Case Study Description of Beating Recession Fatigue Requires Right Diagnosis
In periods of reduced consumption, like now, managers may be anxious to kick their "turnaround plan" into high gear. But before prescribing any wonder remedy, it's vital to make a correct diagnosis, otherwise you may be administering placebos. Using research from the food industry in the United States, the author attempts to expand the scope of marketingmix modeling beyond the typical actions resorted to by top management, whose desperate life-saving attempts may register a small blip for a time, but won't bring about a lasting cure. Product promotions and temporary price reductions, for example, may be better antidotes than launching an invasive advertising campaign, no matter how good an idea it may seem at the time. You first have to decide which state your brand is in - stable, growing or deteriorating - and make different interventions accordingly. Ask yourself: What is it about my value-proposition as a brand that is going to help me through this difficult time? The answer to that question will depend on the brand: price concessions, "share of voice" or selective promotions that price discriminate. Throughout the treatment, maintaining good databases, and using social media and other Web-based tools, are vital instruments that companies can use to refine their practices. With a deep understanding of their place in the market, and by taking the right actions, established brands can survive the crisis and emerge healthier for the future.
Swot Analysis of "Beating Recession Fatigue Requires Right Diagnosis" written by Dominique M. Hanssens includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Diagnosis Vital facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Beating Recession Fatigue Requires Right Diagnosis case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Marketing, Pricing and Sales & Marketing.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Beating Recession Fatigue Requires Right Diagnosis casestudy better are - – increasing household debt because of falling income levels, increasing government debt because of Covid-19 spendings, cloud computing is disrupting traditional business models, talent flight as more people leaving formal jobs, increasing inequality as vast percentage of new income is going to the top 1%, increasing commodity prices, there is increasing trade war between United States & China,
there is backlash against globalization, technology disruption, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Beating Recession Fatigue Requires Right Diagnosis
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Beating Recession Fatigue Requires Right Diagnosis case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Diagnosis Vital, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Diagnosis Vital 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 Beating Recession Fatigue Requires Right Diagnosis can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Beating Recession Fatigue Requires Right Diagnosis case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Diagnosis Vital
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 Diagnosis Vital
Strengths Beating Recession Fatigue Requires Right Diagnosis | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Diagnosis Vital in Beating Recession Fatigue Requires Right Diagnosis Harvard Business Review case study are -
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of Diagnosis Vital in the sector have low bargaining power. Beating Recession Fatigue Requires Right Diagnosis has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Diagnosis Vital to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
Learning organization
- Diagnosis Vital 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 Diagnosis Vital is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders in Beating Recession Fatigue Requires Right Diagnosis Harvard Business Review case study emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
Digital Transformation in Sales & Marketing segment
- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For Diagnosis Vital digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Diagnosis Vital 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.
Organizational Resilience of Diagnosis Vital
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing that Diagnosis Vital does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
Analytics focus
– Diagnosis Vital 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 Dominique M. Hanssens can also help it to harness the power of analytics for – marketing optimization, demand forecasting, customer relationship management, inventory management, information sharing across the value chain etc.
Operational resilience
– The operational resilience strategy in the Beating Recession Fatigue Requires Right Diagnosis 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 brand equity
– Diagnosis Vital has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Diagnosis Vital to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Innovation driven organization
– Diagnosis Vital is one of the most innovative firm in sector. Manager in Beating Recession Fatigue Requires Right Diagnosis 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
– Diagnosis Vital has one of the best training and development program in the industry. The effectiveness of the training programs can be measured in Beating Recession Fatigue Requires Right Diagnosis 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.
Ability to recruit top talent
– Diagnosis Vital is one of the leading recruiters in the industry. Managers in the Beating Recession Fatigue Requires Right Diagnosis are in a position to attract the best talent available. The firm has a robust talent identification program that helps in identifying the brightest.
Effective Research and Development (R&D)
– Diagnosis Vital 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 Beating Recession Fatigue Requires Right Diagnosis - staying ahead in the industry in terms of – new product launches, superior customer experience, highly competitive pricing strategies, and great returns to the shareholders.
Cross disciplinary teams
– Horizontal connected teams at the Diagnosis Vital are driving operational speed, building greater agility, and keeping the organization nimble to compete with new competitors. It helps are organization to ideate new ideas, and execute them swiftly in the marketplace.
