Corporate Positioning: How to Assess--and Build--A Company's Reputation SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Sales & Marketing
Strategy / MBA Resources
Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of Corporate Positioning: How to Assess--and Build--A Company's Reputation
Provides a framework for assessing and enhancing an organization's reputation. Points out two dimensions of a corporate image--visibility and credibility. Discusses several critical issues that must be addressed in building an image. Finally, provides an assessment of how well various marketing tactics build visibility and credibility. Based on observations of corporate positioning issues in five industries: management consulting, public accounting, computer hardware, computer software, and systems integration.
Swot Analysis of "Corporate Positioning: How to Assess--and Build--A Company's Reputation" written by Thomas J. Kosnik includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Credibility Visibility facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Corporate Positioning: How to Assess--and Build--A Company's Reputation case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Communication, Competitive strategy, Managing people, Public relations and Sales & Marketing.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Corporate Positioning: How to Assess--and Build--A Company's Reputation casestudy better are - – cloud computing is disrupting traditional business models, central banks are concerned over increasing inflation, supply chains are disrupted by pandemic , customer relationship management is fast transforming because of increasing concerns over data privacy, there is backlash against globalization, banking and financial system is disrupted by Bitcoin and other crypto currencies, talent flight as more people leaving formal jobs,
increasing government debt because of Covid-19 spendings, geopolitical disruptions, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Corporate Positioning: How to Assess--and Build--A Company's Reputation
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Corporate Positioning: How to Assess--and Build--A Company's Reputation case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Credibility Visibility, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Credibility Visibility 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 Corporate Positioning: How to Assess--and Build--A Company's Reputation can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Corporate Positioning: How to Assess--and Build--A Company's Reputation case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Credibility Visibility
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 Credibility Visibility
Strengths Corporate Positioning: How to Assess--and Build--A Company's Reputation | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Credibility Visibility in Corporate Positioning: How to Assess--and Build--A Company's Reputation Harvard Business Review case study are -
Diverse revenue streams
– Credibility Visibility is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided firm in Corporate Positioning: How to Assess--and Build--A Company's Reputation 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.
Superior customer experience
– The customer experience strategy of Credibility Visibility 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
– Credibility Visibility 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 switching costs
– The high switching costs that Credibility Visibility 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.
Organizational Resilience of Credibility Visibility
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing that Credibility Visibility does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
Effective Research and Development (R&D)
– Credibility Visibility 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 Corporate Positioning: How to Assess--and Build--A Company's Reputation - 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
- Credibility Visibility 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 Credibility Visibility is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders in Corporate Positioning: How to Assess--and Build--A Company's Reputation Harvard Business Review case study emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Sales & Marketing industry
– Corporate Positioning: How to Assess--and Build--A Company's Reputation firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Credibility Visibility to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Sales & Marketing industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Credibility Visibility to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Ability to lead change in Sales & Marketing field
– Credibility Visibility 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 Credibility Visibility in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.
Ability to recruit top talent
– Credibility Visibility is one of the leading recruiters in the industry. Managers in the Corporate Positioning: How to Assess--and Build--A Company's Reputation are in a position to attract the best talent available. The firm has a robust talent identification program that helps in identifying the brightest.
Analytics focus
– Credibility Visibility 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 Thomas J. Kosnik 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 Credibility Visibility in the sector have low bargaining power. Corporate Positioning: How to Assess--and Build--A Company's Reputation has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Credibility Visibility to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
Weaknesses Corporate Positioning: How to Assess--and Build--A Company's Reputation | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Corporate Positioning: How to Assess--and Build--A Company's Reputation are -
Aligning sales with marketing
– It come across in the case study Corporate Positioning: How to Assess--and Build--A Company's Reputation 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 Corporate Positioning: How to Assess--and Build--A Company's Reputation can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Credibility Visibility is planning to shift buying processes online.
Skills based hiring
– The stress on hiring functional specialists at Credibility Visibility 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.
High dependence on star products
– The top 2 products and services of the firm as mentioned in the Corporate Positioning: How to Assess--and Build--A Company's Reputation 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 Credibility Visibility has relatively successful track record of launching new products.
