How Social Networks Create Competetive Advantage: Building Your Reputation SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Strategy & Execution
Strategy / MBA Resources
Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of How Social Networks Create Competetive Advantage: Building Your Reputation
Global managers can gain competitive advantage by bridging information gaps -- or structural holes -- between different islands of knowledge within their organizations, whether these are functional areas, business units or geographic markets. By manning these bridges, they are in a unique position to collect and transfer information, and most important, reframe it to make sure that it is understandable across diverse islands. To learn how to gain competitive advantage, however, a clear understanding of the origins of reputation is key. In electronic networks like Amazon and eBay, reputation emerges in a closed system that vendors can directly monitor and manage, since the same information is distributed to everyone. Controlling one's reputation gets a bit trickier in human networks. In this case, closed networks become echo chambers, fed by select bits of information (aka gossip) that is unevenly processed and selectively distributed, depending on the parties involved. The upside of this "information exchange" is its role in cultivating relationships in an organization. The potential downside: its wide-ranging implications for managing reputation.
Swot Analysis of "How Social Networks Create Competetive Advantage: Building Your Reputation" written by Ronald S. Burt, Suzanne Hogseth includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Reputation Networks facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in How Social Networks Create Competetive Advantage: Building Your Reputation case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Strategy and Strategy & Execution.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the How Social Networks Create Competetive Advantage: Building Your Reputation casestudy better are - – increasing transportation and logistics costs, competitive advantages are harder to sustain because of technology dispersion, cloud computing is disrupting traditional business models, talent flight as more people leaving formal jobs, wage bills are increasing, there is backlash against globalization, increasing commodity prices,
challanges to central banks by blockchain based private currencies, central banks are concerned over increasing inflation, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of How Social Networks Create Competetive Advantage: Building Your Reputation
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in How Social Networks Create Competetive Advantage: Building Your Reputation case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Reputation Networks, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Reputation Networks 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 How Social Networks Create Competetive Advantage: Building Your Reputation can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in How Social Networks Create Competetive Advantage: Building Your Reputation case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Reputation Networks
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 Reputation Networks
Strengths How Social Networks Create Competetive Advantage: Building Your Reputation | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Reputation Networks in How Social Networks Create Competetive Advantage: Building Your Reputation Harvard Business Review case study are -
Innovation driven organization
– Reputation Networks is one of the most innovative firm in sector. Manager in How Social Networks Create Competetive Advantage: Building Your Reputation Harvard Business Review case study can use Clayton Christensen Disruptive Innovation strategies to further increase the scale of innovtions in the organization.
Superior customer experience
– The customer experience strategy of Reputation Networks in the segment is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.
Effective Research and Development (R&D)
– Reputation Networks 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 How Social Networks Create Competetive Advantage: Building Your Reputation - 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
– How Social Networks Create Competetive Advantage: Building Your Reputation firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Reputation Networks to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Strategy & Execution industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Reputation Networks to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
High switching costs
– The high switching costs that Reputation Networks has built up over years in its products and services combo offer has resulted in high retention of customers, lower marketing costs, and greater ability of the firm to focus on its customers.
Operational resilience
– The operational resilience strategy in the How Social Networks Create Competetive Advantage: Building Your Reputation 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.
Training and development
– Reputation Networks has one of the best training and development program in the industry. The effectiveness of the training programs can be measured in How Social Networks Create Competetive Advantage: Building Your Reputation Harvard Business Review case study by analyzing – employees retention, in-house promotion, loyalty, new venture initiation, lack of conflict, and high level of both employees and customer engagement.
Ability to recruit top talent
– Reputation Networks is one of the leading recruiters in the industry. Managers in the How Social Networks Create Competetive Advantage: Building Your Reputation are in a position to attract the best talent available. The firm has a robust talent identification program that helps in identifying the brightest.
Highly skilled collaborators
– Reputation Networks 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 How Social Networks Create Competetive Advantage: Building Your Reputation HBR case study have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
Analytics focus
– Reputation Networks 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 Ronald S. Burt, Suzanne Hogseth 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.
Ability to lead change in Strategy & Execution field
– Reputation Networks 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 Reputation Networks in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.