Weaknesses Beating Recession Fatigue Requires Right Diagnosis | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Beating Recession Fatigue Requires Right Diagnosis are -
Compensation and incentives
– The revenue per employee as mentioned in the HBR case study Beating Recession Fatigue Requires Right Diagnosis, is just above the industry average. Diagnosis Vital 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.
Ability to respond to the competition
– As the decision making is very deliberative, highlighted in the case study Beating Recession Fatigue Requires Right Diagnosis, in the dynamic environment Diagnosis Vital has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. Diagnosis Vital 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 Beating Recession Fatigue Requires Right Diagnosis 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 Diagnosis Vital 's lucrative customers.
High dependence on star products
– The top 2 products and services of the firm as mentioned in the Beating Recession Fatigue Requires Right Diagnosis 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 Diagnosis Vital has relatively successful track record of launching new products.
Skills based hiring
– The stress on hiring functional specialists at Diagnosis Vital 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 Diagnosis Vital is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Sales & Marketing segment. Diagnosis Vital needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Diagnosis Vital to focus more on services rather than just following the product oriented approach.
Workers concerns about automation
– As automation is fast increasing in the segment, Diagnosis Vital 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 cash cycle compare to competitors
Diagnosis Vital has a high cash cycle compare to other players in the industry. It needs to shorten the cash cycle by 12% to be more competitive in the marketplace, reduce inventory costs, and be more profitable.
Employees’ incomplete understanding of strategy
– From the instances in the HBR case study Beating Recession Fatigue Requires Right Diagnosis, it seems that the employees of Diagnosis Vital 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.
Products dominated business model
– Even though Diagnosis Vital 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 - Beating Recession Fatigue Requires Right Diagnosis should strive to include more intangible value offerings along with its core products and services.
Slow decision making process
– As mentioned earlier in the report, Diagnosis Vital 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. Diagnosis Vital 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.
Opportunities Beating Recession Fatigue Requires Right Diagnosis | 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 Beating Recession Fatigue Requires Right Diagnosis are -
Buying journey improvements
– Diagnosis Vital can improve the customer journey of consumers in the industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. Beating Recession Fatigue Requires Right Diagnosis 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.
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. Diagnosis Vital 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. Diagnosis Vital 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.
Redefining models of collaboration and team work
– As explained in the weaknesses section, Diagnosis Vital is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. Beating Recession Fatigue Requires Right Diagnosis 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.
Lowering marketing communication costs
– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Diagnosis Vital 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.
Reforming the budgeting process
- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects Diagnosis Vital can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.
Developing new processes and practices
– Diagnosis Vital 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.
Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities
– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Diagnosis Vital 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 Diagnosis Vital to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– Diagnosis Vital 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 Beating Recession Fatigue Requires Right Diagnosis - to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Diagnosis Vital to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
Increase in government spending
– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Diagnosis Vital can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Diagnosis Vital operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Sales & Marketing sector.
Building a culture of innovation
– managers at Diagnosis Vital 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.
Low interest rates
– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Diagnosis Vital 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.
Learning at scale
– Online learning technologies has now opened space for Diagnosis Vital 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.
Manufacturing automation
– Diagnosis Vital 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.
Threats Beating Recession Fatigue Requires Right Diagnosis External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Beating Recession Fatigue Requires Right Diagnosis are -
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Diagnosis Vital 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 Diagnosis Vital business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Diagnosis Vital 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.
Environmental challenges
– Diagnosis Vital 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. Diagnosis Vital can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Sales & Marketing industry.
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.
Regulatory challenges
– Diagnosis Vital 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.
Consumer confidence and its impact on Diagnosis Vital 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.
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Diagnosis Vital 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 Beating Recession Fatigue Requires Right Diagnosis .
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, as highlighted in case study Beating Recession Fatigue Requires Right Diagnosis, Diagnosis Vital 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 wage structure of Diagnosis Vital
– 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 Diagnosis Vital.
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 Diagnosis Vital in the Sales & Marketing sector and impact the bottomline 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. Diagnosis Vital can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
High dependence on third party suppliers
– Diagnosis Vital 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.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Beating Recession Fatigue Requires Right Diagnosis 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 Beating Recession Fatigue Requires Right Diagnosis 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 Beating Recession Fatigue Requires Right Diagnosis 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 Beating Recession Fatigue Requires Right Diagnosis 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 Beating Recession Fatigue Requires Right Diagnosis 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 Diagnosis Vital needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.
