Case Study Description of Tarnea Technology Solutions
The case on Tarnea Technology Solution is about a startup focused on providing supply chain solutions to the Indian pharmaceutical retail industry with a business model that connected distributors with retailers through a cloud-based interface, enabling real-time data access. In building an equivalent of a stock exchange at the pharmaceutical retail value chain (the last mile of the supply chain), Tarnea had developed the product and completed the pilot project. The case is set at a time when Tarnea had to decide on (a) pricing for both sides of the platform (retailers and distributors), (b) import of data from legacy products onto the Tarnea platform, (c) issues of direction of growth (whether to expand geographically first, or to diversify into other products), and (d) in their race to acquire customers, whether to outsource application development or not. The case discussion would help students to understand why and how platforms need to race to acquire customers as an insurance against envelopment.
Swot Analysis of "Tarnea Technology Solutions" written by R. Srinivasan, Menaka Rao includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Tarnea Race facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Tarnea Technology Solutions case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Entrepreneurship, Marketing, Pricing and Strategy & Execution.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Tarnea Technology Solutions casestudy better are - – wage bills are increasing, digital marketing is dominated by two big players Facebook and Google, increasing commodity prices, there is backlash against globalization, customer relationship management is fast transforming because of increasing concerns over data privacy, technology disruption, increasing household debt because of falling income levels,
cloud computing is disrupting traditional business models, competitive advantages are harder to sustain because of technology dispersion, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Tarnea Technology Solutions
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Tarnea Technology Solutions case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Tarnea Race, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Tarnea Race 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 Tarnea Technology Solutions can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Tarnea Technology Solutions case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Tarnea Race
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 Tarnea Race
Strengths Tarnea Technology Solutions | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Tarnea Race in Tarnea Technology Solutions Harvard Business Review case study are -
High switching costs
– The high switching costs that Tarnea Race 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.
Analytics focus
– Tarnea Race is putting a lot of focus on utilizing the power of analytics in business decision making. This has put it among the leading players in the industry. The technology infrastructure suggested by R. Srinivasan, Menaka Rao can also help it to harness the power of analytics for – marketing optimization, demand forecasting, customer relationship management, inventory management, information sharing across the value chain etc.
Strong track record of project management
– Tarnea Race is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.
Cross disciplinary teams
– Horizontal connected teams at the Tarnea Race 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
– Tarnea Technology Solutions firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Tarnea Race to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Strategy & Execution industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Tarnea Race to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Operational resilience
– The operational resilience strategy in the Tarnea Technology Solutions 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.
Learning organization
- Tarnea Race 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 Tarnea Race is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders in Tarnea Technology Solutions Harvard Business Review case study emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
Diverse revenue streams
– Tarnea Race is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided firm in Tarnea Technology Solutions 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.
Superior customer experience
– The customer experience strategy of Tarnea Race 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
– Tarnea Race has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Tarnea Race 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.
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of Tarnea Race in the sector have low bargaining power. Tarnea Technology Solutions has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Tarnea Race to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
Training and development
– Tarnea Race has one of the best training and development program in the industry. The effectiveness of the training programs can be measured in Tarnea Technology Solutions 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.
Weaknesses Tarnea Technology Solutions | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Tarnea Technology Solutions are -
Need for greater diversity
– Tarnea Race 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.
Skills based hiring
– The stress on hiring functional specialists at Tarnea Race 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.
Slow to strategic competitive environment developments
– As Tarnea Technology Solutions HBR case study mentions - Tarnea Race 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.
Aligning sales with marketing
– It come across in the case study Tarnea Technology Solutions 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 Tarnea Technology Solutions can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Tarnea Race is planning to shift buying processes online.
High cash cycle compare to competitors
Tarnea Race has a high cash cycle compare to other players in the industry. It needs to shorten the cash cycle by 12% to be more competitive in the marketplace, reduce inventory costs, and be more profitable.
Lack of clear differentiation of Tarnea Race products
– To increase the profitability and margins on the products, Tarnea Race needs to provide more differentiated products than what it is currently offering in the marketplace.
High bargaining power of channel partners
– Because of the regulatory requirements, R. Srinivasan, Menaka Rao suggests that, Tarnea Race 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.
Low market penetration in new markets
– Outside its home market of Tarnea Race, firm in the HBR case study Tarnea Technology Solutions needs to spend more promotional, marketing, and advertising efforts to penetrate international markets.
Ability to respond to the competition
– As the decision making is very deliberative, highlighted in the case study Tarnea Technology Solutions, in the dynamic environment Tarnea Race has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. Tarnea Race has reasonably good record with similar level competitors but it has struggled with new entrants taking away niches of its business.
High operating costs
– Compare to the competitors, firm in the HBR case study Tarnea Technology Solutions 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 Tarnea Race 's lucrative customers.
Compensation and incentives
– The revenue per employee as mentioned in the HBR case study Tarnea Technology Solutions, is just above the industry average. Tarnea Race 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.
Opportunities Tarnea Technology Solutions | 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 Tarnea Technology Solutions are -
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. Tarnea Race can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.
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. Tarnea Race 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. Tarnea Race 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.
Buying journey improvements
– Tarnea Race can improve the customer journey of consumers in the industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. Tarnea Technology Solutions 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.
Developing new processes and practices
– Tarnea Race 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.
Redefining models of collaboration and team work
– As explained in the weaknesses section, Tarnea Race is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. Tarnea Technology Solutions case study suggests that firm can utilize new technology to build more coordinated teams and streamline operations and communications using tools such as CAD, Zoom, etc.
Lowering marketing communication costs
– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Tarnea Race 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.
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 Tarnea Race in the consumer business. Now Tarnea Race can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.
Loyalty marketing
– Tarnea Race 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.
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– Tarnea Race 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 Tarnea Technology Solutions - to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Tarnea Race to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
Better consumer reach
– The expansion of the 5G network will help Tarnea Race to increase its market reach. Tarnea Race 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.
Reforming the budgeting process
- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects Tarnea Race can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Tarnea Race has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Tarnea Race to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the Tarnea Technology Solutions case study. Tarnea Race can build new products and services such as - data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains
– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Tarnea Race 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, Tarnea Technology Solutions, to buy more products closer to the markets, and it can leverage its size and influence to get better deal from the local markets.
Threats Tarnea Technology Solutions External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Tarnea Technology Solutions 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.
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry in the industry are lowering. It can presents Tarnea Race with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the sector.
Environmental challenges
– Tarnea Race 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. Tarnea Race can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Strategy & Execution industry.
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Tarnea Race is facing in Strategy & Execution sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, 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 Tarnea Technology Solutions, Tarnea Race 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 wage structure of Tarnea Race
– 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 Tarnea Race.
Regulatory challenges
– Tarnea Race 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.
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. Tarnea Race can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Tarnea Race has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Strategy & Execution industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Tarnea Race 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.
High dependence on third party suppliers
– Tarnea Race 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.
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Tarnea Race 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 Tarnea Technology Solutions .
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.
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 Tarnea Race.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Tarnea Technology Solutions 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 Tarnea Technology Solutions 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 Tarnea Technology Solutions 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 Tarnea Technology Solutions 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 Tarnea Technology Solutions 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 Tarnea Race needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.