Bridge the Gap Between Strategy and Tactics with the Magic Matrix SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Sales & Marketing
Strategy / MBA Resources
Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of Bridge the Gap Between Strategy and Tactics with the Magic Matrix
Describes the Magic Matrix, which is both a chart and a process that enables executives to manage their product/service lines, and market segments and accounts simultaneously. The Magic Matrix has proven to be a powerful planning and analysis tool for such processes as sales forecasting, profitability analysis, and resource allocation. Explains, in detail, various forms of the Magic Matrix and how they can be used in a wide variety of management processes.
Swot Analysis of "Bridge the Gap Between Strategy and Tactics with the Magic Matrix" written by Benson P. Shapiro, Jonathan Byrnes includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Magic Matrix facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Bridge the Gap Between Strategy and Tactics with the Magic Matrix case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Forecasting, Marketing, Strategic planning and Sales & Marketing.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Bridge the Gap Between Strategy and Tactics with the Magic Matrix casestudy better are - – there is increasing trade war between United States & China, competitive advantages are harder to sustain because of technology dispersion, increasing transportation and logistics costs, supply chains are disrupted by pandemic , talent flight as more people leaving formal jobs, 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,
increasing household debt because of falling income levels, increasing commodity prices, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Bridge the Gap Between Strategy and Tactics with the Magic Matrix
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Bridge the Gap Between Strategy and Tactics with the Magic Matrix case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Magic Matrix, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Magic Matrix 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 Bridge the Gap Between Strategy and Tactics with the Magic Matrix can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Bridge the Gap Between Strategy and Tactics with the Magic Matrix case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Magic Matrix
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 Magic Matrix
Strengths Bridge the Gap Between Strategy and Tactics with the Magic Matrix | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Magic Matrix in Bridge the Gap Between Strategy and Tactics with the Magic Matrix Harvard Business Review case study are -
Innovation driven organization
– Magic Matrix is one of the most innovative firm in sector. Manager in Bridge the Gap Between Strategy and Tactics with the Magic Matrix Harvard Business Review case study can use Clayton Christensen Disruptive Innovation strategies to further increase the scale of innovtions in the organization.
High brand equity
– Magic Matrix has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Magic Matrix to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Cross disciplinary teams
– Horizontal connected teams at the Magic Matrix 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.
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of Magic Matrix in the sector have low bargaining power. Bridge the Gap Between Strategy and Tactics with the Magic Matrix has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Magic Matrix to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
Ability to lead change in Sales & Marketing field
– Magic Matrix 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 Magic Matrix in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.
Diverse revenue streams
– Magic Matrix is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided firm in Bridge the Gap Between Strategy and Tactics with the Magic Matrix 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
– Magic Matrix is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.
Training and development
– Magic Matrix has one of the best training and development program in the industry. The effectiveness of the training programs can be measured in Bridge the Gap Between Strategy and Tactics with the Magic Matrix 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.
Effective Research and Development (R&D)
– Magic Matrix 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 Bridge the Gap Between Strategy and Tactics with the Magic Matrix - 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 switching costs
– The high switching costs that Magic Matrix 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.
Highly skilled collaborators
– Magic Matrix 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 Bridge the Gap Between Strategy and Tactics with the Magic Matrix HBR case study have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
Ability to recruit top talent
– Magic Matrix is one of the leading recruiters in the industry. Managers in the Bridge the Gap Between Strategy and Tactics with the Magic Matrix are in a position to attract the best talent available. The firm has a robust talent identification program that helps in identifying the brightest.
Weaknesses Bridge the Gap Between Strategy and Tactics with the Magic Matrix | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Bridge the Gap Between Strategy and Tactics with the Magic Matrix are -
High dependence on star products
– The top 2 products and services of the firm as mentioned in the Bridge the Gap Between Strategy and Tactics with the Magic Matrix HBR case study still accounts for major business revenue. This dependence on star products in has resulted into insufficient focus on developing new products, even though Magic Matrix has relatively successful track record of launching new products.
Lack of clear differentiation of Magic Matrix products
– To increase the profitability and margins on the products, Magic Matrix needs to provide more differentiated products than what it is currently offering in the marketplace.
Slow to strategic competitive environment developments
– As Bridge the Gap Between Strategy and Tactics with the Magic Matrix HBR case study mentions - Magic Matrix 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.
