Online Business Valuation: No Bang, No Buck for Orientation.com SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Strategy & Execution
Strategy / MBA Resources
Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of Online Business Valuation: No Bang, No Buck for Orientation.com
Examines Orientation.com's approach of developing global content capability and its market advantages and disadvantages as a result of localizing its resource bases. In a post-bubble technology market in early 2000, Orientation.com faced fierce competition for capital; any funding for dot.com-based businesses was likely to occur through corporate takeovers by traditional companies. Orientation.com could survive only if it provided a strategic fit to a large corporation or added financial value based on its global content proposition. A likely suitor was Telenor Mobile, a large European telecommunications provider that was interested in exclusively accessing Orientation.com's worldwide content and delivering it to its own customer base. Telenor Mobile had to decide whether Orientation.com's valuation and capabilities made it suitable for acquisition.
Swot Analysis of "Online Business Valuation: No Bang, No Buck for Orientation.com" written by Ali Farhoomand, Shamza Khan includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Orientation.com Orientation.com's facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Online Business Valuation: No Bang, No Buck for Orientation.com case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Financial management, Globalization, Internet, IT, Mergers & acquisitions and Strategy & Execution.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Online Business Valuation: No Bang, No Buck for Orientation.com casestudy better are - – increasing energy prices, increasing commodity prices, wage bills are increasing, there is backlash against globalization, supply chains are disrupted by pandemic , challanges to central banks by blockchain based private currencies, increasing household debt because of falling income levels,
increasing inequality as vast percentage of new income is going to the top 1%, customer relationship management is fast transforming because of increasing concerns over data privacy, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Online Business Valuation: No Bang, No Buck for Orientation.com
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Online Business Valuation: No Bang, No Buck for Orientation.com case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Orientation.com Orientation.com's, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Orientation.com Orientation.com'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 Online Business Valuation: No Bang, No Buck for Orientation.com can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Online Business Valuation: No Bang, No Buck for Orientation.com case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Orientation.com Orientation.com'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 Orientation.com Orientation.com's
Strengths Online Business Valuation: No Bang, No Buck for Orientation.com | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Orientation.com Orientation.com's in Online Business Valuation: No Bang, No Buck for Orientation.com Harvard Business Review case study are -
Strong track record of project management
– Orientation.com Orientation.com'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.
Superior customer experience
– The customer experience strategy of Orientation.com Orientation.com's in the segment is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.
Highly skilled collaborators
– Orientation.com Orientation.com's 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 Online Business Valuation: No Bang, No Buck for Orientation.com HBR case study have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
High brand equity
– Orientation.com Orientation.com's has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Orientation.com Orientation.com's to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Diverse revenue streams
– Orientation.com Orientation.com's is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided firm in Online Business Valuation: No Bang, No Buck for Orientation.com 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.
Learning organization
- Orientation.com Orientation.com's 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 Orientation.com Orientation.com's is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders in Online Business Valuation: No Bang, No Buck for Orientation.com Harvard Business Review case study emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
Innovation driven organization
– Orientation.com Orientation.com's is one of the most innovative firm in sector. Manager in Online Business Valuation: No Bang, No Buck for Orientation.com Harvard Business Review case study can use Clayton Christensen Disruptive Innovation strategies to further increase the scale of innovtions in the organization.
Digital Transformation in Strategy & Execution segment
- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For Orientation.com Orientation.com's digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Orientation.com Orientation.com'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.
Ability to lead change in Strategy & Execution field
– Orientation.com Orientation.com'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 Orientation.com Orientation.com's in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.
Effective Research and Development (R&D)
– Orientation.com Orientation.com's 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 Online Business Valuation: No Bang, No Buck for Orientation.com - staying ahead in the industry in terms of – new product launches, superior customer experience, highly competitive pricing strategies, and great returns to the shareholders.
Analytics focus
– Orientation.com Orientation.com'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 Ali Farhoomand, Shamza Khan 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.
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Strategy & Execution industry
– Online Business Valuation: No Bang, No Buck for Orientation.com firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Orientation.com Orientation.com's to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Strategy & Execution industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Orientation.com Orientation.com's to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Weaknesses Online Business Valuation: No Bang, No Buck for Orientation.com | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Online Business Valuation: No Bang, No Buck for Orientation.com are -
High bargaining power of channel partners
– Because of the regulatory requirements, Ali Farhoomand, Shamza Khan suggests that, Orientation.com Orientation.com'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.
Slow decision making process
– As mentioned earlier in the report, Orientation.com Orientation.com's 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. Orientation.com Orientation.com's 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.
Slow to harness new channels of communication
– Even though competitors are using new communication channels such as Instagram, Tiktok, and Snap, Orientation.com Orientation.com's is slow explore the new channels of communication. These new channels of communication mentioned in marketing section of case study Online Business Valuation: No Bang, No Buck for Orientation.com can help to provide better information regarding products and services. It can also build an online community to further reach out to potential customers.
Ability to respond to the competition
– As the decision making is very deliberative, highlighted in the case study Online Business Valuation: No Bang, No Buck for Orientation.com, in the dynamic environment Orientation.com Orientation.com's has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. Orientation.com Orientation.com's has reasonably good record with similar level competitors but it has struggled with new entrants taking away niches of its business.
