Blinds To Go: Evaluating the Blindstogo.com Retail E-Commerce Venture SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Strategy & Execution
Strategy / MBA Resources
Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of Blinds To Go: Evaluating the Blindstogo.com Retail E-Commerce Venture
When Blindstogo.com, the online project of Blinds To Go (BTG), was first proposed in mid-1999 its board of directors was lukewarm to the idea. However, after six months of operation and seeing other retailers go online and the tremendous valuation being given to dot-coms, the board was encouraging BTG to devote more resources to the project. Plans were already in place to further expand their retail store network. Senior management at BTG had received sales, spending and survey results from their retail e-commerce venture. Data obtained from the web site indicated that the people who visited the site were the same people who visited the stores. The vice-chairman of BTG wanted to evaluate the results of this online venture by examining the fit of the e-commerce project within the overall business strategy, to determine where resources should be focused.
Swot Analysis of "Blinds To Go: Evaluating the Blindstogo.com Retail E-Commerce Venture" written by Michael R. Pearce, Ken Mark includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Btg Blindstogo.com facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Blinds To Go: Evaluating the Blindstogo.com Retail E-Commerce Venture case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Strategic planning and Strategy & Execution.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Blinds To Go: Evaluating the Blindstogo.com Retail E-Commerce Venture casestudy better are - – wage bills are increasing, talent flight as more people leaving formal jobs, technology disruption, increasing energy prices, banking and financial system is disrupted by Bitcoin and other crypto currencies, cloud computing is disrupting traditional business models, increasing commodity prices,
central banks are concerned over increasing inflation, there is backlash against globalization, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Blinds To Go: Evaluating the Blindstogo.com Retail E-Commerce Venture
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Blinds To Go: Evaluating the Blindstogo.com Retail E-Commerce Venture case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Btg Blindstogo.com, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Btg Blindstogo.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 Blinds To Go: Evaluating the Blindstogo.com Retail E-Commerce Venture can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Blinds To Go: Evaluating the Blindstogo.com Retail E-Commerce Venture case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Btg Blindstogo.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 Btg Blindstogo.com
Strengths Blinds To Go: Evaluating the Blindstogo.com Retail E-Commerce Venture | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Btg Blindstogo.com in Blinds To Go: Evaluating the Blindstogo.com Retail E-Commerce Venture Harvard Business Review case study are -
High brand equity
– Btg Blindstogo.com has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Btg Blindstogo.com to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Learning organization
- Btg Blindstogo.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 Btg Blindstogo.com is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders in Blinds To Go: Evaluating the Blindstogo.com Retail E-Commerce Venture Harvard Business Review case study emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
Cross disciplinary teams
– Horizontal connected teams at the Btg Blindstogo.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.
High switching costs
– The high switching costs that Btg Blindstogo.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.
Ability to lead change in Strategy & Execution field
– Btg Blindstogo.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 Btg Blindstogo.com in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.
Operational resilience
– The operational resilience strategy in the Blinds To Go: Evaluating the Blindstogo.com Retail E-Commerce Venture 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.
Strong track record of project management
– Btg Blindstogo.com is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.
Effective Research and Development (R&D)
– Btg Blindstogo.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 Blinds To Go: Evaluating the Blindstogo.com Retail E-Commerce Venture - 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
– Btg Blindstogo.com is one of the most innovative firm in sector. Manager in Blinds To Go: Evaluating the Blindstogo.com Retail E-Commerce Venture Harvard Business Review case study can use Clayton Christensen Disruptive Innovation strategies to further increase the scale of innovtions in the organization.
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of Btg Blindstogo.com in the sector have low bargaining power. Blinds To Go: Evaluating the Blindstogo.com Retail E-Commerce Venture has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Btg Blindstogo.com to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
Diverse revenue streams
– Btg Blindstogo.com is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided firm in Blinds To Go: Evaluating the Blindstogo.com Retail E-Commerce Venture 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.
Highly skilled collaborators
– Btg Blindstogo.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 Blinds To Go: Evaluating the Blindstogo.com Retail E-Commerce Venture HBR case study have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
Weaknesses Blinds To Go: Evaluating the Blindstogo.com Retail E-Commerce Venture | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Blinds To Go: Evaluating the Blindstogo.com Retail E-Commerce Venture are -
Slow decision making process
– As mentioned earlier in the report, Btg Blindstogo.com 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. Btg Blindstogo.com 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.
Compensation and incentives
– The revenue per employee as mentioned in the HBR case study Blinds To Go: Evaluating the Blindstogo.com Retail E-Commerce Venture, is just above the industry average. Btg Blindstogo.com 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.
