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Corporate Positioning: How to Assess--and Build--A Company's Reputation SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis

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.

Authors :: Thomas J. Kosnik

Topics :: Sales & Marketing

Tags :: Communication, Competitive strategy, Managing people, Public relations, SWOT Analysis, SWOT Matrix, TOWS, Weighted SWOT Analysis

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 - – increasing inequality as vast percentage of new income is going to the top 1%, banking and financial system is disrupted by Bitcoin and other crypto currencies, digital marketing is dominated by two big players Facebook and Google, cloud computing is disrupting traditional business models, increasing transportation and logistics costs, increasing household debt because of falling income levels, increasing government debt because of Covid-19 spendings, technology disruption, increasing energy prices, etc



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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 -

Successful track record of launching new products

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

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.

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.

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.

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.

Operational resilience

– The operational resilience strategy in the Corporate Positioning: How to Assess--and Build--A Company's Reputation 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.

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.

Digital Transformation in Sales & Marketing segment

- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For Credibility Visibility digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Credibility Visibility has successfully integrated the four key components of digital transformation – digital integration in processes, digital integration in marketing and customer relationship management, digital integration into the value chain, and using technology to explore new products and market opportunities.

Innovation driven organization

– Credibility Visibility is one of the most innovative firm in sector. Manager in Corporate Positioning: How to Assess--and Build--A Company's Reputation Harvard Business Review case study can use Clayton Christensen Disruptive Innovation strategies to further increase the scale of innovtions in the organization.

Training and development

– Credibility Visibility has one of the best training and development program in the industry. The effectiveness of the training programs can be measured in Corporate Positioning: How to Assess--and Build--A Company's Reputation 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.

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 -

No frontier risks strategy

– After analyzing the HBR case study Corporate Positioning: How to Assess--and Build--A Company's Reputation, it seems that company is thinking about the frontier risks that can impact Sales & Marketing strategy. But it has very little resources allocation to manage the risks emerging from events such as natural disasters, climate change, melting of permafrost, tacking the rise of artificial intelligence, opportunities and threats emerging from commercialization of space etc.

Products dominated business model

– Even though Credibility Visibility 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 - Corporate Positioning: How to Assess--and Build--A Company's Reputation should strive to include more intangible value offerings along with its core products and services.

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.

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.

Slow to harness new channels of communication

– Even though competitors are using new communication channels such as Instagram, Tiktok, and Snap, Credibility Visibility is slow explore the new channels of communication. These new channels of communication mentioned in marketing section of case study Corporate Positioning: How to Assess--and Build--A Company's Reputation can help to provide better information regarding products and services. It can also build an online community to further reach out to potential customers.

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.

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.

High bargaining power of channel partners

– Because of the regulatory requirements, Thomas J. Kosnik suggests that, Credibility Visibility 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.

Interest costs

– Compare to the competition, Credibility Visibility 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.

Compensation and incentives

– The revenue per employee as mentioned in the HBR case study Corporate Positioning: How to Assess--and Build--A Company's Reputation, is just above the industry average. Credibility Visibility 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.

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.




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 -

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.

Using analytics as competitive advantage

– Credibility Visibility 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 Corporate Positioning: How to Assess--and Build--A Company's Reputation - to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Credibility Visibility to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.

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.

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.

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. Credibility Visibility 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. Credibility Visibility 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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Increase in government spending

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

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.

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.

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. Credibility Visibility can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.




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 -

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.

Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins

– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Credibility Visibility 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 Corporate Positioning: How to Assess--and Build--A Company's Reputation .

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.

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.

Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution

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

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

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 .

Shortening product life cycle

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

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.

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 Credibility Visibility with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the sector.

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.




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.



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