Functional Integration: Getting All the Troops to Work Together, Spanish Version SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Sales & Marketing
Strategy / MBA Resources
Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of Functional Integration: Getting All the Troops to Work Together, Spanish Version
Explains the need for functional integration and the four ways to obtain it. A bibliography is provided. The note is managerial rather than scholarly in tone.
Swot Analysis of "Functional Integration: Getting All the Troops to Work Together, Spanish Version" written by Benson P. Shapiro includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Functional Integration facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Functional Integration: Getting All the Troops to Work Together, Spanish Version case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Conflict, Organizational culture, Organizational structure and Sales & Marketing.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Functional Integration: Getting All the Troops to Work Together, Spanish Version casestudy better are - – banking and financial system is disrupted by Bitcoin and other crypto currencies, cloud computing is disrupting traditional business models, increasing transportation and logistics costs, increasing inequality as vast percentage of new income is going to the top 1%, technology disruption, digital marketing is dominated by two big players Facebook and Google, there is increasing trade war between United States & China,
wage bills are increasing, central banks are concerned over increasing inflation, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Functional Integration: Getting All the Troops to Work Together, Spanish Version
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Functional Integration: Getting All the Troops to Work Together, Spanish Version case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Functional Integration, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Functional Integration 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 Functional Integration: Getting All the Troops to Work Together, Spanish Version can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Functional Integration: Getting All the Troops to Work Together, Spanish Version case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Functional Integration
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 Functional Integration
Strengths Functional Integration: Getting All the Troops to Work Together, Spanish Version | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Functional Integration in Functional Integration: Getting All the Troops to Work Together, Spanish Version Harvard Business Review case study are -
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of Functional Integration in the sector have low bargaining power. Functional Integration: Getting All the Troops to Work Together, Spanish Version has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Functional Integration to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
Diverse revenue streams
– Functional Integration is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided firm in Functional Integration: Getting All the Troops to Work Together, Spanish Version 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.
Organizational Resilience of Functional Integration
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing that Functional Integration does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
Highly skilled collaborators
– Functional Integration 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 Functional Integration: Getting All the Troops to Work Together, Spanish Version 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 Functional Integration in the segment is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.
Strong track record of project management
– Functional Integration 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
– Functional Integration has one of the best training and development program in the industry. The effectiveness of the training programs can be measured in Functional Integration: Getting All the Troops to Work Together, Spanish Version 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)
– Functional Integration 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 Functional Integration: Getting All the Troops to Work Together, Spanish Version - staying ahead in the industry in terms of – new product launches, superior customer experience, highly competitive pricing strategies, and great returns to the shareholders.
Analytics focus
– Functional Integration 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 Benson P. Shapiro 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.
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Sales & Marketing industry
– Functional Integration: Getting All the Troops to Work Together, Spanish Version firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Functional Integration to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Sales & Marketing industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Functional Integration to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Successful track record of launching new products
– Functional Integration has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Functional Integration 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.
Innovation driven organization
– Functional Integration is one of the most innovative firm in sector. Manager in Functional Integration: Getting All the Troops to Work Together, Spanish Version Harvard Business Review case study can use Clayton Christensen Disruptive Innovation strategies to further increase the scale of innovtions in the organization.
Weaknesses Functional Integration: Getting All the Troops to Work Together, Spanish Version | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Functional Integration: Getting All the Troops to Work Together, Spanish Version are -
High bargaining power of channel partners
– Because of the regulatory requirements, Benson P. Shapiro suggests that, Functional Integration is facing high bargaining power of the channel partners. So far it has not able to streamline the operations to reduce the bargaining power of the value chain partners in the industry.
High dependence on star products
– The top 2 products and services of the firm as mentioned in the Functional Integration: Getting All the Troops to Work Together, Spanish Version 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 Functional Integration has relatively successful track record of launching new products.
Skills based hiring
– The stress on hiring functional specialists at Functional Integration has created an environment where the organization is dominated by functional specialists rather than management generalist. This has resulted into product oriented approach rather than marketing oriented approach or consumers oriented approach.
