Fidelity Incorporated: Pricing the Fidelity Blue Chip Growth Fund SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Sales & Marketing
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Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of Fidelity Incorporated: Pricing the Fidelity Blue Chip Growth Fund
This is a Darden case study.This case presents an application of conjoint analysis in a financial services setting. It is best used in a course on marketing research. The decision in the case centers on a fund manager's need to generate additional profit from a mutual fund. To do this, he needs to determine a new pricing structure for the fund. The case presents students with the results from a real-world conjoint analysis and requires them to work through the pricing and profit implications of that analysis.
Swot Analysis of "Fidelity Incorporated: Pricing the Fidelity Blue Chip Growth Fund" written by Ronald T Wilcox includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Fund Fidelity facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Fidelity Incorporated: Pricing the Fidelity Blue Chip Growth Fund case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Pricing and Sales & Marketing.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Fidelity Incorporated: Pricing the Fidelity Blue Chip Growth Fund casestudy better are - – cloud computing is disrupting traditional business models, increasing energy prices, central banks are concerned over increasing inflation, increasing household debt because of falling income levels, supply chains are disrupted by pandemic , challanges to central banks by blockchain based private currencies, there is backlash against globalization,
increasing commodity prices, digital marketing is dominated by two big players Facebook and Google, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Fidelity Incorporated: Pricing the Fidelity Blue Chip Growth Fund
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Fidelity Incorporated: Pricing the Fidelity Blue Chip Growth Fund case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Fund Fidelity, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Fund Fidelity 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 Fidelity Incorporated: Pricing the Fidelity Blue Chip Growth Fund can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Fidelity Incorporated: Pricing the Fidelity Blue Chip Growth Fund case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Fund Fidelity
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 Fund Fidelity
Strengths Fidelity Incorporated: Pricing the Fidelity Blue Chip Growth Fund | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Fund Fidelity in Fidelity Incorporated: Pricing the Fidelity Blue Chip Growth Fund Harvard Business Review case study are -
Ability to lead change in Sales & Marketing field
– Fund Fidelity 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 Fund Fidelity in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.
High brand equity
– Fund Fidelity has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Fund Fidelity to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Superior customer experience
– The customer experience strategy of Fund Fidelity in the segment is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.
Successful track record of launching new products
– Fund Fidelity has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Fund Fidelity 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
- Fund Fidelity 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 Fund Fidelity is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders in Fidelity Incorporated: Pricing the Fidelity Blue Chip Growth Fund Harvard Business Review case study emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
Strong track record of project management
– Fund Fidelity is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.
Effective Research and Development (R&D)
– Fund Fidelity 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 Fidelity Incorporated: Pricing the Fidelity Blue Chip Growth Fund - staying ahead in the industry in terms of – new product launches, superior customer experience, highly competitive pricing strategies, and great returns to the shareholders.
Digital Transformation in Sales & Marketing segment
- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For Fund Fidelity digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Fund Fidelity 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.
Highly skilled collaborators
– Fund Fidelity 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 Fidelity Incorporated: Pricing the Fidelity Blue Chip Growth Fund HBR case study have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
Organizational Resilience of Fund Fidelity
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing that Fund Fidelity does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Sales & Marketing industry
– Fidelity Incorporated: Pricing the Fidelity Blue Chip Growth Fund firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Fund Fidelity to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Sales & Marketing industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Fund Fidelity to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Operational resilience
– The operational resilience strategy in the Fidelity Incorporated: Pricing the Fidelity Blue Chip Growth Fund 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.
Weaknesses Fidelity Incorporated: Pricing the Fidelity Blue Chip Growth Fund | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Fidelity Incorporated: Pricing the Fidelity Blue Chip Growth Fund are -
No frontier risks strategy
– After analyzing the HBR case study Fidelity Incorporated: Pricing the Fidelity Blue Chip Growth Fund, 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.
Compensation and incentives
– The revenue per employee as mentioned in the HBR case study Fidelity Incorporated: Pricing the Fidelity Blue Chip Growth Fund, is just above the industry average. Fund Fidelity 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 Fidelity Incorporated: Pricing the Fidelity Blue Chip Growth Fund, in the dynamic environment Fund Fidelity has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. Fund Fidelity has reasonably good record with similar level competitors but it has struggled with new entrants taking away niches of its business.
