Customer-Centric Leadership: How to Manage Strategic Customers as Assets in B2B Markets SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Strategy & Execution
Strategy / MBA Resources
Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of Customer-Centric Leadership: How to Manage Strategic Customers as Assets in B2B Markets
In this age of tough, global competition, companies in business-to-business markets need to rethink the way they manage their customer portfolio and interact with their customers. Customer managers with mainly sales- or relationship-oriented roles cannot leverage their business relationships with customers who seek co-creation. For such co-creation relationships, companies need to install network-oriented managers who systematically create value and reduce risk together with the customer. This article distinguishes three customer asset management perspectives (i.e., sales, relationship, and network) that may be employed by customer managers at the supplier-customer interface. Following an explication of the evolving network perspective, it describes how firms can nurture the network perspective and the corresponding customer manager role in terms of mindset, context, and competence.
Swot Analysis of "Customer-Centric Leadership: How to Manage Strategic Customers as Assets in B2B Markets" written by Christoph Senn, George S. Yip includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Customer Network facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Customer-Centric Leadership: How to Manage Strategic Customers as Assets in B2B Markets case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Customers, Networking and Strategy & Execution.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Customer-Centric Leadership: How to Manage Strategic Customers as Assets in B2B Markets casestudy better are - – increasing transportation and logistics costs, increasing inequality as vast percentage of new income is going to the top 1%, wage bills are increasing, digital marketing is dominated by two big players Facebook and Google, talent flight as more people leaving formal jobs, competitive advantages are harder to sustain because of technology dispersion, technology disruption,
increasing energy prices, supply chains are disrupted by pandemic , etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Customer-Centric Leadership: How to Manage Strategic Customers as Assets in B2B Markets
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Customer-Centric Leadership: How to Manage Strategic Customers as Assets in B2B Markets case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Customer Network, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Customer Network 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 Customer-Centric Leadership: How to Manage Strategic Customers as Assets in B2B Markets can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Customer-Centric Leadership: How to Manage Strategic Customers as Assets in B2B Markets case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Customer Network
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 Customer Network
Strengths Customer-Centric Leadership: How to Manage Strategic Customers as Assets in B2B Markets | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Customer Network in Customer-Centric Leadership: How to Manage Strategic Customers as Assets in B2B Markets Harvard Business Review case study are -
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of Customer Network in the sector have low bargaining power. Customer-Centric Leadership: How to Manage Strategic Customers as Assets in B2B Markets has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Customer Network to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
Organizational Resilience of Customer Network
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing that Customer Network does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
Superior customer experience
– The customer experience strategy of Customer Network 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)
– Customer Network 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 Customer-Centric Leadership: How to Manage Strategic Customers as Assets in B2B Markets - staying ahead in the industry in terms of – new product launches, superior customer experience, highly competitive pricing strategies, and great returns to the shareholders.
Successful track record of launching new products
– Customer Network has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Customer Network 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.
High brand equity
– Customer Network has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Customer Network to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Diverse revenue streams
– Customer Network is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided firm in Customer-Centric Leadership: How to Manage Strategic Customers as Assets in B2B Markets 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 Customer Network digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Customer Network 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.
Learning organization
- Customer Network 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 Customer Network is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders in Customer-Centric Leadership: How to Manage Strategic Customers as Assets in B2B Markets Harvard Business Review case study emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
Innovation driven organization
– Customer Network is one of the most innovative firm in sector. Manager in Customer-Centric Leadership: How to Manage Strategic Customers as Assets in B2B Markets Harvard Business Review case study can use Clayton Christensen Disruptive Innovation strategies to further increase the scale of innovtions in the organization.
Training and development
– Customer Network has one of the best training and development program in the industry. The effectiveness of the training programs can be measured in Customer-Centric Leadership: How to Manage Strategic Customers as Assets in B2B Markets 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.
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Strategy & Execution industry
– Customer-Centric Leadership: How to Manage Strategic Customers as Assets in B2B Markets firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Customer Network to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Strategy & Execution industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Customer Network to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Weaknesses Customer-Centric Leadership: How to Manage Strategic Customers as Assets in B2B Markets | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Customer-Centric Leadership: How to Manage Strategic Customers as Assets in B2B Markets are -
Lack of clear differentiation of Customer Network products
– To increase the profitability and margins on the products, Customer Network needs to provide more differentiated products than what it is currently offering in the marketplace.
Ability to respond to the competition
– As the decision making is very deliberative, highlighted in the case study Customer-Centric Leadership: How to Manage Strategic Customers as Assets in B2B Markets, in the dynamic environment Customer Network has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. Customer Network has reasonably good record with similar level competitors but it has struggled with new entrants taking away niches of its business.
Slow decision making process
– As mentioned earlier in the report, Customer Network 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. Customer Network 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.
