Business Models for Internet-Based E-Commerce, An Anatomy SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Strategy & Execution
Strategy / MBA Resources
Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of Business Models for Internet-Based E-Commerce, An Anatomy
The success of Internet-based businesses in the business-to-customer segment in recent years has been impressive. It is widely projected that the business-to-business segment is poised for a spectacular growth as well. However, a consistent definition and a framework for a business model for Internet-based business is still non-existent. This article proposes a three-dimensional framework for defining a business model and applies it to the emerging market structure. It also identifies certain factors that can guide organizations in their choice of an appropriate business model.
Swot Analysis of "Business Models for Internet-Based E-Commerce, An Anatomy" written by B. Mahadevan includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Business Internet facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Business Models for Internet-Based E-Commerce, An Anatomy case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Financial markets, Internet and Strategy & Execution.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Business Models for Internet-Based E-Commerce, An Anatomy casestudy better are - – cloud computing is disrupting traditional business models, supply chains are disrupted by pandemic , talent flight as more people leaving formal jobs, geopolitical disruptions, increasing household debt because of falling income levels, digital marketing is dominated by two big players Facebook and Google, increasing energy prices,
increasing transportation and logistics costs, there is increasing trade war between United States & China, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Business Models for Internet-Based E-Commerce, An Anatomy
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Business Models for Internet-Based E-Commerce, An Anatomy case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Business Internet, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Business Internet 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 Business Models for Internet-Based E-Commerce, An Anatomy can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Business Models for Internet-Based E-Commerce, An Anatomy case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Business Internet
3. Assessing feasibility of the new initiative in Strategy & Execution field.
4. Making a Strategy & Execution topic specific business decision
5. Set goals for the organization
6. Organizational restructuring of Business Internet
Strengths Business Models for Internet-Based E-Commerce, An Anatomy | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Business Internet in Business Models for Internet-Based E-Commerce, An Anatomy Harvard Business Review case study are -
Organizational Resilience of Business Internet
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing that Business Internet does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
Strong track record of project management
– Business Internet is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.
Digital Transformation in Strategy & Execution segment
- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For Business Internet digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Business Internet 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.
High switching costs
– The high switching costs that Business Internet 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.
Effective Research and Development (R&D)
– Business Internet 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 Business Models for Internet-Based E-Commerce, An Anatomy - staying ahead in the industry in terms of – new product launches, superior customer experience, highly competitive pricing strategies, and great returns to the shareholders.
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Strategy & Execution industry
– Business Models for Internet-Based E-Commerce, An Anatomy firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Business Internet to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Strategy & Execution industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Business Internet to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Cross disciplinary teams
– Horizontal connected teams at the Business Internet 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.
Learning organization
- Business Internet 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 Business Internet is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders in Business Models for Internet-Based E-Commerce, An Anatomy Harvard Business Review case study emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
Operational resilience
– The operational resilience strategy in the Business Models for Internet-Based E-Commerce, An Anatomy 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.
Superior customer experience
– The customer experience strategy of Business Internet in the segment is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.
Training and development
– Business Internet has one of the best training and development program in the industry. The effectiveness of the training programs can be measured in Business Models for Internet-Based E-Commerce, An Anatomy 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 lead change in Strategy & Execution field
– Business Internet 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 Business Internet in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.
Weaknesses Business Models for Internet-Based E-Commerce, An Anatomy | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Business Models for Internet-Based E-Commerce, An Anatomy are -
No frontier risks strategy
– After analyzing the HBR case study Business Models for Internet-Based E-Commerce, An Anatomy, it seems that company is thinking about the frontier risks that can impact Strategy & Execution 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.
Slow to strategic competitive environment developments
– As Business Models for Internet-Based E-Commerce, An Anatomy HBR case study mentions - Business Internet 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.
Ability to respond to the competition
– As the decision making is very deliberative, highlighted in the case study Business Models for Internet-Based E-Commerce, An Anatomy, in the dynamic environment Business Internet has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. Business Internet has reasonably good record with similar level competitors but it has struggled with new entrants taking away niches of its business.
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 Business Internet supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes mentioned in the HBR case study - Business Models for Internet-Based E-Commerce, An Anatomy, it is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left Business Internet vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.