Increasing silos among functional specialists
– The organizational structure of Functional Integration is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Sales & Marketing segment. Functional Integration needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Functional Integration to focus more on services rather than just following the product oriented approach.
Need for greater diversity
– Functional Integration has taken concrete steps on diversity, equity, and inclusion. But the efforts so far has resulted in limited success. It needs to expand the recruitment and selection process to hire more people from the minorities and underprivileged background.
Employees’ incomplete understanding of strategy
– From the instances in the HBR case study Functional Integration: Getting All the Troops to Work Together, Spanish Version, it seems that the employees of Functional Integration 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.
Workers concerns about automation
– As automation is fast increasing in the segment, Functional Integration 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.
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 Functional Integration supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes mentioned in the HBR case study - Functional Integration: Getting All the Troops to Work Together, Spanish Version, it is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left Functional Integration vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.
High operating costs
– Compare to the competitors, firm in the HBR case study Functional Integration: Getting All the Troops to Work Together, Spanish Version 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 Functional Integration 's lucrative customers.
Lack of clear differentiation of Functional Integration products
– To increase the profitability and margins on the products, Functional Integration needs to provide more differentiated products than what it is currently offering in the marketplace.
Interest costs
– Compare to the competition, Functional Integration 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 Functional Integration: Getting All the Troops to Work Together, Spanish Version | 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 Functional Integration: Getting All the Troops to Work Together, Spanish Version are -
Low interest rates
– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Functional Integration 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.
Lowering marketing communication costs
– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Functional Integration 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.
Building a culture of innovation
– managers at Functional Integration 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.
Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities
– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Functional Integration 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 Functional Integration to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains
– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Functional Integration can build a diversified supply chain model across various countries in - South East Asia, India, and other parts of the world. This reconfiguration of global supply chain can help, as suggested in case study, Functional Integration: Getting All the Troops to Work Together, Spanish Version, to buy more products closer to the markets, and it can leverage its size and influence to get better deal from the local markets.
Developing new processes and practices
– Functional Integration 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.
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. Functional Integration can tie-up with other value chain partners to explore new opportunities regarding meeting customer demands and building a rewarding and engaging relationship.
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Functional Integration has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Functional Integration to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the Functional Integration: Getting All the Troops to Work Together, Spanish Version case study. Functional Integration can build new products and services such as - data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, 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. Functional Integration 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. Functional Integration 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.
Manufacturing automation
– Functional Integration 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.
Reforming the budgeting process
- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects Functional Integration can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.
Learning at scale
– Online learning technologies has now opened space for Functional Integration 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.
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 Functional Integration in the consumer business. Now Functional Integration can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.
Threats Functional Integration: Getting All the Troops to Work Together, Spanish Version External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Functional Integration: Getting All the Troops to Work Together, Spanish Version are -
Regulatory challenges
– Functional Integration 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 Functional Integration with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the sector.
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, as highlighted in case study Functional Integration: Getting All the Troops to Work Together, Spanish Version, Functional Integration 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 .
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Functional Integration 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 Functional Integration: Getting All the Troops to Work Together, Spanish Version .
Environmental challenges
– Functional Integration 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. Functional Integration can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Sales & Marketing industry.
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 Functional Integration in the Sales & Marketing sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
Increasing wage structure of Functional Integration
– 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 Functional Integration.
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 Functional Integration.
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Functional Integration has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Sales & Marketing industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Functional Integration 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.
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 Functional Integration business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Functional Integration 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.
Consumer confidence and its impact on Functional Integration 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.
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.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Functional Integration: Getting All the Troops to Work Together, Spanish Version 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 Functional Integration: Getting All the Troops to Work Together, Spanish Version 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 Functional Integration: Getting All the Troops to Work Together, Spanish Version 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 Functional Integration: Getting All the Troops to Work Together, Spanish Version 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 Functional Integration: Getting All the Troops to Work Together, Spanish Version 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 Functional Integration needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.