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First to Market, First to Fail? Real Causes of Enduring Market Leadership SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis

Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution

Case Study Description of First to Market, First to Fail? Real Causes of Enduring Market Leadership


This is an MIT Sloan Management Review article. Managers and entrepreneurs frequently adhere to the motto of being first to market. But the authors have discovered that many pioneers fail, while most current leaders are not pioneers. Using a historical method, the authors try to determine why pioneers fail and early leaders succeed. They have found that market leaders embody five factors critical to success: vision, persistence, commitment, innovation, and asset leverage.

Authors :: Gerard J. Tellis, Pn Golder

Topics :: Sales & Marketing

Tags :: Marketing, SWOT Analysis, SWOT Matrix, TOWS, Weighted SWOT Analysis

Swot Analysis of "First to Market, First to Fail? Real Causes of Enduring Market Leadership" written by Gerard J. Tellis, Pn Golder includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Pioneers Fail facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in First to Market, First to Fail? Real Causes of Enduring Market Leadership case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Marketing and Sales & Marketing.


Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the First to Market, First to Fail? Real Causes of Enduring Market Leadership casestudy better are - – technology disruption, talent flight as more people leaving formal jobs, customer relationship management is fast transforming because of increasing concerns over data privacy, increasing government debt because of Covid-19 spendings, wage bills are increasing, supply chains are disrupted by pandemic , banking and financial system is disrupted by Bitcoin and other crypto currencies, increasing transportation and logistics costs, central banks are concerned over increasing inflation, etc



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Introduction to SWOT Analysis of First to Market, First to Fail? Real Causes of Enduring Market Leadership


SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in First to Market, First to Fail? Real Causes of Enduring Market Leadership case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Pioneers Fail, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Pioneers Fail 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 First to Market, First to Fail? Real Causes of Enduring Market Leadership can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in First to Market, First to Fail? Real Causes of Enduring Market Leadership case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Pioneers Fail
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 Pioneers Fail




Strengths First to Market, First to Fail? Real Causes of Enduring Market Leadership | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis

The strengths of Pioneers Fail in First to Market, First to Fail? Real Causes of Enduring Market Leadership Harvard Business Review case study are -

Ability to recruit top talent

– Pioneers Fail is one of the leading recruiters in the industry. Managers in the First to Market, First to Fail? Real Causes of Enduring Market Leadership are in a position to attract the best talent available. The firm has a robust talent identification program that helps in identifying the brightest.

Strong track record of project management

– Pioneers Fail is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.

High brand equity

– Pioneers Fail has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Pioneers Fail to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.

Highly skilled collaborators

– Pioneers Fail 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 First to Market, First to Fail? Real Causes of Enduring Market Leadership HBR case study have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.

Effective Research and Development (R&D)

– Pioneers Fail 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 First to Market, First to Fail? Real Causes of Enduring Market Leadership - staying ahead in the industry in terms of – new product launches, superior customer experience, highly competitive pricing strategies, and great returns to the shareholders.

Learning organization

- Pioneers Fail 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 Pioneers Fail is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders in First to Market, First to Fail? Real Causes of Enduring Market Leadership Harvard Business Review case study emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.

Analytics focus

– Pioneers Fail 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 Gerard J. Tellis, Pn Golder 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.

Operational resilience

– The operational resilience strategy in the First to Market, First to Fail? Real Causes of Enduring Market Leadership 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.

Successful track record of launching new products

– Pioneers Fail has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Pioneers Fail 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.

Organizational Resilience of Pioneers Fail

– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing that Pioneers Fail does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.

Diverse revenue streams

– Pioneers Fail is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided firm in First to Market, First to Fail? Real Causes of Enduring Market Leadership 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.

Training and development

– Pioneers Fail has one of the best training and development program in the industry. The effectiveness of the training programs can be measured in First to Market, First to Fail? Real Causes of Enduring Market Leadership 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 First to Market, First to Fail? Real Causes of Enduring Market Leadership | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis

The weaknesses of First to Market, First to Fail? Real Causes of Enduring Market Leadership are -

Slow decision making process

– As mentioned earlier in the report, Pioneers Fail 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. Pioneers Fail 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.

Products dominated business model

– Even though Pioneers Fail 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 - First to Market, First to Fail? Real Causes of Enduring Market Leadership should strive to include more intangible value offerings along with its core products and services.