Low market penetration in new markets
– Outside its home market of Business Internet, firm in the HBR case study Business Models for Internet-Based E-Commerce, An Anatomy needs to spend more promotional, marketing, and advertising efforts to penetrate international markets.
Products dominated business model
– Even though Business Internet 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 - Business Models for Internet-Based E-Commerce, An Anatomy should strive to include more intangible value offerings along with its core products and services.
Increasing silos among functional specialists
– The organizational structure of Business Internet is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Strategy & Execution segment. Business Internet needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Business Internet to focus more on services rather than just following the product oriented approach.
Slow decision making process
– As mentioned earlier in the report, Business Internet 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. Business Internet 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.
High operating costs
– Compare to the competitors, firm in the HBR case study Business Models for Internet-Based E-Commerce, An Anatomy 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 Business Internet 's lucrative customers.
Compensation and incentives
– The revenue per employee as mentioned in the HBR case study Business Models for Internet-Based E-Commerce, An Anatomy, is just above the industry average. Business Internet 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.
Skills based hiring
– The stress on hiring functional specialists at Business Internet 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 Business Models for Internet-Based E-Commerce, An Anatomy | 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 Business Models for Internet-Based E-Commerce, An Anatomy are -
Changes in consumer behavior post Covid-19
– Consumer behavior has changed in the Strategy & Execution industry because of Covid-19 restrictions. Some of this behavior will stay once things get back to normal. Business Internet 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. Business Internet 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.
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 Business Internet in the consumer business. Now Business Internet can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.
Building a culture of innovation
– managers at Business Internet 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 Strategy & Execution segment.
Reforming the budgeting process
- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects Business Internet 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
– Business Internet can develop new processes and procedures in Strategy & Execution industry using technology such as automation using artificial intelligence, real time transportation and products tracking, 3D modeling for concept development and new products pilot testing etc.
Lowering marketing communication costs
– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Business Internet in the field of marketing communication. It will bring down the cost of doing business, provide technology platform to build new products in the Strategy & Execution segment, and it will provide faster access to the consumers.
Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities
– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Business Internet 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 Business Internet to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
Learning at scale
– Online learning technologies has now opened space for Business Internet 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.
Increase in government spending
– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Business Internet can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Business Internet operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Strategy & Execution sector.
Finding new ways to collaborate
– Covid-19 has not only transformed business models of companies in Strategy & Execution industry, but it has also influenced the consumer preferences. Business Internet can tie-up with other value chain partners to explore new opportunities regarding meeting customer demands and building a rewarding and engaging relationship.
Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains
– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Business Internet 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, Business Models for Internet-Based E-Commerce, An Anatomy, 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
– Business Internet can improve the customer journey of consumers in the industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. Business Models for Internet-Based E-Commerce, An Anatomy 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
– Business Internet 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.
Threats Business Models for Internet-Based E-Commerce, An Anatomy External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Business Models for Internet-Based E-Commerce, An Anatomy are -
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Business Internet 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.
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 Business Internet business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
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. Business Internet 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.
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, as highlighted in case study Business Models for Internet-Based E-Commerce, An Anatomy, Business Internet may face longer learning curve for training and development of existing employees. This can open space for more nimble competitors in the field of Strategy & Execution .
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.
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Business Internet has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Strategy & Execution industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Business Internet needs to keep up with the evolution of technology in the Strategy & Execution 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.
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Business Internet is facing in Strategy & Execution sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.
Easy access to finance
– Easy access to finance in Strategy & Execution field will also reduce the barriers to entry in the industry, thus putting downward pressure on the prices because of increasing competition. Business Internet can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Business Internet 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 Business Models for Internet-Based E-Commerce, An Anatomy .
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry in the industry are lowering. It can presents Business Internet with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the sector.
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 Business Internet in the Strategy & Execution 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. Business Internet needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Strategy & Execution industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Business Internet in the Strategy & Execution industry. The Strategy & Execution 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 Business Models for Internet-Based E-Commerce, An Anatomy 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 Business Models for Internet-Based E-Commerce, An Anatomy 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 Business Models for Internet-Based E-Commerce, An Anatomy 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 Business Models for Internet-Based E-Commerce, An Anatomy 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 Business Models for Internet-Based E-Commerce, An Anatomy 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 Business Internet needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.