Slow decision making process
– As mentioned earlier in the report, Credibility Visibility 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. Credibility Visibility 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.
Ability to respond to the competition
– As the decision making is very deliberative, highlighted in the case study Corporate Positioning: How to Assess--and Build--A Company's Reputation, in the dynamic environment Credibility Visibility has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. Credibility Visibility has reasonably good record with similar level competitors but it has struggled with new entrants taking away niches of its business.
Capital Spending Reduction
– Even during the low interest decade, Credibility Visibility 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.
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 Credibility Visibility supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes mentioned in the HBR case study - Corporate Positioning: How to Assess--and Build--A Company's Reputation, it is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left Credibility Visibility vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.
Increasing silos among functional specialists
– The organizational structure of Credibility Visibility is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Sales & Marketing segment. Credibility Visibility needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Credibility Visibility to focus more on services rather than just following the product oriented approach.
Need for greater diversity
– Credibility Visibility 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 Corporate Positioning: How to Assess--and Build--A Company's Reputation, it seems that the employees of Credibility Visibility 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.
High operating costs
– Compare to the competitors, firm in the HBR case study Corporate Positioning: How to Assess--and Build--A Company's Reputation 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 Credibility Visibility 's lucrative customers.
Opportunities Corporate Positioning: How to Assess--and Build--A Company's Reputation | 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 Corporate Positioning: How to Assess--and Build--A Company's Reputation are -
Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains
– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Credibility Visibility 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, Corporate Positioning: How to Assess--and Build--A Company's Reputation, to buy more products closer to the markets, and it can leverage its size and influence to get better deal from the local markets.
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. Credibility Visibility can tie-up with other value chain partners to explore new opportunities regarding meeting customer demands and building a rewarding and engaging relationship.
Buying journey improvements
– Credibility Visibility can improve the customer journey of consumers in the industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. Corporate Positioning: How to Assess--and Build--A Company's Reputation 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.
Manufacturing automation
– Credibility Visibility 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.
Redefining models of collaboration and team work
– As explained in the weaknesses section, Credibility Visibility is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. Corporate Positioning: How to Assess--and Build--A Company's Reputation 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.
Low interest rates
– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Credibility Visibility 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.
Developing new processes and practices
– Credibility Visibility 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.
Lowering marketing communication costs
– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Credibility Visibility in the field of marketing communication. It will bring down the cost of doing business, provide technology platform to build new products in the Sales & Marketing segment, and it will provide faster access to the consumers.
Learning at scale
– Online learning technologies has now opened space for Credibility Visibility 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.
Better consumer reach
– The expansion of the 5G network will help Credibility Visibility to increase its market reach. Credibility Visibility 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.
Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities
– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Credibility Visibility 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 Credibility Visibility to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Credibility Visibility has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Credibility Visibility to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the Corporate Positioning: How to Assess--and Build--A Company's Reputation case study. Credibility Visibility can build new products and services such as - data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, 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 Credibility Visibility in the consumer business. Now Credibility Visibility can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.
Threats Corporate Positioning: How to Assess--and Build--A Company's Reputation External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Corporate Positioning: How to Assess--and Build--A Company's Reputation are -
Consumer confidence and its impact on Credibility Visibility 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.
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. Credibility Visibility 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.
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 Credibility Visibility.
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Credibility Visibility 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.
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 Credibility Visibility business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
High dependence on third party suppliers
– Credibility Visibility 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
– Credibility Visibility 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.
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, as highlighted in case study Corporate Positioning: How to Assess--and Build--A Company's Reputation, Credibility Visibility 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 .
Environmental challenges
– Credibility Visibility 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. Credibility Visibility can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Sales & Marketing industry.
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Credibility Visibility 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.
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 Credibility Visibility in the Sales & Marketing sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
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.
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. Credibility Visibility can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Corporate Positioning: How to Assess--and Build--A Company's Reputation 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 Corporate Positioning: How to Assess--and Build--A Company's Reputation 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 Corporate Positioning: How to Assess--and Build--A Company's Reputation 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 Corporate Positioning: How to Assess--and Build--A Company's Reputation 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 Corporate Positioning: How to Assess--and Build--A Company's Reputation 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 Credibility Visibility needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.