High operating costs

– Compare to the competitors, firm in the HBR case study First to Market, First to Fail? Real Causes of Enduring Market Leadership 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 Pioneers Fail 's lucrative customers.

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 Pioneers Fail supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes mentioned in the HBR case study - First to Market, First to Fail? Real Causes of Enduring Market Leadership, it is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left Pioneers Fail vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.

Increasing silos among functional specialists

– The organizational structure of Pioneers Fail is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Sales & Marketing segment. Pioneers Fail needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Pioneers Fail to focus more on services rather than just following the product oriented approach.

High cash cycle compare to competitors

Pioneers Fail 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.

Employees’ incomplete understanding of strategy

– From the instances in the HBR case study First to Market, First to Fail? Real Causes of Enduring Market Leadership, it seems that the employees of Pioneers Fail don’t have comprehensive understanding of the firm’s strategy. This is reflected in number of promotional campaigns over the last few years that had mixed messaging and competing priorities. Some of the strategic activities and services promoted in the promotional campaigns were not consistent with the organization’s strategy.

Low market penetration in new markets

– Outside its home market of Pioneers Fail, firm in the HBR case study First to Market, First to Fail? Real Causes of Enduring Market Leadership needs to spend more promotional, marketing, and advertising efforts to penetrate international markets.

Lack of clear differentiation of Pioneers Fail products

– To increase the profitability and margins on the products, Pioneers Fail needs to provide more differentiated products than what it is currently offering in the marketplace.

Workers concerns about automation

– As automation is fast increasing in the segment, Pioneers Fail 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.

Interest costs

– Compare to the competition, Pioneers Fail 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.




Opportunities First to Market, First to Fail? Real Causes of Enduring Market Leadership | 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 First to Market, First to Fail? Real Causes of Enduring Market Leadership 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 Pioneers Fail in the consumer business. Now Pioneers Fail can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.

Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities

– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Pioneers Fail 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 Pioneers Fail to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.

Increase in government spending

– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Pioneers Fail can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Pioneers Fail operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Sales & Marketing sector.

Better consumer reach

– The expansion of the 5G network will help Pioneers Fail to increase its market reach. Pioneers Fail 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.

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. Pioneers Fail can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.

Using analytics as competitive advantage

– Pioneers Fail 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 First to Market, First to Fail? Real Causes of Enduring Market Leadership - to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Pioneers Fail to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.

Lowering marketing communication costs

– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Pioneers Fail 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.

Loyalty marketing

– Pioneers Fail 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.

Manufacturing automation

– Pioneers Fail 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.

Learning at scale

– Online learning technologies has now opened space for Pioneers Fail 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.

Building a culture of innovation

– managers at Pioneers Fail 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.

Reforming the budgeting process

- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects Pioneers Fail can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.

Low interest rates

– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Pioneers Fail can still utilize the low interest rates to borrow money for capital investment. Secondly it can also use the increase of government spending in infrastructure projects to get new business.




Threats First to Market, First to Fail? Real Causes of Enduring Market Leadership External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis


The threats mentioned in the HBR case study First to Market, First to Fail? Real Causes of Enduring Market Leadership are -

Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution

– Pioneers Fail has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Sales & Marketing industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Pioneers Fail 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.

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. Pioneers Fail can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.

Regulatory challenges

– Pioneers Fail 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.

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. Pioneers Fail 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 Pioneers Fail 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.

Stagnating economy with rate increase

– Pioneers Fail 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.

Shortening product life cycle

– it is one of the major threat that Pioneers Fail is facing in Sales & Marketing sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.

High dependence on third party suppliers

– Pioneers Fail 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.

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.

Barriers of entry lowering

– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry in the industry are lowering. It can presents Pioneers Fail with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the sector.

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. Pioneers Fail needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Sales & Marketing industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.

Environmental challenges

– Pioneers Fail 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. Pioneers Fail can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Sales & Marketing industry.

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 Pioneers Fail business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.




Weighted SWOT Analysis of First to Market, First to Fail? Real Causes of Enduring Market Leadership 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 First to Market, First to Fail? Real Causes of Enduring Market Leadership 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 First to Market, First to Fail? Real Causes of Enduring Market Leadership 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 First to Market, First to Fail? Real Causes of Enduring Market Leadership 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 First to Market, First to Fail? Real Causes of Enduring Market Leadership 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 Pioneers Fail needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.



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