Business-to-Business Electronic Commerce: Mondus.com, an E-marketplace for Small- and Medium-Sized Enterprises SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
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Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of Business-to-Business Electronic Commerce: Mondus.com, an E-marketplace for Small- and Medium-Sized Enterprises
This case describes the development and use of a neutral B-to-B marketplace (mondus.com), set up for small- and medium-sized enterprises. It analyses how mondus matches buyers and sellers through the request-for-proposals model. The case also describes the international expansion of mondus and the entrepreneurial leadership of its founders, and highlights the benefits and drawbacks for the e-marketplace players.
Swot Analysis of "Business-to-Business Electronic Commerce: Mondus.com, an E-marketplace for Small- and Medium-Sized Enterprises" written by Tawfik Jelassi, Michael Mueller includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Mondus Mondus.com facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Business-to-Business Electronic Commerce: Mondus.com, an E-marketplace for Small- and Medium-Sized Enterprises case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Economy, Entrepreneurship, Internet, IT and Strategy & Execution.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Business-to-Business Electronic Commerce: Mondus.com, an E-marketplace for Small- and Medium-Sized Enterprises casestudy better are - – supply chains are disrupted by pandemic , increasing transportation and logistics costs, increasing energy prices, increasing household debt because of falling income levels, increasing government debt because of Covid-19 spendings, digital marketing is dominated by two big players Facebook and Google, cloud computing is disrupting traditional business models,
geopolitical disruptions, there is increasing trade war between United States & China, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Business-to-Business Electronic Commerce: Mondus.com, an E-marketplace for Small- and Medium-Sized Enterprises
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Business-to-Business Electronic Commerce: Mondus.com, an E-marketplace for Small- and Medium-Sized Enterprises case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Mondus Mondus.com, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Mondus Mondus.com 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-to-Business Electronic Commerce: Mondus.com, an E-marketplace for Small- and Medium-Sized Enterprises can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Business-to-Business Electronic Commerce: Mondus.com, an E-marketplace for Small- and Medium-Sized Enterprises case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Mondus Mondus.com
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 Mondus Mondus.com
Strengths Business-to-Business Electronic Commerce: Mondus.com, an E-marketplace for Small- and Medium-Sized Enterprises | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Mondus Mondus.com in Business-to-Business Electronic Commerce: Mondus.com, an E-marketplace for Small- and Medium-Sized Enterprises Harvard Business Review case study are -
High switching costs
– The high switching costs that Mondus Mondus.com 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.
Cross disciplinary teams
– Horizontal connected teams at the Mondus Mondus.com 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.
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Strategy & Execution industry
– Business-to-Business Electronic Commerce: Mondus.com, an E-marketplace for Small- and Medium-Sized Enterprises firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Mondus Mondus.com to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Strategy & Execution industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Mondus Mondus.com to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Learning organization
- Mondus Mondus.com 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 Mondus Mondus.com is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders in Business-to-Business Electronic Commerce: Mondus.com, an E-marketplace for Small- and Medium-Sized Enterprises Harvard Business Review case study emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
Ability to lead change in Strategy & Execution field
– Mondus Mondus.com 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 Mondus Mondus.com in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.
Organizational Resilience of Mondus Mondus.com
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing that Mondus Mondus.com does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of Mondus Mondus.com in the sector have low bargaining power. Business-to-Business Electronic Commerce: Mondus.com, an E-marketplace for Small- and Medium-Sized Enterprises has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Mondus Mondus.com to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
Highly skilled collaborators
– Mondus Mondus.com 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 Business-to-Business Electronic Commerce: Mondus.com, an E-marketplace for Small- and Medium-Sized Enterprises HBR case study have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
Successful track record of launching new products
– Mondus Mondus.com has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Mondus Mondus.com 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.
Training and development
– Mondus Mondus.com has one of the best training and development program in the industry. The effectiveness of the training programs can be measured in Business-to-Business Electronic Commerce: Mondus.com, an E-marketplace for Small- and Medium-Sized Enterprises 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.
Effective Research and Development (R&D)
– Mondus Mondus.com 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-to-Business Electronic Commerce: Mondus.com, an E-marketplace for Small- and Medium-Sized Enterprises - staying ahead in the industry in terms of – new product launches, superior customer experience, highly competitive pricing strategies, and great returns to the shareholders.
Innovation driven organization
– Mondus Mondus.com is one of the most innovative firm in sector. Manager in Business-to-Business Electronic Commerce: Mondus.com, an E-marketplace for Small- and Medium-Sized Enterprises Harvard Business Review case study can use Clayton Christensen Disruptive Innovation strategies to further increase the scale of innovtions in the organization.
Weaknesses Business-to-Business Electronic Commerce: Mondus.com, an E-marketplace for Small- and Medium-Sized Enterprises | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Business-to-Business Electronic Commerce: Mondus.com, an E-marketplace for Small- and Medium-Sized Enterprises are -
Workers concerns about automation
– As automation is fast increasing in the segment, Mondus Mondus.com 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.
Employees’ incomplete understanding of strategy
– From the instances in the HBR case study Business-to-Business Electronic Commerce: Mondus.com, an E-marketplace for Small- and Medium-Sized Enterprises, it seems that the employees of Mondus Mondus.com 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.
Lack of clear differentiation of Mondus Mondus.com products
– To increase the profitability and margins on the products, Mondus Mondus.com needs to provide more differentiated products than what it is currently offering in the marketplace.
