When Strategies Collide: Divergent Multipoint Strategies Within Competitive Triads SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
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Case Study Description of When Strategies Collide: Divergent Multipoint Strategies Within Competitive Triads
As market barriers fall and market boundaries blur, firms are becoming increasingly broad in their scope of operations and markets. This expansion in a firm's scope intensifies competition as the interaction between rivals spreads across many markets. To succeed as a firm, managers must then take a multi-market approach to competition. Critical to success is an understanding of how rival contact across markets can affect a firm's competitive behavior. This understanding exists for competition between two firms; however, few firms face only one rival across multiple markets. We expand the focus on one competitor and explore configurations of competitive triads. We explain why triadic competition is more dynamic and deviates somewhat from dyadic competition, and set the foundation for exploring competition among a broader set of competitors.
Swot Analysis of "When Strategies Collide: Divergent Multipoint Strategies Within Competitive Triads" written by John W. Upson, Annette Ranft includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Triads Competition facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in When Strategies Collide: Divergent Multipoint Strategies Within Competitive Triads case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, and Strategy & Execution.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the When Strategies Collide: Divergent Multipoint Strategies Within Competitive Triads casestudy better are - – increasing commodity prices, customer relationship management is fast transforming because of increasing concerns over data privacy, increasing transportation and logistics costs, 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 energy prices,
technology disruption, talent flight as more people leaving formal jobs, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of When Strategies Collide: Divergent Multipoint Strategies Within Competitive Triads
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in When Strategies Collide: Divergent Multipoint Strategies Within Competitive Triads case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Triads Competition, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Triads Competition 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 When Strategies Collide: Divergent Multipoint Strategies Within Competitive Triads can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in When Strategies Collide: Divergent Multipoint Strategies Within Competitive Triads case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Triads Competition
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 Triads Competition
Strengths When Strategies Collide: Divergent Multipoint Strategies Within Competitive Triads | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Triads Competition in When Strategies Collide: Divergent Multipoint Strategies Within Competitive Triads Harvard Business Review case study are -
Effective Research and Development (R&D)
– Triads Competition 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 When Strategies Collide: Divergent Multipoint Strategies Within Competitive Triads - staying ahead in the industry in terms of – new product launches, superior customer experience, highly competitive pricing strategies, and great returns to the shareholders.
Ability to lead change in Strategy & Execution field
– Triads Competition 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 Triads Competition in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.
Successful track record of launching new products
– Triads Competition has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Triads Competition 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.
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Strategy & Execution industry
– When Strategies Collide: Divergent Multipoint Strategies Within Competitive Triads firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Triads Competition to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Strategy & Execution industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Triads Competition to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Learning organization
- Triads Competition 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 Triads Competition is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders in When Strategies Collide: Divergent Multipoint Strategies Within Competitive Triads Harvard Business Review case study emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
Superior customer experience
– The customer experience strategy of Triads Competition in the segment is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.
Highly skilled collaborators
– Triads Competition 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 When Strategies Collide: Divergent Multipoint Strategies Within Competitive Triads HBR case study have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
Organizational Resilience of Triads Competition
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing that Triads Competition does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
Operational resilience
– The operational resilience strategy in the When Strategies Collide: Divergent Multipoint Strategies Within Competitive Triads 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.
Analytics focus
– Triads Competition 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 John W. Upson, Annette Ranft 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.
Digital Transformation in Strategy & Execution segment
- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For Triads Competition digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Triads Competition 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.
Strong track record of project management
– Triads Competition is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.
Weaknesses When Strategies Collide: Divergent Multipoint Strategies Within Competitive Triads | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of When Strategies Collide: Divergent Multipoint Strategies Within Competitive Triads are -
Capital Spending Reduction
– Even during the low interest decade, Triads Competition 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.
Compensation and incentives
– The revenue per employee as mentioned in the HBR case study When Strategies Collide: Divergent Multipoint Strategies Within Competitive Triads, is just above the industry average. Triads Competition 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.
