Case Study Description of Eureka Forbes Ltd.: Managing the Selling Effort (A)
The CEO of EFL (India), a direct sales organization, must decide which changes to the sales compensation systems would better motivate his sales reps and improve their sales performance.
Swot Analysis of "Eureka Forbes Ltd.: Managing the Selling Effort (A)" written by Das Narayandas, Kerry Herman includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Sales Efl facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Eureka Forbes Ltd.: Managing the Selling Effort (A) case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Costs, Sales and Sales & Marketing.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Eureka Forbes Ltd.: Managing the Selling Effort (A) casestudy better are - – increasing commodity prices, increasing energy prices, 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, there is backlash against globalization, central banks are concerned over increasing inflation, customer relationship management is fast transforming because of increasing concerns over data privacy,
supply chains are disrupted by pandemic , increasing government debt because of Covid-19 spendings, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Eureka Forbes Ltd.: Managing the Selling Effort (A)
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Eureka Forbes Ltd.: Managing the Selling Effort (A) case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Sales Efl, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Sales Efl 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 Eureka Forbes Ltd.: Managing the Selling Effort (A) can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Eureka Forbes Ltd.: Managing the Selling Effort (A) case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Sales Efl
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 Sales Efl
Strengths Eureka Forbes Ltd.: Managing the Selling Effort (A) | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Sales Efl in Eureka Forbes Ltd.: Managing the Selling Effort (A) Harvard Business Review case study are -
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Sales & Marketing industry
– Eureka Forbes Ltd.: Managing the Selling Effort (A) firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Sales Efl to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Sales & Marketing industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Sales Efl to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Learning organization
- Sales Efl 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 Sales Efl is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders in Eureka Forbes Ltd.: Managing the Selling Effort (A) Harvard Business Review case study emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
Ability to recruit top talent
– Sales Efl is one of the leading recruiters in the industry. Managers in the Eureka Forbes Ltd.: Managing the Selling Effort (A) are in a position to attract the best talent available. The firm has a robust talent identification program that helps in identifying the brightest.
Training and development
– Sales Efl has one of the best training and development program in the industry. The effectiveness of the training programs can be measured in Eureka Forbes Ltd.: Managing the Selling Effort (A) 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.
Superior customer experience
– The customer experience strategy of Sales Efl in the segment is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.
Operational resilience
– The operational resilience strategy in the Eureka Forbes Ltd.: Managing the Selling Effort (A) 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.
High switching costs
– The high switching costs that Sales Efl has built up over years in its products and services combo offer has resulted in high retention of customers, lower marketing costs, and greater ability of the firm to focus on its customers.
Highly skilled collaborators
– Sales Efl 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 Eureka Forbes Ltd.: Managing the Selling Effort (A) HBR case study have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of Sales Efl in the sector have low bargaining power. Eureka Forbes Ltd.: Managing the Selling Effort (A) has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Sales Efl to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
Innovation driven organization
– Sales Efl is one of the most innovative firm in sector. Manager in Eureka Forbes Ltd.: Managing the Selling Effort (A) Harvard Business Review case study can use Clayton Christensen Disruptive Innovation strategies to further increase the scale of innovtions in the organization.
Diverse revenue streams
– Sales Efl is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided firm in Eureka Forbes Ltd.: Managing the Selling Effort (A) 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.
Digital Transformation in Sales & Marketing segment
- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For Sales Efl digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Sales Efl 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.
Weaknesses Eureka Forbes Ltd.: Managing the Selling Effort (A) | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Eureka Forbes Ltd.: Managing the Selling Effort (A) are -
Slow decision making process
– As mentioned earlier in the report, Sales Efl 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. Sales Efl 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 Eureka Forbes Ltd.: Managing the Selling Effort (A), in the dynamic environment Sales Efl has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. Sales Efl has reasonably good record with similar level competitors but it has struggled with new entrants taking away niches of its business.
High operating costs
– Compare to the competitors, firm in the HBR case study Eureka Forbes Ltd.: Managing the Selling Effort (A) 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 Sales Efl 's lucrative customers.
Products dominated business model
– Even though Sales Efl 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 - Eureka Forbes Ltd.: Managing the Selling Effort (A) should strive to include more intangible value offerings along with its core products and services.