High bargaining power of channel partners
– Because of the regulatory requirements, Michael R. Pearce, Ken Mark suggests that, Btg Blindstogo.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.
Capital Spending Reduction
– Even during the low interest decade, Btg Blindstogo.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 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 Btg Blindstogo.com supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes mentioned in the HBR case study - Blinds To Go: Evaluating the Blindstogo.com Retail E-Commerce Venture, it is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left Btg Blindstogo.com vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.
Lack of clear differentiation of Btg Blindstogo.com products
– To increase the profitability and margins on the products, Btg Blindstogo.com needs to provide more differentiated products than what it is currently offering in the marketplace.
Slow to strategic competitive environment developments
– As Blinds To Go: Evaluating the Blindstogo.com Retail E-Commerce Venture HBR case study mentions - Btg Blindstogo.com 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 Blinds To Go: Evaluating the Blindstogo.com Retail E-Commerce Venture 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 Blinds To Go: Evaluating the Blindstogo.com Retail E-Commerce Venture can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Btg Blindstogo.com is planning to shift buying processes online.
No frontier risks strategy
– After analyzing the HBR case study Blinds To Go: Evaluating the Blindstogo.com Retail E-Commerce Venture, 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.
Interest costs
– Compare to the competition, Btg Blindstogo.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.
Products dominated business model
– Even though Btg Blindstogo.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 - Blinds To Go: Evaluating the Blindstogo.com Retail E-Commerce Venture should strive to include more intangible value offerings along with its core products and services.
Opportunities Blinds To Go: Evaluating the Blindstogo.com Retail E-Commerce Venture | 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 Blinds To Go: Evaluating the Blindstogo.com Retail E-Commerce Venture are -
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. Btg Blindstogo.com can tie-up with other value chain partners to explore new opportunities regarding meeting customer demands and building a rewarding and engaging relationship.
Increase in government spending
– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Btg Blindstogo.com can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Btg Blindstogo.com operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Strategy & Execution sector.
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 Btg Blindstogo.com 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.
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– Btg Blindstogo.com 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 Blinds To Go: Evaluating the Blindstogo.com Retail E-Commerce Venture - to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Btg Blindstogo.com to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
Lowering marketing communication costs
– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Btg Blindstogo.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.
Manufacturing automation
– Btg Blindstogo.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.
Buying journey improvements
– Btg Blindstogo.com can improve the customer journey of consumers in the industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. Blinds To Go: Evaluating the Blindstogo.com Retail E-Commerce Venture 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
– Btg Blindstogo.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.
Loyalty marketing
– Btg Blindstogo.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.
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. Btg Blindstogo.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. Btg Blindstogo.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.
Reforming the budgeting process
- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects Btg Blindstogo.com can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.
Learning at scale
– Online learning technologies has now opened space for Btg Blindstogo.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.
Redefining models of collaboration and team work
– As explained in the weaknesses section, Btg Blindstogo.com is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. Blinds To Go: Evaluating the Blindstogo.com Retail E-Commerce Venture 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.
Threats Blinds To Go: Evaluating the Blindstogo.com Retail E-Commerce Venture External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Blinds To Go: Evaluating the Blindstogo.com Retail E-Commerce Venture 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.
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.
Environmental challenges
– Btg Blindstogo.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. Btg Blindstogo.com can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Strategy & Execution industry.
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. Btg Blindstogo.com needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Strategy & Execution industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
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 Btg Blindstogo.com.
Consumer confidence and its impact on Btg Blindstogo.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.
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. Btg Blindstogo.com can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Btg Blindstogo.com is facing in Strategy & Execution sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.
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 Btg Blindstogo.com business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
Regulatory challenges
– Btg Blindstogo.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.
Increasing wage structure of Btg Blindstogo.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 Btg Blindstogo.com.
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry in the industry are lowering. It can presents Btg Blindstogo.com with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the sector.
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Btg Blindstogo.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.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Blinds To Go: Evaluating the Blindstogo.com Retail E-Commerce Venture 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 Blinds To Go: Evaluating the Blindstogo.com Retail E-Commerce Venture 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 Blinds To Go: Evaluating the Blindstogo.com Retail E-Commerce Venture 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 Blinds To Go: Evaluating the Blindstogo.com Retail E-Commerce Venture 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 Blinds To Go: Evaluating the Blindstogo.com Retail E-Commerce Venture 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 Btg Blindstogo.com needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.