When Strategies Collide: Divergent Multipoint Strategies Within Competitive Triads SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis

Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution

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.

Authors :: John W. Upson, Annette Ranft

Topics :: Strategy & Execution

Tags :: , SWOT Analysis, SWOT Matrix, TOWS, Weighted SWOT Analysis

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 energy prices, customer relationship management is fast transforming because of increasing concerns over data privacy, technology disruption, wage bills are increasing, digital marketing is dominated by two big players Facebook and Google, central banks are concerned over increasing inflation, increasing household debt because of falling income levels, increasing inequality as vast percentage of new income is going to the top 1%, cloud computing is disrupting traditional business models, etc

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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.

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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

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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 -

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.

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.

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.

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.

Ability to recruit top talent

– Triads Competition is one of the leading recruiters in the industry. Managers in the When Strategies Collide: Divergent Multipoint Strategies Within Competitive Triads 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

– 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.

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.

Low bargaining power of suppliers

– Suppliers of Triads Competition in the sector have low bargaining power. When Strategies Collide: Divergent Multipoint Strategies Within Competitive Triads has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Triads Competition to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.

Diverse revenue streams

– Triads Competition is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided firm in When Strategies Collide: Divergent Multipoint Strategies Within Competitive Triads 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.

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.

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.

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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 -

High bargaining power of channel partners

– Because of the regulatory requirements, John W. Upson, Annette Ranft suggests that, Triads Competition 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, 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.

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.

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.

Employees’ incomplete understanding of strategy

– From the instances in the HBR case study When Strategies Collide: Divergent Multipoint Strategies Within Competitive Triads, it seems that the employees of Triads Competition 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.

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.

Skills based hiring

– The stress on hiring functional specialists at Triads Competition 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.

Products dominated business model

– Even though Triads Competition 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 - When Strategies Collide: Divergent Multipoint Strategies Within Competitive Triads should strive to include more intangible value offerings along with its core products and services.

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.

Low market penetration in new markets

– Outside its home market of Triads Competition, firm in the HBR case study When Strategies Collide: Divergent Multipoint Strategies Within Competitive Triads needs to spend more promotional, marketing, and advertising efforts to penetrate international markets.

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.

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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.

Increase in government spending

– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Triads Competition can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Triads Competition operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Strategy & Execution sector.

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.

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.

Buying journey improvements

– Triads Competition can improve the customer journey of consumers in the industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. When Strategies Collide: Divergent Multipoint Strategies Within Competitive Triads 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.

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.

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 Triads Competition in the consumer business. Now Triads Competition can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.

Identify volunteer opportunities

– Covid-19 has impacted working population in two ways – it has led to people soul searching about their professional choices, resulting in mass resignation. Secondly it has encouraged people to do things that they are passionate about. This has opened opportunities for businesses to build volunteer oriented socially driven projects. Triads Competition can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.

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.

Using analytics as competitive advantage

– Triads Competition 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 When Strategies Collide: Divergent Multipoint Strategies Within Competitive Triads - to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Triads Competition to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.

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.

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.

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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 -

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 Triads Competition.

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.

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.

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 Triads Competition business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.

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.

Regulatory challenges

– Triads Competition 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.

Environmental challenges

– Triads Competition 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. Triads Competition can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Strategy & Execution industry.

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 .

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.

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 .

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.

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. Triads Competition needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Strategy & Execution industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.

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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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