Slow to harness new channels of communication
– Even though competitors are using new communication channels such as Instagram, Tiktok, and Snap, Customer Network is slow explore the new channels of communication. These new channels of communication mentioned in marketing section of case study Customer-Centric Leadership: How to Manage Strategic Customers as Assets in B2B Markets can help to provide better information regarding products and services. It can also build an online community to further reach out to potential customers.
Products dominated business model
– Even though Customer Network 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 - Customer-Centric Leadership: How to Manage Strategic Customers as Assets in B2B Markets should strive to include more intangible value offerings along with its core products and services.
Aligning sales with marketing
– It come across in the case study Customer-Centric Leadership: How to Manage Strategic Customers as Assets in B2B Markets 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 Customer-Centric Leadership: How to Manage Strategic Customers as Assets in B2B Markets can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Customer Network is planning to shift buying processes online.
Increasing silos among functional specialists
– The organizational structure of Customer Network is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Strategy & Execution segment. Customer Network needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Customer Network to focus more on services rather than just following the product oriented approach.
High dependence on star products
– The top 2 products and services of the firm as mentioned in the Customer-Centric Leadership: How to Manage Strategic Customers as Assets in B2B Markets 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 Customer Network has relatively successful track record of launching new products.
Low market penetration in new markets
– Outside its home market of Customer Network, firm in the HBR case study Customer-Centric Leadership: How to Manage Strategic Customers as Assets in B2B Markets needs to spend more promotional, marketing, and advertising efforts to penetrate international markets.
High cash cycle compare to competitors
Customer Network has a high cash cycle compare to other players in the industry. It needs to shorten the cash cycle by 12% to be more competitive in the marketplace, reduce inventory costs, and be more profitable.
No frontier risks strategy
– After analyzing the HBR case study Customer-Centric Leadership: How to Manage Strategic Customers as Assets in B2B Markets, it seems that company is thinking about the frontier risks that can impact Strategy & Execution strategy. But it has very little resources allocation to manage the risks emerging from events such as natural disasters, climate change, melting of permafrost, tacking the rise of artificial intelligence, opportunities and threats emerging from commercialization of space etc.
Opportunities Customer-Centric Leadership: How to Manage Strategic Customers as Assets in B2B Markets | 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 Customer-Centric Leadership: How to Manage Strategic Customers as Assets in B2B Markets are -
Loyalty marketing
– Customer Network 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.
Manufacturing automation
– Customer Network 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.
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. Customer Network 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. Customer Network can tie-up with other value chain partners to explore new opportunities regarding meeting customer demands and building a rewarding and engaging relationship.
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 Customer Network 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.
Developing new processes and practices
– Customer Network 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.
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Customer Network has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Customer Network to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the Customer-Centric Leadership: How to Manage Strategic Customers as Assets in B2B Markets case study. Customer Network can build new products and services such as - data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
Learning at scale
– Online learning technologies has now opened space for Customer Network 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.
Changes in consumer behavior post Covid-19
– Consumer behavior has changed in the Strategy & Execution industry because of Covid-19 restrictions. Some of this behavior will stay once things get back to normal. Customer Network can take advantage of these changes in consumer behavior to build a far more efficient business model. For example consumer regular ordering of products can reduce both last mile delivery costs and market penetration costs. Customer Network can further use this consumer data to build better customer loyalty, provide better products and service collection, and improve the value proposition in inflationary times.
Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains
– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Customer Network 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, Customer-Centric Leadership: How to Manage Strategic Customers as Assets in B2B Markets, to buy more products closer to the markets, and it can leverage its size and influence to get better deal from the local markets.
Reforming the budgeting process
- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects Customer Network can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.
Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities
– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Customer Network 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 Customer Network 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, Customer Network can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Customer Network operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Strategy & Execution sector.
Threats Customer-Centric Leadership: How to Manage Strategic Customers as Assets in B2B Markets External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Customer-Centric Leadership: How to Manage Strategic Customers as Assets in B2B Markets are -
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Customer Network 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.
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Customer Network is facing in Strategy & Execution sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.
Regulatory challenges
– Customer Network 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.
Consumer confidence and its impact on Customer Network 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.
Increasing wage structure of Customer Network
– 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 Customer Network.
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. Customer Network needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Strategy & Execution industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Customer Network has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Strategy & Execution industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Customer Network 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 Customer Network business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
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.
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. Customer Network 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.
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. Customer Network can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Customer Network 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 Customer-Centric Leadership: How to Manage Strategic Customers as Assets in B2B Markets .
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Customer-Centric Leadership: How to Manage Strategic Customers as Assets in B2B Markets 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 Customer-Centric Leadership: How to Manage Strategic Customers as Assets in B2B Markets 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 Customer-Centric Leadership: How to Manage Strategic Customers as Assets in B2B Markets 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 Customer-Centric Leadership: How to Manage Strategic Customers as Assets in B2B Markets 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 Customer-Centric Leadership: How to Manage Strategic Customers as Assets in B2B Markets 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 Customer Network needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.
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