Aligning sales with marketing
– It come across in the case study When Strategies Collide: Divergent Multipoint Strategies Within Competitive Triads 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 When Strategies Collide: Divergent Multipoint Strategies Within Competitive Triads can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Triads Competition is planning to shift buying processes online.
Workers concerns about automation
– As automation is fast increasing in the segment, Triads Competition 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 When Strategies Collide: Divergent Multipoint Strategies Within Competitive Triads 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 Triads Competition has relatively successful track record of launching new products.
Need for greater diversity
– Triads Competition 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.
Lack of clear differentiation of Triads Competition products
– To increase the profitability and margins on the products, Triads Competition needs to provide more differentiated products than what it is currently offering in the marketplace.
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 Triads Competition supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes mentioned in the HBR case study - When Strategies Collide: Divergent Multipoint Strategies Within Competitive Triads, it is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left Triads Competition vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.
Increasing silos among functional specialists
– The organizational structure of Triads Competition is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Strategy & Execution segment. Triads Competition needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Triads Competition to focus more on services rather than just following the product oriented approach.
Slow decision making process
– As mentioned earlier in the report, Triads Competition 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. Triads Competition 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.
No frontier risks strategy
– After analyzing the HBR case study When Strategies Collide: Divergent Multipoint Strategies Within Competitive Triads, 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.
Opportunities When Strategies Collide: Divergent Multipoint Strategies Within Competitive Triads | 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 When Strategies Collide: Divergent Multipoint Strategies Within Competitive Triads are -
Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities
– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Triads Competition 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 Triads Competition to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
Reforming the budgeting process
- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects Triads Competition 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 Triads Competition to conduct training and development for its employees across the world. This will result in not only reducing the cost of training but also help employees in different part of the world to integrate with the headquarter work culture, ethos, and standards.
Building a culture of innovation
– managers at Triads Competition 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.
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. Triads Competition can tie-up with other value chain partners to explore new opportunities regarding meeting customer demands and building a rewarding and engaging relationship.
Low interest rates
– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Triads Competition 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.
Redefining models of collaboration and team work
– As explained in the weaknesses section, Triads Competition is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. When Strategies Collide: Divergent Multipoint Strategies Within Competitive Triads 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.
Developing new processes and practices
– Triads Competition 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.
Lowering marketing communication costs
– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Triads Competition 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.
Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains
– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Triads Competition 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, When Strategies Collide: Divergent Multipoint Strategies Within Competitive Triads, to buy more products closer to the markets, and it can leverage its size and influence to get better deal from the local markets.
Loyalty marketing
– Triads Competition 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.
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Triads Competition has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Triads Competition to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the When Strategies Collide: Divergent Multipoint Strategies Within Competitive Triads case study. Triads Competition can build new products and services such as - data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
Leveraging digital technologies
– Triads Competition 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.
Threats When Strategies Collide: Divergent Multipoint Strategies Within Competitive Triads External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study When Strategies Collide: Divergent Multipoint Strategies Within Competitive Triads are -
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. Triads Competition can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Triads Competition 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 When Strategies Collide: Divergent Multipoint Strategies Within Competitive Triads, Triads Competition 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 .
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 Triads Competition is facing in Strategy & Execution sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Triads Competition 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 When Strategies Collide: Divergent Multipoint Strategies Within Competitive Triads .
Consumer confidence and its impact on Triads Competition 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.
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry in the industry are lowering. It can presents Triads Competition with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the sector.
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. Triads Competition 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.
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 Triads Competition in the Strategy & Execution sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
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. Triads Competition needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Strategy & Execution industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Triads Competition 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.
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Triads Competition has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Strategy & Execution industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Triads Competition 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.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of When Strategies Collide: Divergent Multipoint Strategies Within Competitive Triads 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 When Strategies Collide: Divergent Multipoint Strategies Within Competitive Triads 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 When Strategies Collide: Divergent Multipoint Strategies Within Competitive Triads 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 When Strategies Collide: Divergent Multipoint Strategies Within Competitive Triads 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 When Strategies Collide: Divergent Multipoint Strategies Within Competitive Triads 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 Triads Competition needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.
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