zipRealty: Leading a Start-up to the Next Level (A) SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Strategy & Execution
Strategy / MBA Resources
Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of zipRealty: Leading a Start-up to the Next Level (A)
Start-up company zipRealty is a real estate brokerage that leveraged the Internet on the belief that selling or buying a home could be faster, easier, and more efficient than was possible with existing approaches to residential home transactions. Despite zipRealty's successes, the company experienced a series of external and internal challenges. Please note: This case also has a (B) supplement available.
Swot Analysis of "zipRealty: Leading a Start-up to the Next Level (A)" written by Jennifer A. Chatman includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Ziprealty Ziprealty's facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in zipRealty: Leading a Start-up to the Next Level (A) case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Entrepreneurship, Organizational structure and Strategy & Execution.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the zipRealty: Leading a Start-up to the Next Level (A) casestudy better are - – geopolitical disruptions, increasing commodity prices, central banks are concerned over increasing inflation, increasing inequality as vast percentage of new income is going to the top 1%, increasing household debt because of falling income levels, increasing transportation and logistics costs, supply chains are disrupted by pandemic ,
increasing government debt because of Covid-19 spendings, competitive advantages are harder to sustain because of technology dispersion, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of zipRealty: Leading a Start-up to the Next Level (A)
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in zipRealty: Leading a Start-up to the Next Level (A) case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Ziprealty Ziprealty's, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Ziprealty Ziprealty's 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 zipRealty: Leading a Start-up to the Next Level (A) can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in zipRealty: Leading a Start-up to the Next Level (A) case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Ziprealty Ziprealty's
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 Ziprealty Ziprealty's
Strengths zipRealty: Leading a Start-up to the Next Level (A) | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Ziprealty Ziprealty's in zipRealty: Leading a Start-up to the Next Level (A) Harvard Business Review case study are -
Superior customer experience
– The customer experience strategy of Ziprealty Ziprealty's in the segment is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.
Strong track record of project management
– Ziprealty Ziprealty's 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 Ziprealty Ziprealty's digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Ziprealty Ziprealty's 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 brand equity
– Ziprealty Ziprealty's has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Ziprealty Ziprealty's to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Ability to lead change in Strategy & Execution field
– Ziprealty Ziprealty's 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 Ziprealty Ziprealty's in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.
Ability to recruit top talent
– Ziprealty Ziprealty's is one of the leading recruiters in the industry. Managers in the zipRealty: Leading a Start-up to the Next Level (A) are in a position to attract the best talent available. The firm has a robust talent identification program that helps in identifying the brightest.
Analytics focus
– Ziprealty Ziprealty's 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 Jennifer A. Chatman 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.
Training and development
– Ziprealty Ziprealty's has one of the best training and development program in the industry. The effectiveness of the training programs can be measured in zipRealty: Leading a Start-up to the Next Level (A) 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.
Operational resilience
– The operational resilience strategy in the zipRealty: Leading a Start-up to the Next Level (A) 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.
Successful track record of launching new products
– Ziprealty Ziprealty's has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Ziprealty Ziprealty's 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.
Organizational Resilience of Ziprealty Ziprealty's
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing that Ziprealty Ziprealty's does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
Diverse revenue streams
– Ziprealty Ziprealty's is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided firm in zipRealty: Leading a Start-up to the Next Level (A) 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.
Weaknesses zipRealty: Leading a Start-up to the Next Level (A) | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of zipRealty: Leading a Start-up to the Next Level (A) are -
Increasing silos among functional specialists
– The organizational structure of Ziprealty Ziprealty's is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Strategy & Execution segment. Ziprealty Ziprealty's needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Ziprealty Ziprealty's to focus more on services rather than just following the product oriented approach.
Aligning sales with marketing
– It come across in the case study zipRealty: Leading a Start-up to the Next Level (A) 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 zipRealty: Leading a Start-up to the Next Level (A) can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Ziprealty Ziprealty's is planning to shift buying processes online.
Employees’ incomplete understanding of strategy
– From the instances in the HBR case study zipRealty: Leading a Start-up to the Next Level (A), it seems that the employees of Ziprealty Ziprealty's 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.
Skills based hiring
– The stress on hiring functional specialists at Ziprealty Ziprealty's 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.
