Amazon.com: Exploiting the Value of Digital Business Infrastructure, Portuguese Version SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
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Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of Amazon.com: Exploiting the Value of Digital Business Infrastructure, Portuguese Version
Enables a thorough analysis of Amazon.com and the company's value proposition, in terms of its business concept, digital business capabilities, and community and shareholder value. Examines the company's complex set of business models and web of business relationships, as well as Amazon's plan to monetize (generate revenues and earnings through) its assets.
Swot Analysis of "Amazon.com: Exploiting the Value of Digital Business Infrastructure, Portuguese Version" written by Lynda M. Applegate, Meredith Collura includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Amazon.com Business facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Amazon.com: Exploiting the Value of Digital Business Infrastructure, Portuguese Version case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, and Strategy & Execution.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Amazon.com: Exploiting the Value of Digital Business Infrastructure, Portuguese Version casestudy better are - – increasing inequality as vast percentage of new income is going to the top 1%, increasing household debt because of falling income levels, central banks are concerned over increasing inflation, technology disruption, there is backlash against globalization, increasing energy prices, cloud computing is disrupting traditional business models,
increasing government debt because of Covid-19 spendings, there is increasing trade war between United States & China, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Amazon.com: Exploiting the Value of Digital Business Infrastructure, Portuguese Version
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Amazon.com: Exploiting the Value of Digital Business Infrastructure, Portuguese Version case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Amazon.com Business, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Amazon.com Business 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 Amazon.com: Exploiting the Value of Digital Business Infrastructure, Portuguese Version can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Amazon.com: Exploiting the Value of Digital Business Infrastructure, Portuguese Version case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Amazon.com Business
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 Amazon.com Business
Strengths Amazon.com: Exploiting the Value of Digital Business Infrastructure, Portuguese Version | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Amazon.com Business in Amazon.com: Exploiting the Value of Digital Business Infrastructure, Portuguese Version Harvard Business Review case study are -
Superior customer experience
– The customer experience strategy of Amazon.com Business in the segment is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Strategy & Execution industry
– Amazon.com: Exploiting the Value of Digital Business Infrastructure, Portuguese Version firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Amazon.com Business to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Strategy & Execution industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Amazon.com Business to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Strong track record of project management
– Amazon.com Business is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.
Ability to recruit top talent
– Amazon.com Business is one of the leading recruiters in the industry. Managers in the Amazon.com: Exploiting the Value of Digital Business Infrastructure, Portuguese Version are in a position to attract the best talent available. The firm has a robust talent identification program that helps in identifying the brightest.
Training and development
– Amazon.com Business has one of the best training and development program in the industry. The effectiveness of the training programs can be measured in Amazon.com: Exploiting the Value of Digital Business Infrastructure, Portuguese Version 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.
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of Amazon.com Business in the sector have low bargaining power. Amazon.com: Exploiting the Value of Digital Business Infrastructure, Portuguese Version has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Amazon.com Business to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
High brand equity
– Amazon.com Business has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Amazon.com Business to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Ability to lead change in Strategy & Execution field
– Amazon.com Business 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 Amazon.com Business in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.
Diverse revenue streams
– Amazon.com Business is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided firm in Amazon.com: Exploiting the Value of Digital Business Infrastructure, Portuguese Version case study a diverse revenue stream that has helped it to survive disruptions such as global pandemic in Covid-19, financial disruption of 2008, and supply chain disruption of 2021.
Effective Research and Development (R&D)
– Amazon.com Business 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 Amazon.com: Exploiting the Value of Digital Business Infrastructure, Portuguese Version - staying ahead in the industry in terms of – new product launches, superior customer experience, highly competitive pricing strategies, and great returns to the shareholders.
High switching costs
– The high switching costs that Amazon.com Business 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.
Successful track record of launching new products
– Amazon.com Business has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Amazon.com Business 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.
Weaknesses Amazon.com: Exploiting the Value of Digital Business Infrastructure, Portuguese Version | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Amazon.com: Exploiting the Value of Digital Business Infrastructure, Portuguese Version are -
Products dominated business model
– Even though Amazon.com Business 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 - Amazon.com: Exploiting the Value of Digital Business Infrastructure, Portuguese Version should strive to include more intangible value offerings along with its core products and services.
Ability to respond to the competition
– As the decision making is very deliberative, highlighted in the case study Amazon.com: Exploiting the Value of Digital Business Infrastructure, Portuguese Version, in the dynamic environment Amazon.com Business has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. Amazon.com Business has reasonably good record with similar level competitors but it has struggled with new entrants taking away niches of its business.
Employees’ incomplete understanding of strategy
– From the instances in the HBR case study Amazon.com: Exploiting the Value of Digital Business Infrastructure, Portuguese Version, it seems that the employees of Amazon.com Business 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.