High cash cycle compare to competitors
Orientation.com Orientation.com's 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.
Employees’ incomplete understanding of strategy
– From the instances in the HBR case study Online Business Valuation: No Bang, No Buck for Orientation.com, it seems that the employees of Orientation.com Orientation.com'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.
Compensation and incentives
– The revenue per employee as mentioned in the HBR case study Online Business Valuation: No Bang, No Buck for Orientation.com, is just above the industry average. Orientation.com Orientation.com'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.
Workers concerns about automation
– As automation is fast increasing in the segment, Orientation.com Orientation.com's needs to come up with a strategy to reduce the workers concern regarding automation. Without a clear strategy, it could lead to disruption and uncertainty within the organization.
High dependence on star products
– The top 2 products and services of the firm as mentioned in the Online Business Valuation: No Bang, No Buck for Orientation.com HBR case study still accounts for major business revenue. This dependence on star products in has resulted into insufficient focus on developing new products, even though Orientation.com Orientation.com's has relatively successful track record of launching new products.
Lack of clear differentiation of Orientation.com Orientation.com's products
– To increase the profitability and margins on the products, Orientation.com Orientation.com's needs to provide more differentiated products than what it is currently offering in the marketplace.
Aligning sales with marketing
– It come across in the case study Online Business Valuation: No Bang, No Buck for Orientation.com 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 Online Business Valuation: No Bang, No Buck for Orientation.com can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Orientation.com Orientation.com's is planning to shift buying processes online.
Opportunities Online Business Valuation: No Bang, No Buck for Orientation.com | 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 Online Business Valuation: No Bang, No Buck for Orientation.com are -
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 Orientation.com Orientation.com's in the consumer business. Now Orientation.com Orientation.com's can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.
Redefining models of collaboration and team work
– As explained in the weaknesses section, Orientation.com Orientation.com's is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. Online Business Valuation: No Bang, No Buck for Orientation.com 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.
Manufacturing automation
– Orientation.com Orientation.com'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.
Loyalty marketing
– Orientation.com Orientation.com'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.
Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities
– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Orientation.com Orientation.com's to expand its talent hiring zone. According to McKinsey Global Institute, 20% of the high end workforce in fields such as finance, information technology, can continously work from remote local post Covid-19. This presents a really great opportunity for Orientation.com Orientation.com's to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
Developing new processes and practices
– Orientation.com Orientation.com's 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.
Better consumer reach
– The expansion of the 5G network will help Orientation.com Orientation.com's to increase its market reach. Orientation.com Orientation.com'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.
Lowering marketing communication costs
– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Orientation.com Orientation.com's 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.
Increase in government spending
– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Orientation.com Orientation.com's can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Orientation.com Orientation.com's operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Strategy & Execution sector.
Low interest rates
– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Orientation.com Orientation.com'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.
Leveraging digital technologies
– Orientation.com Orientation.com's can leverage digital technologies such as artificial intelligence and machine learning to automate the production process, customer analytics to get better insights into consumer behavior, realtime digital dashboards to get better sales tracking, logistics and transportation, product tracking, etc.
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 Orientation.com Orientation.com'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.
Learning at scale
– Online learning technologies has now opened space for Orientation.com Orientation.com'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.
Threats Online Business Valuation: No Bang, No Buck for Orientation.com External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Online Business Valuation: No Bang, No Buck for Orientation.com 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.
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Orientation.com Orientation.com's is facing in Strategy & Execution sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.
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 Orientation.com Orientation.com's in the Strategy & Execution sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
Instability in the European markets
– European Union markets are facing three big challenges post Covid – expanded balance sheets, Brexit related business disruption, and aggressive Russia looking to distract the existing security mechanism. Orientation.com Orientation.com's will face different problems in different parts of Europe. For example it will face inflationary pressures in UK, France, and Germany, balance sheet expansion and demand challenges in Southern European countries, and geopolitical instability in the Eastern Europe.
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry in the industry are lowering. It can presents Orientation.com Orientation.com's with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the sector.
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 Orientation.com Orientation.com's.
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. Orientation.com Orientation.com's needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Strategy & Execution industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
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
– Orientation.com Orientation.com's 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.
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Orientation.com Orientation.com's in the Strategy & Execution industry. The Strategy & Execution industry is already at various protected from local competition in China, with the rise of trade war the protection levels may go up. This presents a clear threat of current business model in Chinese market.
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, as highlighted in case study Online Business Valuation: No Bang, No Buck for Orientation.com, Orientation.com Orientation.com's 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 .
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Orientation.com Orientation.com'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.
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Orientation.com Orientation.com'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 Online Business Valuation: No Bang, No Buck for Orientation.com .
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Online Business Valuation: No Bang, No Buck for Orientation.com 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 Online Business Valuation: No Bang, No Buck for Orientation.com 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 Online Business Valuation: No Bang, No Buck for Orientation.com 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 Online Business Valuation: No Bang, No Buck for Orientation.com 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 Online Business Valuation: No Bang, No Buck for Orientation.com 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 Orientation.com Orientation.com's needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.