Products dominated business model
– Even though Mondus Mondus.com 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-to-Business Electronic Commerce: Mondus.com, an E-marketplace for Small- and Medium-Sized Enterprises should strive to include more intangible value offerings along with its core products and services.
High bargaining power of channel partners
– Because of the regulatory requirements, Tawfik Jelassi, Michael Mueller suggests that, Mondus Mondus.com is facing high bargaining power of the channel partners. So far it has not able to streamline the operations to reduce the bargaining power of the value chain partners in the industry.
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 Mondus Mondus.com supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes mentioned in the HBR case study - Business-to-Business Electronic Commerce: Mondus.com, an E-marketplace for Small- and Medium-Sized Enterprises, it is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left Mondus Mondus.com vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.
Capital Spending Reduction
– Even during the low interest decade, Mondus Mondus.com 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 star products
– The top 2 products and services of the firm as mentioned in the Business-to-Business Electronic Commerce: Mondus.com, an E-marketplace for Small- and Medium-Sized Enterprises 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 Mondus Mondus.com has relatively successful track record of launching new products.
Ability to respond to the competition
– As the decision making is very deliberative, highlighted in the case study Business-to-Business Electronic Commerce: Mondus.com, an E-marketplace for Small- and Medium-Sized Enterprises, in the dynamic environment Mondus Mondus.com has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. Mondus Mondus.com has reasonably good record with similar level competitors but it has struggled with new entrants taking away niches of its business.
Low market penetration in new markets
– Outside its home market of Mondus Mondus.com, firm in the HBR case study Business-to-Business Electronic Commerce: Mondus.com, an E-marketplace for Small- and Medium-Sized Enterprises needs to spend more promotional, marketing, and advertising efforts to penetrate international markets.
Interest costs
– Compare to the competition, Mondus Mondus.com has borrowed money from the capital market at higher rates. It needs to restructure the interest payment and costs so that it can compete better and improve profitability.
Opportunities Business-to-Business Electronic Commerce: Mondus.com, an E-marketplace for Small- and Medium-Sized Enterprises | 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-to-Business Electronic Commerce: Mondus.com, an E-marketplace for Small- and Medium-Sized Enterprises are -
Redefining models of collaboration and team work
– As explained in the weaknesses section, Mondus Mondus.com is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. Business-to-Business Electronic Commerce: Mondus.com, an E-marketplace for Small- and Medium-Sized Enterprises 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.
Low interest rates
– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Mondus Mondus.com 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 Mondus Mondus.com 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.
Better consumer reach
– The expansion of the 5G network will help Mondus Mondus.com to increase its market reach. Mondus Mondus.com will be able to reach out to new customers. Secondly 5G will also provide technology framework to build new tools and products that can help more immersive consumer experience and faster consumer journey.
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. Mondus Mondus.com 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. Mondus Mondus.com 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.
Manufacturing automation
– Mondus Mondus.com can use the latest technology developments to improve its manufacturing and designing process in Strategy & Execution 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.
Lowering marketing communication costs
– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Mondus Mondus.com 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.
Loyalty marketing
– Mondus Mondus.com 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.
Reforming the budgeting process
- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects Mondus Mondus.com can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.
Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains
– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Mondus Mondus.com 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-to-Business Electronic Commerce: Mondus.com, an E-marketplace for Small- and Medium-Sized Enterprises, 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
– Mondus Mondus.com can improve the customer journey of consumers in the industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. Business-to-Business Electronic Commerce: Mondus.com, an E-marketplace for Small- and Medium-Sized Enterprises 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.
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. Mondus Mondus.com can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.
Developing new processes and practices
– Mondus Mondus.com 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.
Threats Business-to-Business Electronic Commerce: Mondus.com, an E-marketplace for Small- and Medium-Sized Enterprises External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Business-to-Business Electronic Commerce: Mondus.com, an E-marketplace for Small- and Medium-Sized Enterprises are -
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.
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 Mondus Mondus.com in the Strategy & Execution sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
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. Mondus Mondus.com can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
Increasing wage structure of Mondus Mondus.com
– 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 Mondus Mondus.com.
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 Mondus Mondus.com 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. Mondus Mondus.com 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.
Consumer confidence and its impact on Mondus Mondus.com 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.
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry in the industry are lowering. It can presents Mondus Mondus.com with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the sector.
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Mondus Mondus.com has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Strategy & Execution industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Mondus Mondus.com 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.
Regulatory challenges
– Mondus Mondus.com 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 Strategy & Execution industry regulations.
Environmental challenges
– Mondus Mondus.com 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. Mondus Mondus.com can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Strategy & Execution industry.
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Mondus Mondus.com 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.
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Mondus Mondus.com is facing in Strategy & Execution sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Business-to-Business Electronic Commerce: Mondus.com, an E-marketplace for Small- and Medium-Sized Enterprises 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-to-Business Electronic Commerce: Mondus.com, an E-marketplace for Small- and Medium-Sized Enterprises 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-to-Business Electronic Commerce: Mondus.com, an E-marketplace for Small- and Medium-Sized Enterprises 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-to-Business Electronic Commerce: Mondus.com, an E-marketplace for Small- and Medium-Sized Enterprises 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-to-Business Electronic Commerce: Mondus.com, an E-marketplace for Small- and Medium-Sized Enterprises 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 Mondus Mondus.com needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.
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