Aligning sales with marketing
– It come across in the case study Bridge the Gap Between Strategy and Tactics with the Magic Matrix 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 Bridge the Gap Between Strategy and Tactics with the Magic Matrix can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Magic Matrix is planning to shift buying processes online.
Slow decision making process
– As mentioned earlier in the report, Magic Matrix 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. Magic Matrix 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.
Compensation and incentives
– The revenue per employee as mentioned in the HBR case study Bridge the Gap Between Strategy and Tactics with the Magic Matrix, is just above the industry average. Magic Matrix 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.
Capital Spending Reduction
– Even during the low interest decade, Magic Matrix 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.
Low market penetration in new markets
– Outside its home market of Magic Matrix, firm in the HBR case study Bridge the Gap Between Strategy and Tactics with the Magic Matrix needs to spend more promotional, marketing, and advertising efforts to penetrate international markets.
Increasing silos among functional specialists
– The organizational structure of Magic Matrix is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Sales & Marketing segment. Magic Matrix needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Magic Matrix 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 Bridge the Gap Between Strategy and Tactics with the Magic Matrix, in the dynamic environment Magic Matrix has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. Magic Matrix has reasonably good record with similar level competitors but it has struggled with new entrants taking away niches of its business.
High cash cycle compare to competitors
Magic Matrix 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 Bridge the Gap Between Strategy and Tactics with the Magic Matrix | 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 Bridge the Gap Between Strategy and Tactics with the Magic Matrix are -
Lowering marketing communication costs
– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Magic Matrix 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.
Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities
– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Magic Matrix 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 Magic Matrix to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
Manufacturing automation
– Magic Matrix 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.
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 Magic Matrix 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.
Better consumer reach
– The expansion of the 5G network will help Magic Matrix to increase its market reach. Magic Matrix 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.
Redefining models of collaboration and team work
– As explained in the weaknesses section, Magic Matrix is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. Bridge the Gap Between Strategy and Tactics with the Magic Matrix 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.
Loyalty marketing
– Magic Matrix 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.
Buying journey improvements
– Magic Matrix can improve the customer journey of consumers in the industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. Bridge the Gap Between Strategy and Tactics with the Magic Matrix 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.
Developing new processes and practices
– Magic Matrix 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.
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 Magic Matrix in the consumer business. Now Magic Matrix can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.
Leveraging digital technologies
– Magic Matrix can leverage digital technologies such as artificial intelligence and machine learning to automate the production process, customer analytics to get better insights into consumer behavior, realtime digital dashboards to get better sales tracking, logistics and transportation, product tracking, etc.
Changes in consumer behavior post Covid-19
– Consumer behavior has changed in the Sales & Marketing industry because of Covid-19 restrictions. Some of this behavior will stay once things get back to normal. Magic Matrix 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. Magic Matrix 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.
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. Magic Matrix can tie-up with other value chain partners to explore new opportunities regarding meeting customer demands and building a rewarding and engaging relationship.
Threats Bridge the Gap Between Strategy and Tactics with the Magic Matrix External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Bridge the Gap Between Strategy and Tactics with the Magic Matrix are -
High dependence on third party suppliers
– Magic Matrix 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.
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. Magic Matrix needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Sales & Marketing industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
Increasing wage structure of Magic Matrix
– 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 Magic Matrix.
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 Magic Matrix.
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Magic Matrix has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Sales & Marketing industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Magic Matrix 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.
Consumer confidence and its impact on Magic Matrix 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.
Regulatory challenges
– Magic Matrix 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.
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry in the industry are lowering. It can presents Magic Matrix with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the sector.
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. Magic Matrix 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.
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 Magic Matrix in the Sales & Marketing sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
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 Magic Matrix business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Magic Matrix 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.
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, as highlighted in case study Bridge the Gap Between Strategy and Tactics with the Magic Matrix, Magic Matrix 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 .
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Bridge the Gap Between Strategy and Tactics with the Magic Matrix 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 Bridge the Gap Between Strategy and Tactics with the Magic Matrix 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 Bridge the Gap Between Strategy and Tactics with the Magic Matrix 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 Bridge the Gap Between Strategy and Tactics with the Magic Matrix 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 Bridge the Gap Between Strategy and Tactics with the Magic Matrix 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 Magic Matrix needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.