Learning organization
- Reputation Networks 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 Reputation Networks is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders in How Social Networks Create Competetive Advantage: Building Your Reputation Harvard Business Review case study emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
Weaknesses How Social Networks Create Competetive Advantage: Building Your Reputation | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of How Social Networks Create Competetive Advantage: Building Your Reputation are -
Compensation and incentives
– The revenue per employee as mentioned in the HBR case study How Social Networks Create Competetive Advantage: Building Your Reputation, is just above the industry average. Reputation Networks 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 How Social Networks Create Competetive Advantage: Building Your Reputation 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 How Social Networks Create Competetive Advantage: Building Your Reputation can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Reputation Networks is planning to shift buying processes online.
Need for greater diversity
– Reputation Networks 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.
Slow decision making process
– As mentioned earlier in the report, Reputation Networks 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. Reputation Networks 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.
Capital Spending Reduction
– Even during the low interest decade, Reputation Networks 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.
No frontier risks strategy
– After analyzing the HBR case study How Social Networks Create Competetive Advantage: Building Your Reputation, 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.
High bargaining power of channel partners
– Because of the regulatory requirements, Ronald S. Burt, Suzanne Hogseth suggests that, Reputation Networks 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.
High operating costs
– Compare to the competitors, firm in the HBR case study How Social Networks Create Competetive Advantage: Building Your Reputation 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 Reputation Networks 's lucrative customers.
Lack of clear differentiation of Reputation Networks products
– To increase the profitability and margins on the products, Reputation Networks needs to provide more differentiated products than what it is currently offering in the marketplace.
Slow to harness new channels of communication
– Even though competitors are using new communication channels such as Instagram, Tiktok, and Snap, Reputation Networks is slow explore the new channels of communication. These new channels of communication mentioned in marketing section of case study How Social Networks Create Competetive Advantage: Building Your Reputation can help to provide better information regarding products and services. It can also build an online community to further reach out to potential customers.
Low market penetration in new markets
– Outside its home market of Reputation Networks, firm in the HBR case study How Social Networks Create Competetive Advantage: Building Your Reputation needs to spend more promotional, marketing, and advertising efforts to penetrate international markets.
Opportunities How Social Networks Create Competetive Advantage: Building Your Reputation | 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 How Social Networks Create Competetive Advantage: Building Your Reputation are -
Developing new processes and practices
– Reputation Networks 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.
Learning at scale
– Online learning technologies has now opened space for Reputation Networks 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.
Loyalty marketing
– Reputation Networks 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.
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 Reputation Networks in the consumer business. Now Reputation Networks can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.
Increase in government spending
– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Reputation Networks can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Reputation Networks operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Strategy & Execution sector.
Low interest rates
– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Reputation Networks 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.
Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities
– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Reputation Networks 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 Reputation Networks to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
Redefining models of collaboration and team work
– As explained in the weaknesses section, Reputation Networks is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. How Social Networks Create Competetive Advantage: Building Your Reputation 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.
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– Reputation Networks 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 How Social Networks Create Competetive Advantage: Building Your Reputation - to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Reputation Networks to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
Building a culture of innovation
– managers at Reputation Networks 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.
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 Reputation Networks 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.
Better consumer reach
– The expansion of the 5G network will help Reputation Networks to increase its market reach. Reputation Networks 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.
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. Reputation Networks can tie-up with other value chain partners to explore new opportunities regarding meeting customer demands and building a rewarding and engaging relationship.
Threats How Social Networks Create Competetive Advantage: Building Your Reputation External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study How Social Networks Create Competetive Advantage: Building Your Reputation are -
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, as highlighted in case study How Social Networks Create Competetive Advantage: Building Your Reputation, Reputation Networks 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 .
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 Reputation Networks business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
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.
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry in the industry are lowering. It can presents Reputation Networks with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the sector.
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Reputation Networks 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 How Social Networks Create Competetive Advantage: Building Your Reputation .
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 Reputation Networks in the Strategy & Execution sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
Increasing wage structure of Reputation Networks
– 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 Reputation Networks.
Regulatory challenges
– Reputation Networks 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. Reputation Networks can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
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. Reputation Networks 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.
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.
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Reputation Networks 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
– Reputation Networks has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Strategy & Execution industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Reputation Networks 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 How Social Networks Create Competetive Advantage: Building Your Reputation 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 How Social Networks Create Competetive Advantage: Building Your Reputation 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 How Social Networks Create Competetive Advantage: Building Your Reputation 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 How Social Networks Create Competetive Advantage: Building Your Reputation 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 How Social Networks Create Competetive Advantage: Building Your Reputation 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 Reputation Networks needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.
