Competition and Business Strategy in Historical Perspective SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Strategy & Execution
Strategy / MBA Resources
Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of Competition and Business Strategy in Historical Perspective
This case is available in only hard copy format (HBP does not have digital distribution rights to the content). As a result, a digital Educator Copy of the case is not available through this web site.Describes the contributions of strategic concepts in the business world, and how they came to be influenced by competitive thinking.
Swot Analysis of "Competition and Business Strategy in Historical Perspective" written by Pankaj Ghemawat includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Copy Site.describes facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Competition and Business Strategy in Historical Perspective case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Competition, Competitive strategy, Research & development and Strategy & Execution.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Competition and Business Strategy in Historical Perspective casestudy better are - – competitive advantages are harder to sustain because of technology dispersion, geopolitical disruptions, there is increasing trade war between United States & China, increasing energy prices, there is backlash against globalization, wage bills are increasing, talent flight as more people leaving formal jobs,
increasing government debt because of Covid-19 spendings, challanges to central banks by blockchain based private currencies, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Competition and Business Strategy in Historical Perspective
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Competition and Business Strategy in Historical Perspective case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Copy Site.describes, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Copy Site.describes 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 Competition and Business Strategy in Historical Perspective can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Competition and Business Strategy in Historical Perspective case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Copy Site.describes
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 Copy Site.describes
Strengths Competition and Business Strategy in Historical Perspective | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Copy Site.describes in Competition and Business Strategy in Historical Perspective Harvard Business Review case study are -
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of Copy Site.describes in the sector have low bargaining power. Competition and Business Strategy in Historical Perspective has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Copy Site.describes to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
Cross disciplinary teams
– Horizontal connected teams at the Copy Site.describes 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.
Analytics focus
– Copy Site.describes 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 Pankaj Ghemawat 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.
High brand equity
– Copy Site.describes has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Copy Site.describes to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Innovation driven organization
– Copy Site.describes is one of the most innovative firm in sector. Manager in Competition and Business Strategy in Historical Perspective Harvard Business Review case study can use Clayton Christensen Disruptive Innovation strategies to further increase the scale of innovtions in the organization.
Ability to lead change in Strategy & Execution field
– Copy Site.describes 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 Copy Site.describes 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)
– Copy Site.describes 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 Competition and Business Strategy in Historical Perspective - staying ahead in the industry in terms of – new product launches, superior customer experience, highly competitive pricing strategies, and great returns to the shareholders.
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Strategy & Execution industry
– Competition and Business Strategy in Historical Perspective firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Copy Site.describes to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Strategy & Execution industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Copy Site.describes to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Highly skilled collaborators
– Copy Site.describes 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 Competition and Business Strategy in Historical Perspective HBR case study have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
Diverse revenue streams
– Copy Site.describes is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided firm in Competition and Business Strategy in Historical Perspective 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
- Copy Site.describes 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 Copy Site.describes is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders in Competition and Business Strategy in Historical Perspective Harvard Business Review case study emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
Ability to recruit top talent
– Copy Site.describes is one of the leading recruiters in the industry. Managers in the Competition and Business Strategy in Historical Perspective are in a position to attract the best talent available. The firm has a robust talent identification program that helps in identifying the brightest.
Weaknesses Competition and Business Strategy in Historical Perspective | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Competition and Business Strategy in Historical Perspective are -
Slow decision making process
– As mentioned earlier in the report, Copy Site.describes 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. Copy Site.describes 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.
High operating costs
– Compare to the competitors, firm in the HBR case study Competition and Business Strategy in Historical Perspective has high operating costs in the. This can be harder to sustain given the new emerging competition from nimble players who are using technology to attract Copy Site.describes 's lucrative customers.
High bargaining power of channel partners
– Because of the regulatory requirements, Pankaj Ghemawat suggests that, Copy Site.describes 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.
Compensation and incentives
– The revenue per employee as mentioned in the HBR case study Competition and Business Strategy in Historical Perspective, is just above the industry average. Copy Site.describes 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.
Interest costs
– Compare to the competition, Copy Site.describes has borrowed money from the capital market at higher rates. It needs to restructure the interest payment and costs so that it can compete better and improve profitability.
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 Copy Site.describes supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes mentioned in the HBR case study - Competition and Business Strategy in Historical Perspective, it is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left Copy Site.describes vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.
High dependence on star products
– The top 2 products and services of the firm as mentioned in the Competition and Business Strategy in Historical Perspective 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 Copy Site.describes has relatively successful track record of launching new products.
Need for greater diversity
– Copy Site.describes 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.
Capital Spending Reduction
– Even during the low interest decade, Copy Site.describes 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 Copy Site.describes is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Strategy & Execution segment. Copy Site.describes needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Copy Site.describes to focus more on services rather than just following the product oriented approach.
Ability to respond to the competition
– As the decision making is very deliberative, highlighted in the case study Competition and Business Strategy in Historical Perspective, in the dynamic environment Copy Site.describes has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. Copy Site.describes has reasonably good record with similar level competitors but it has struggled with new entrants taking away niches of its business.
Opportunities Competition and Business Strategy in Historical Perspective | 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 Competition and Business Strategy in Historical Perspective are -
Learning at scale
– Online learning technologies has now opened space for Copy Site.describes 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.
Lowering marketing communication costs
– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Copy Site.describes 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.
Loyalty marketing
– Copy Site.describes 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.
Buying journey improvements
– Copy Site.describes can improve the customer journey of consumers in the industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. Competition and Business Strategy in Historical Perspective 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.
Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains
– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Copy Site.describes 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, Competition and Business Strategy in Historical Perspective, to buy more products closer to the markets, and it can leverage its size and influence to get better deal from the local markets.
Manufacturing automation
– Copy Site.describes 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.
Better consumer reach
– The expansion of the 5G network will help Copy Site.describes to increase its market reach. Copy Site.describes 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.
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 Copy Site.describes 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.
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Copy Site.describes has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Copy Site.describes to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the Competition and Business Strategy in Historical Perspective case study. Copy Site.describes can build new products and services such as - data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities
– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Copy Site.describes 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 Copy Site.describes to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
Leveraging digital technologies
– Copy Site.describes 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.
Reforming the budgeting process
- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects Copy Site.describes can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.
Building a culture of innovation
– managers at Copy Site.describes 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.
Threats Competition and Business Strategy in Historical Perspective External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Competition and Business Strategy in Historical Perspective are -
Regulatory challenges
– Copy Site.describes 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. Copy Site.describes can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
High dependence on third party suppliers
– Copy Site.describes 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.
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry in the industry are lowering. It can presents Copy Site.describes with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the sector.
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. Copy Site.describes needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Strategy & Execution industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Copy Site.describes 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 Competition and Business Strategy in Historical Perspective .
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Copy Site.describes has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Strategy & Execution industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Copy Site.describes 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.
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. Copy Site.describes 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.
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Copy Site.describes 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.
Increasing wage structure of Copy Site.describes
– 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 Copy Site.describes.
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 Copy Site.describes business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
Consumer confidence and its impact on Copy Site.describes 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.
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.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Competition and Business Strategy in Historical Perspective 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 Competition and Business Strategy in Historical Perspective 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 Competition and Business Strategy in Historical Perspective 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 Competition and Business Strategy in Historical Perspective 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 Competition and Business Strategy in Historical Perspective 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 Copy Site.describes needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.