Slow to strategic competitive environment developments
– As Amazon.com: Exploiting the Value of Digital Business Infrastructure, Portuguese Version HBR case study mentions - Amazon.com Business 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.
Slow decision making process
– As mentioned earlier in the report, Amazon.com Business 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. Amazon.com Business 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 bargaining power of channel partners
– Because of the regulatory requirements, Lynda M. Applegate, Meredith Collura suggests that, Amazon.com Business 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.
Aligning sales with marketing
– It come across in the case study Amazon.com: Exploiting the Value of Digital Business Infrastructure, Portuguese Version that the firm needs to have more collaboration between its sales team and marketing team. Sales professionals in the industry have deep experience in developing customer relationships. Marketing department in the case Amazon.com: Exploiting the Value of Digital Business Infrastructure, Portuguese Version can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Amazon.com Business is planning to shift buying processes online.
Slow to harness new channels of communication
– Even though competitors are using new communication channels such as Instagram, Tiktok, and Snap, Amazon.com Business is slow explore the new channels of communication. These new channels of communication mentioned in marketing section of case study Amazon.com: Exploiting the Value of Digital Business Infrastructure, Portuguese Version can help to provide better information regarding products and services. It can also build an online community to further reach out to potential customers.
No frontier risks strategy
– After analyzing the HBR case study Amazon.com: Exploiting the Value of Digital Business Infrastructure, Portuguese Version, 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.
Lack of clear differentiation of Amazon.com Business products
– To increase the profitability and margins on the products, Amazon.com Business needs to provide more differentiated products than what it is currently offering in the marketplace.
High operating costs
– Compare to the competitors, firm in the HBR case study Amazon.com: Exploiting the Value of Digital Business Infrastructure, Portuguese Version 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 Amazon.com Business 's lucrative customers.
Opportunities Amazon.com: Exploiting the Value of Digital Business Infrastructure, Portuguese Version | 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 Amazon.com: Exploiting the Value of Digital Business Infrastructure, Portuguese Version are -
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 Amazon.com Business 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.
Low interest rates
– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Amazon.com Business 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.
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– Amazon.com Business 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 Amazon.com: Exploiting the Value of Digital Business Infrastructure, Portuguese Version - to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Amazon.com Business to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
Reforming the budgeting process
- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects Amazon.com Business 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, Amazon.com Business 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, Amazon.com: Exploiting the Value of Digital Business Infrastructure, Portuguese Version, 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
– Amazon.com Business can improve the customer journey of consumers in the industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. Amazon.com: Exploiting the Value of Digital Business Infrastructure, Portuguese Version 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.
Redefining models of collaboration and team work
– As explained in the weaknesses section, Amazon.com Business is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. Amazon.com: Exploiting the Value of Digital Business Infrastructure, Portuguese Version 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.
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. Amazon.com Business can tie-up with other value chain partners to explore new opportunities regarding meeting customer demands and building a rewarding and engaging relationship.
Learning at scale
– Online learning technologies has now opened space for Amazon.com Business 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.
Building a culture of innovation
– managers at Amazon.com Business 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.
Better consumer reach
– The expansion of the 5G network will help Amazon.com Business to increase its market reach. Amazon.com Business 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.
Loyalty marketing
– Amazon.com Business 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.
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. Amazon.com Business 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. Amazon.com Business 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.
Threats Amazon.com: Exploiting the Value of Digital Business Infrastructure, Portuguese Version External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Amazon.com: Exploiting the Value of Digital Business Infrastructure, Portuguese Version are -
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
– Amazon.com Business 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.
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Amazon.com Business has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Strategy & Execution industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Amazon.com Business 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.
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 Amazon.com Business.
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry in the industry are lowering. It can presents Amazon.com Business with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the sector.
Increasing wage structure of Amazon.com Business
– 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 Amazon.com Business.
Consumer confidence and its impact on Amazon.com Business 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.
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Amazon.com Business 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.
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. Amazon.com Business 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
– Amazon.com Business 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.
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 Amazon.com Business business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, as highlighted in case study Amazon.com: Exploiting the Value of Digital Business Infrastructure, Portuguese Version, Amazon.com Business 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 .
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Amazon.com Business 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 Amazon.com: Exploiting the Value of Digital Business Infrastructure, Portuguese Version .
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Amazon.com: Exploiting the Value of Digital Business Infrastructure, Portuguese Version 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 Amazon.com: Exploiting the Value of Digital Business Infrastructure, Portuguese Version 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 Amazon.com: Exploiting the Value of Digital Business Infrastructure, Portuguese Version 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 Amazon.com: Exploiting the Value of Digital Business Infrastructure, Portuguese Version 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 Amazon.com: Exploiting the Value of Digital Business Infrastructure, Portuguese Version 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 Amazon.com Business needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.
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