its core products and services.
Increasing silos among functional specialists
– The organizational structure of Consumers Consumer is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Sales & Marketing segment. Consumers Consumer needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Consumers Consumer to focus more on services rather than just following the product oriented approach.
Ability to respond to the competition
– As the decision making is very deliberative, highlighted in the case study If You Can't Beat Them, Let Them Join: The Development of Strategies to Foster Consumers' Co-Creative Practices, in the dynamic environment Consumers Consumer has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. Consumers Consumer has reasonably good record with similar level competitors but it has struggled with new entrants taking away niches of its business.
High operating costs
– Compare to the competitors, firm in the HBR case study If You Can't Beat Them, Let Them Join: The Development of Strategies to Foster Consumers' Co-Creative Practices 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 Consumers Consumer 's lucrative customers.
Low market penetration in new markets
– Outside its home market of Consumers Consumer, firm in the HBR case study If You Can't Beat Them, Let Them Join: The Development of Strategies to Foster Consumers' Co-Creative Practices needs to spend more promotional, marketing, and advertising efforts to penetrate international markets.
Slow decision making process
– As mentioned earlier in the report, Consumers Consumer 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. Consumers Consumer 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.
No frontier risks strategy
– After analyzing the HBR case study If You Can't Beat Them, Let Them Join: The Development of Strategies to Foster Consumers' Co-Creative Practices, 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.
Lack of clear differentiation of Consumers Consumer products
– To increase the profitability and margins on the products, Consumers Consumer needs to provide more differentiated products than what it is currently offering in the marketplace.
Opportunities If You Can't Beat Them, Let Them Join: The Development of Strategies to Foster Consumers' Co-Creative Practices | 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 If You Can't Beat Them, Let Them Join: The Development of Strategies to Foster Consumers' Co-Creative Practices are -
Reforming the budgeting process
- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects Consumers Consumer can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.
Lowering marketing communication costs
– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Consumers Consumer 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.
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. Consumers Consumer can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.
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. Consumers Consumer 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. Consumers Consumer 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.
Better consumer reach
– The expansion of the 5G network will help Consumers Consumer to increase its market reach. Consumers Consumer will be able to reach out to new customers. Secondly 5G will also provide technology framework to build new tools and products that can help more immersive consumer experience and faster consumer journey.
Manufacturing automation
– Consumers Consumer 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.
Building a culture of innovation
– managers at Consumers Consumer 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.
Increase in government spending
– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Consumers Consumer can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Consumers Consumer operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Sales & Marketing sector.
Low interest rates
– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Consumers Consumer 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.
Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities
– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Consumers Consumer 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 Consumers Consumer to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
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. Consumers Consumer can tie-up with other value chain partners to explore new opportunities regarding meeting customer demands and building a rewarding and engaging relationship.
Leveraging digital technologies
– Consumers Consumer 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.
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 Consumers Consumer in the consumer business. Now Consumers Consumer can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.
Threats If You Can't Beat Them, Let Them Join: The Development of Strategies to Foster Consumers' Co-Creative Practices External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study If You Can't Beat Them, Let Them Join: The Development of Strategies to Foster Consumers' Co-Creative Practices are -
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Consumers Consumer 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 dependence on third party suppliers
– Consumers Consumer 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.
Regulatory challenges
– Consumers Consumer needs to prepare for regulatory challenges as consumer protection groups and other pressure groups are vigorously advocating for more regulations on big business - to reduce inequality, to create a level playing field, to product data privacy and consumer privacy, to reduce the influence of big money on democratic institutions, etc. This can lead to significant changes in the Sales & Marketing industry regulations.
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Consumers Consumer is facing in Sales & Marketing sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, as highlighted in case study If You Can't Beat Them, Let Them Join: The Development of Strategies to Foster Consumers' Co-Creative Practices, Consumers Consumer 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.
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. Consumers Consumer 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.
Consumer confidence and its impact on Consumers Consumer demand
– There is a high probability of declining consumer confidence, given – high inflammation rate, rise of gig economy, lower job stability, increasing cost of living, higher interest rates, and aging demography. All the factors contribute to people saving higher rate of their income, resulting in lower consumer demand in the industry and other sectors.
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. Consumers Consumer can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
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 Consumers Consumer business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Consumers Consumer 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 If You Can't Beat Them, Let Them Join: The Development of Strategies to Foster Consumers' Co-Creative Practices .
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.
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Consumers Consumer 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.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of If You Can't Beat Them, Let Them Join: The Development of Strategies to Foster Consumers' Co-Creative Practices 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 If You Can't Beat Them, Let Them Join: The Development of Strategies to Foster Consumers' Co-Creative Practices 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 If You Can't Beat Them, Let Them Join: The Development of Strategies to Foster Consumers' Co-Creative Practices 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 If You Can't Beat Them, Let Them Join: The Development of Strategies to Foster Consumers' Co-Creative Practices 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 If You Can't Beat Them, Let Them Join: The Development of Strategies to Foster Consumers' Co-Creative Practices 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 Consumers Consumer needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.
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