Compensation and incentives
– The revenue per employee as mentioned in the HBR case study Eureka Forbes Ltd.: Managing the Selling Effort (A), is just above the industry average. Sales Efl 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.
Employees’ incomplete understanding of strategy
– From the instances in the HBR case study Eureka Forbes Ltd.: Managing the Selling Effort (A), it seems that the employees of Sales Efl 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 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 Sales Efl supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes mentioned in the HBR case study - Eureka Forbes Ltd.: Managing the Selling Effort (A), it is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left Sales Efl vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.
No frontier risks strategy
– After analyzing the HBR case study Eureka Forbes Ltd.: Managing the Selling Effort (A), 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.
Workers concerns about automation
– As automation is fast increasing in the segment, Sales Efl 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.
Slow to strategic competitive environment developments
– As Eureka Forbes Ltd.: Managing the Selling Effort (A) HBR case study mentions - Sales Efl takes time to assess the upcoming competitions. This has led to missing out on atleast 2-3 big opportunities in the industry in last five years.
Skills based hiring
– The stress on hiring functional specialists at Sales Efl 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.
Opportunities Eureka Forbes Ltd.: Managing the Selling Effort (A) | 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 Eureka Forbes Ltd.: Managing the Selling Effort (A) 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 Sales Efl in the consumer business. Now Sales Efl can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.
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. Sales Efl can tie-up with other value chain partners to explore new opportunities regarding meeting customer demands and building a rewarding and engaging relationship.
Building a culture of innovation
– managers at Sales Efl 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.
Reconfiguring business model
– The expansion of digital payment system, the bringing down of international transactions costs using Bitcoin and other blockchain based currencies, etc can help Sales Efl to reconfigure its entire business model. For example it can used blockchain based technologies to reduce piracy of its products in the big markets such as China. Secondly it can use the popularity of e-commerce in various developing markets to build a Direct to Customer business model rather than the current Channel Heavy distribution network.
Lowering marketing communication costs
– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Sales Efl 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.
Leveraging digital technologies
– Sales Efl can leverage digital technologies such as artificial intelligence and machine learning to automate the production process, customer analytics to get better insights into consumer behavior, realtime digital dashboards to get better sales tracking, logistics and transportation, product tracking, etc.
Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains
– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Sales Efl 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, Eureka Forbes Ltd.: Managing the Selling Effort (A), to buy more products closer to the markets, and it can leverage its size and influence to get better deal from the local markets.
Buying journey improvements
– Sales Efl can improve the customer journey of consumers in the industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. Eureka Forbes Ltd.: Managing the Selling Effort (A) 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.
Loyalty marketing
– Sales Efl 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.
Increase in government spending
– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Sales Efl can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Sales Efl 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 Sales Efl 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.
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Sales Efl has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Sales Efl to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the Eureka Forbes Ltd.: Managing the Selling Effort (A) case study. Sales Efl can build new products and services such as - data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
Reforming the budgeting process
- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects Sales Efl can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.
Threats Eureka Forbes Ltd.: Managing the Selling Effort (A) External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Eureka Forbes Ltd.: Managing the Selling Effort (A) are -
Environmental challenges
– Sales Efl 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. Sales Efl 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 Sales Efl in the Sales & Marketing sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
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.
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Sales Efl is facing in Sales & Marketing sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, as highlighted in case study Eureka Forbes Ltd.: Managing the Selling Effort (A), Sales Efl 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 .
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Sales Efl 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.
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. Sales Efl can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
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 Sales Efl.
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Sales Efl 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.
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Sales Efl 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 Eureka Forbes Ltd.: Managing the Selling Effort (A) .
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Sales Efl has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Sales & Marketing industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Sales Efl needs to keep up with the evolution of technology in the Sales & Marketing sector. According to Mckinsey study top managers believe that the adoption of technology in operations, communications is 20-25 times faster than what they planned in the beginning of 2019.
Consumer confidence and its impact on Sales Efl 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.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Eureka Forbes Ltd.: Managing the Selling Effort (A) 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 Eureka Forbes Ltd.: Managing the Selling Effort (A) 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 Eureka Forbes Ltd.: Managing the Selling Effort (A) 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 Eureka Forbes Ltd.: Managing the Selling Effort (A) 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 Eureka Forbes Ltd.: Managing the Selling Effort (A) 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 Sales Efl needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.