Workers concerns about automation
– As automation is fast increasing in the segment, Fund Fidelity 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 operating costs
– Compare to the competitors, firm in the HBR case study Fidelity Incorporated: Pricing the Fidelity Blue Chip Growth Fund 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 Fund Fidelity 's lucrative customers.
Need for greater diversity
– Fund Fidelity 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 Fidelity Incorporated: Pricing the Fidelity Blue Chip Growth Fund, it seems that the employees of Fund Fidelity 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 star products
– The top 2 products and services of the firm as mentioned in the Fidelity Incorporated: Pricing the Fidelity Blue Chip Growth Fund 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 Fund Fidelity has relatively successful track record of launching new products.
Slow to strategic competitive environment developments
– As Fidelity Incorporated: Pricing the Fidelity Blue Chip Growth Fund HBR case study mentions - Fund Fidelity 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.
Capital Spending Reduction
– Even during the low interest decade, Fund Fidelity 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 Fund Fidelity supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes mentioned in the HBR case study - Fidelity Incorporated: Pricing the Fidelity Blue Chip Growth Fund, it is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left Fund Fidelity vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.
Opportunities Fidelity Incorporated: Pricing the Fidelity Blue Chip Growth Fund | 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 Fidelity Incorporated: Pricing the Fidelity Blue Chip Growth Fund are -
Developing new processes and practices
– Fund Fidelity 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.
Buying journey improvements
– Fund Fidelity can improve the customer journey of consumers in the industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. Fidelity Incorporated: Pricing the Fidelity Blue Chip Growth Fund 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.
Learning at scale
– Online learning technologies has now opened space for Fund Fidelity 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
– Fund Fidelity 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.
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Fund Fidelity has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Fund Fidelity to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the Fidelity Incorporated: Pricing the Fidelity Blue Chip Growth Fund case study. Fund Fidelity can build new products and services such as - data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, 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, Fund Fidelity can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Fund Fidelity operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Sales & Marketing sector.
Lowering marketing communication costs
– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Fund Fidelity 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.
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 Fund Fidelity 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.
Building a culture of innovation
– managers at Fund Fidelity 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.
Loyalty marketing
– Fund Fidelity 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.
Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains
– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Fund Fidelity 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, Fidelity Incorporated: Pricing the Fidelity Blue Chip Growth Fund, to buy more products closer to the markets, and it can leverage its size and influence to get better deal from the local markets.
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. Fund Fidelity can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.
Redefining models of collaboration and team work
– As explained in the weaknesses section, Fund Fidelity is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. Fidelity Incorporated: Pricing the Fidelity Blue Chip Growth Fund 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.
Threats Fidelity Incorporated: Pricing the Fidelity Blue Chip Growth Fund External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Fidelity Incorporated: Pricing the Fidelity Blue Chip Growth Fund are -
Consumer confidence and its impact on Fund Fidelity 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.
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Fund Fidelity is facing in Sales & Marketing sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, 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.
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, as highlighted in case study Fidelity Incorporated: Pricing the Fidelity Blue Chip Growth Fund, Fund Fidelity 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
– Fund Fidelity 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. Fund Fidelity can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Sales & Marketing industry.
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 Fund Fidelity.
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Fund Fidelity 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 Fidelity Incorporated: Pricing the Fidelity Blue Chip Growth Fund .
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Fund Fidelity 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.
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.
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. Fund Fidelity 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.
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Fund Fidelity has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Sales & Marketing industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Fund Fidelity 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.
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 Fund Fidelity in the Sales & Marketing sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
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. Fund Fidelity needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Sales & Marketing industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Fidelity Incorporated: Pricing the Fidelity Blue Chip Growth Fund 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 Fidelity Incorporated: Pricing the Fidelity Blue Chip Growth Fund 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 Fidelity Incorporated: Pricing the Fidelity Blue Chip Growth Fund 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 Fidelity Incorporated: Pricing the Fidelity Blue Chip Growth Fund 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 Fidelity Incorporated: Pricing the Fidelity Blue Chip Growth Fund 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 Fund Fidelity needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.