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 Ziprealty Ziprealty's supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes mentioned in the HBR case study - zipRealty: Leading a Start-up to the Next Level (A), it is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left Ziprealty Ziprealty's vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.
Slow to strategic competitive environment developments
– As zipRealty: Leading a Start-up to the Next Level (A) HBR case study mentions - Ziprealty Ziprealty's 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.
High operating costs
– Compare to the competitors, firm in the HBR case study zipRealty: Leading a Start-up to the Next Level (A) 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 Ziprealty Ziprealty's 's lucrative customers.
High bargaining power of channel partners
– Because of the regulatory requirements, Jennifer A. Chatman suggests that, Ziprealty Ziprealty's 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.
Compensation and incentives
– The revenue per employee as mentioned in the HBR case study zipRealty: Leading a Start-up to the Next Level (A), is just above the industry average. Ziprealty Ziprealty's 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.
Need for greater diversity
– Ziprealty Ziprealty's 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.
Ability to respond to the competition
– As the decision making is very deliberative, highlighted in the case study zipRealty: Leading a Start-up to the Next Level (A), in the dynamic environment Ziprealty Ziprealty's has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. Ziprealty Ziprealty's has reasonably good record with similar level competitors but it has struggled with new entrants taking away niches of its business.
Opportunities zipRealty: Leading a Start-up to the Next Level (A) | 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 zipRealty: Leading a Start-up to the Next Level (A) are -
Low interest rates
– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Ziprealty Ziprealty's 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.
Building a culture of innovation
– managers at Ziprealty Ziprealty's 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.
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 Ziprealty Ziprealty's in the consumer business. Now Ziprealty Ziprealty's can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.
Manufacturing automation
– Ziprealty Ziprealty's 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.
Learning at scale
– Online learning technologies has now opened space for Ziprealty Ziprealty's 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.
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 Ziprealty Ziprealty's 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.
Reforming the budgeting process
- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects Ziprealty Ziprealty's 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 Ziprealty Ziprealty's has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Ziprealty Ziprealty's to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the zipRealty: Leading a Start-up to the Next Level (A) case study. Ziprealty Ziprealty's can build new products and services such as - data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, 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. Ziprealty Ziprealty's 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. Ziprealty Ziprealty's 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.
Better consumer reach
– The expansion of the 5G network will help Ziprealty Ziprealty's to increase its market reach. Ziprealty Ziprealty's 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.
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– Ziprealty Ziprealty's 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 zipRealty: Leading a Start-up to the Next Level (A) - to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Ziprealty Ziprealty's to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
Loyalty marketing
– Ziprealty Ziprealty's 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.
Increase in government spending
– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Ziprealty Ziprealty's can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Ziprealty Ziprealty's operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Strategy & Execution sector.
Threats zipRealty: Leading a Start-up to the Next Level (A) External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study zipRealty: Leading a Start-up to the Next Level (A) are -
Increasing wage structure of Ziprealty Ziprealty's
– 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 Ziprealty Ziprealty's.
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Ziprealty Ziprealty's 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. Ziprealty Ziprealty's can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
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 Ziprealty Ziprealty's business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Ziprealty Ziprealty's can face lack of demand in the market place because of Fed actions to reduce inflation. This can lead to sluggish growth in the economy, lower demands, lower investments, higher borrowing costs, and consolidation in the field.
Aging population
– As the populations of most advanced economies are aging, it will lead to high social security costs, higher savings among population, and lower demand for goods and services in the economy. The household savings in US, France, UK, Germany, and Japan are growing faster than predicted because of uncertainty caused by pandemic.
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. Ziprealty Ziprealty's needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Strategy & Execution industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
High dependence on third party suppliers
– Ziprealty Ziprealty's 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.
Consumer confidence and its impact on Ziprealty Ziprealty's 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.
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Ziprealty Ziprealty's 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 zipRealty: Leading a Start-up to the Next Level (A) .
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 Ziprealty Ziprealty's in the Strategy & Execution sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
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 Ziprealty Ziprealty's with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the sector.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of zipRealty: Leading a Start-up to the Next Level (A) 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 zipRealty: Leading a Start-up to the Next Level (A) 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 zipRealty: Leading a Start-up to the Next Level (A) 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 zipRealty: Leading a Start-up to the Next Level (A) 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 zipRealty: Leading a Start-up to the Next Level (A) 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 Ziprealty Ziprealty's needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.
