E-Coms and Their Marketing Strategies SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Strategy & Execution
Strategy / MBA Resources
Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of E-Coms and Their Marketing Strategies
Most e-commerce firms fail sooner than later. But how do their strategies affect those failures? Most firms used price as their key competitive strategy, even pricing products below present costs (but above the lower cost expected in the future because of eventual economies of scale) to capture market share. This created large and growing losses in almost all firms studied. Most of the e-coms said they catered to all sectors--consumer, business, and public--but concentrated or identified with only one. Firms found it more complicated than expected to develop different strategies for each sector. The picture that emerges is of a technology-induced industry that began running on its technical success and now faces a stark reality. To succeed, e-coms need to couple technical know-how with business savvy, as Dell has done. Faced with this reality, many have employed different measures, including raising more cash to stay liquid, adding new target groups and products/services, and going global.
Swot Analysis of "E-Coms and Their Marketing Strategies" written by Avraham Shama includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Coms Firms facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in E-Coms and Their Marketing Strategies case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, IT, Marketing and Strategy & Execution.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the E-Coms and Their Marketing Strategies casestudy better are - – there is increasing trade war between United States & China, talent flight as more people leaving formal jobs, challanges to central banks by blockchain based private currencies, geopolitical disruptions, competitive advantages are harder to sustain because of technology dispersion, wage bills are increasing, digital marketing is dominated by two big players Facebook and Google,
supply chains are disrupted by pandemic , central banks are concerned over increasing inflation, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of E-Coms and Their Marketing Strategies
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in E-Coms and Their Marketing Strategies case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Coms Firms, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Coms Firms 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 E-Coms and Their Marketing Strategies can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in E-Coms and Their Marketing Strategies case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Coms Firms
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 Coms Firms
Strengths E-Coms and Their Marketing Strategies | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Coms Firms in E-Coms and Their Marketing Strategies Harvard Business Review case study are -
Analytics focus
– Coms Firms 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 Avraham Shama 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.
Cross disciplinary teams
– Horizontal connected teams at the Coms Firms 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.
Innovation driven organization
– Coms Firms is one of the most innovative firm in sector. Manager in E-Coms and Their Marketing Strategies Harvard Business Review case study can use Clayton Christensen Disruptive Innovation strategies to further increase the scale of innovtions in the organization.
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Strategy & Execution industry
– E-Coms and Their Marketing Strategies firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Coms Firms to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Strategy & Execution industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Coms Firms to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Ability to lead change in Strategy & Execution field
– Coms Firms 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 Coms Firms 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
– Coms Firms has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Coms Firms 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
– Coms Firms is one of the leading recruiters in the industry. Managers in the E-Coms and Their Marketing Strategies are in a position to attract the best talent available. The firm has a robust talent identification program that helps in identifying the brightest.
Effective Research and Development (R&D)
– Coms Firms 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 E-Coms and Their Marketing Strategies - staying ahead in the industry in terms of – new product launches, superior customer experience, highly competitive pricing strategies, and great returns to the shareholders.
High brand equity
– Coms Firms has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Coms Firms to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Learning organization
- Coms Firms 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 Coms Firms is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders in E-Coms and Their Marketing Strategies Harvard Business Review case study emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
Highly skilled collaborators
– Coms Firms 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 E-Coms and Their Marketing Strategies HBR case study have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of Coms Firms in the sector have low bargaining power. E-Coms and Their Marketing Strategies has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Coms Firms to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
Weaknesses E-Coms and Their Marketing Strategies | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of E-Coms and Their Marketing Strategies are -
Employees’ incomplete understanding of strategy
– From the instances in the HBR case study E-Coms and Their Marketing Strategies, it seems that the employees of Coms Firms 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.
Ability to respond to the competition
– As the decision making is very deliberative, highlighted in the case study E-Coms and Their Marketing Strategies, in the dynamic environment Coms Firms has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. Coms Firms has reasonably good record with similar level competitors but it has struggled with new entrants taking away niches of its business.
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 Coms Firms supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes mentioned in the HBR case study - E-Coms and Their Marketing Strategies, it is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left Coms Firms vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.
Slow to strategic competitive environment developments
– As E-Coms and Their Marketing Strategies HBR case study mentions - Coms Firms 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.
Products dominated business model
– Even though Coms Firms 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 - E-Coms and Their Marketing Strategies should strive to include more intangible value offerings along with its core products and services.
Skills based hiring
– The stress on hiring functional specialists at Coms Firms 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.
Workers concerns about automation
– As automation is fast increasing in the segment, Coms Firms 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 E-Coms and Their Marketing Strategies 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 Coms Firms has relatively successful track record of launching new products.
Aligning sales with marketing
– It come across in the case study E-Coms and Their Marketing Strategies 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 E-Coms and Their Marketing Strategies can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Coms Firms is planning to shift buying processes online.
Capital Spending Reduction
– Even during the low interest decade, Coms Firms 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.
Increasing silos among functional specialists
– The organizational structure of Coms Firms is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Strategy & Execution segment. Coms Firms needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Coms Firms to focus more on services rather than just following the product oriented approach.
Opportunities E-Coms and Their Marketing Strategies | 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 E-Coms and Their Marketing Strategies are -
Increase in government spending
– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Coms Firms can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Coms Firms operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Strategy & Execution sector.
Reforming the budgeting process
- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects Coms Firms can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.
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. Coms Firms can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– Coms Firms 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 E-Coms and Their Marketing Strategies - to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Coms Firms to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
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. Coms Firms can tie-up with other value chain partners to explore new opportunities regarding meeting customer demands and building a rewarding and engaging relationship.
Redefining models of collaboration and team work
– As explained in the weaknesses section, Coms Firms is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. E-Coms and Their Marketing Strategies 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.
Lowering marketing communication costs
– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Coms Firms 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.
Low interest rates
– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Coms Firms 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.
Buying journey improvements
– Coms Firms can improve the customer journey of consumers in the industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. E-Coms and Their Marketing Strategies 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.
Learning at scale
– Online learning technologies has now opened space for Coms Firms to conduct training and development for its employees across the world. This will result in not only reducing the cost of training but also help employees in different part of the world to integrate with the headquarter work culture, ethos, and standards.
Reconfiguring business model
– The expansion of digital payment system, the bringing down of international transactions costs using Bitcoin and other blockchain based currencies, etc can help Coms Firms 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.
Manufacturing automation
– Coms Firms 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
– Coms Firms 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.
Threats E-Coms and Their Marketing Strategies External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study E-Coms and Their Marketing Strategies are -
Environmental challenges
– Coms Firms 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. Coms Firms can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Strategy & Execution industry.
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Coms Firms 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.
Regulatory challenges
– Coms Firms 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.
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. Coms Firms can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
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.
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 Coms Firms.
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.
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 Coms Firms in the Strategy & Execution sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Coms Firms has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Strategy & Execution industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Coms Firms 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.
High dependence on third party suppliers
– Coms Firms high dependence on third party suppliers can disrupt its processes and delivery mechanism. For example -the current troubles of car makers because of chip shortage is because the chip companies started producing chips for electronic companies rather than car manufacturers.
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Coms Firms 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 E-Coms and Their Marketing Strategies .
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry in the industry are lowering. It can presents Coms Firms with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the sector.
Increasing wage structure of Coms Firms
– 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 Coms Firms.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of E-Coms and Their Marketing Strategies 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 E-Coms and Their Marketing Strategies 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 E-Coms and Their Marketing Strategies 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 E-Coms and Their Marketing Strategies 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 E-Coms and Their Marketing Strategies 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 Coms Firms needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.