i-flex solutions limited (B): The Oracle Years SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Strategy & Execution
Strategy / MBA Resources
Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of i-flex solutions limited (B): The Oracle Years
Supplement to case IMB603. i-flex is a unique illustration of an Indian software product company that emerged from an ecosystem dominated by software services firms. The case comprises two parts. The first part, set in late 2005, describes the company's evolution into a global market leader in the banking software industry ending with its acquisition by Oracle. The second part of the case, set in 2015, provides an update on the evolution of the company in the 10 years since its acquisition by Oracle.
Swot Analysis of "i-flex solutions limited (B): The Oracle Years" written by J Ramachandran, Pranav Garg includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Oracle Flex facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in i-flex solutions limited (B): The Oracle Years case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Leadership, Strategy and Strategy & Execution.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the i-flex solutions limited (B): The Oracle Years casestudy better are - – customer relationship management is fast transforming because of increasing concerns over data privacy, geopolitical disruptions, talent flight as more people leaving formal jobs, wage bills are increasing, increasing energy prices, cloud computing is disrupting traditional business models, digital marketing is dominated by two big players Facebook and Google,
increasing government debt because of Covid-19 spendings, banking and financial system is disrupted by Bitcoin and other crypto currencies, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of i-flex solutions limited (B): The Oracle Years
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in i-flex solutions limited (B): The Oracle Years case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Oracle Flex, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Oracle Flex 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 i-flex solutions limited (B): The Oracle Years can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in i-flex solutions limited (B): The Oracle Years case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Oracle Flex
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 Oracle Flex
Strengths i-flex solutions limited (B): The Oracle Years | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Oracle Flex in i-flex solutions limited (B): The Oracle Years Harvard Business Review case study are -
Organizational Resilience of Oracle Flex
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing that Oracle Flex does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Strategy & Execution industry
– i-flex solutions limited (B): The Oracle Years firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Oracle Flex to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Strategy & Execution industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Oracle Flex to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Innovation driven organization
– Oracle Flex is one of the most innovative firm in sector. Manager in i-flex solutions limited (B): The Oracle Years Harvard Business Review case study can use Clayton Christensen Disruptive Innovation strategies to further increase the scale of innovtions in the organization.
Cross disciplinary teams
– Horizontal connected teams at the Oracle Flex 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.
Learning organization
- Oracle Flex 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 Oracle Flex is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders in i-flex solutions limited (B): The Oracle Years Harvard Business Review case study emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
High brand equity
– Oracle Flex has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Oracle Flex to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of Oracle Flex in the sector have low bargaining power. i-flex solutions limited (B): The Oracle Years has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Oracle Flex to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
Diverse revenue streams
– Oracle Flex is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided firm in i-flex solutions limited (B): The Oracle Years 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.
Operational resilience
– The operational resilience strategy in the i-flex solutions limited (B): The Oracle Years 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.
Ability to recruit top talent
– Oracle Flex is one of the leading recruiters in the industry. Managers in the i-flex solutions limited (B): The Oracle Years are in a position to attract the best talent available. The firm has a robust talent identification program that helps in identifying the brightest.
High switching costs
– The high switching costs that Oracle Flex 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.
Training and development
– Oracle Flex has one of the best training and development program in the industry. The effectiveness of the training programs can be measured in i-flex solutions limited (B): The Oracle Years 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.
Weaknesses i-flex solutions limited (B): The Oracle Years | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of i-flex solutions limited (B): The Oracle Years are -
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 Oracle Flex supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes mentioned in the HBR case study - i-flex solutions limited (B): The Oracle Years, it is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left Oracle Flex vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.
Low market penetration in new markets
– Outside its home market of Oracle Flex, firm in the HBR case study i-flex solutions limited (B): The Oracle Years needs to spend more promotional, marketing, and advertising efforts to penetrate international markets.
Increasing silos among functional specialists
– The organizational structure of Oracle Flex is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Strategy & Execution segment. Oracle Flex needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Oracle Flex to focus more on services rather than just following the product oriented approach.
Need for greater diversity
– Oracle Flex 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.
High operating costs
– Compare to the competitors, firm in the HBR case study i-flex solutions limited (B): The Oracle Years 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 Oracle Flex 's lucrative customers.
No frontier risks strategy
– After analyzing the HBR case study i-flex solutions limited (B): The Oracle Years, 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.
Lack of clear differentiation of Oracle Flex products
– To increase the profitability and margins on the products, Oracle Flex needs to provide more differentiated products than what it is currently offering in the marketplace.
Employees’ incomplete understanding of strategy
– From the instances in the HBR case study i-flex solutions limited (B): The Oracle Years, it seems that the employees of Oracle Flex 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.
Capital Spending Reduction
– Even during the low interest decade, Oracle Flex 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.
Ability to respond to the competition
– As the decision making is very deliberative, highlighted in the case study i-flex solutions limited (B): The Oracle Years, in the dynamic environment Oracle Flex has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. Oracle Flex has reasonably good record with similar level competitors but it has struggled with new entrants taking away niches of its business.
Skills based hiring
– The stress on hiring functional specialists at Oracle Flex 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.
Opportunities i-flex solutions limited (B): The Oracle Years | 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 i-flex solutions limited (B): The Oracle Years are -
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. Oracle Flex can tie-up with other value chain partners to explore new opportunities regarding meeting customer demands and building a rewarding and engaging relationship.
Better consumer reach
– The expansion of the 5G network will help Oracle Flex to increase its market reach. Oracle Flex 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.
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– Oracle Flex 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 i-flex solutions limited (B): The Oracle Years - to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Oracle Flex to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
Leveraging digital technologies
– Oracle Flex 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.
Low interest rates
– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Oracle Flex 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.
Redefining models of collaboration and team work
– As explained in the weaknesses section, Oracle Flex is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. i-flex solutions limited (B): The Oracle Years 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.
Increase in government spending
– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Oracle Flex can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Oracle Flex operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Strategy & Execution sector.
Lowering marketing communication costs
– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Oracle Flex 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.
Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities
– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Oracle Flex 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 Oracle Flex to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Oracle Flex has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Oracle Flex to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the i-flex solutions limited (B): The Oracle Years case study. Oracle Flex can build new products and services such as - data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
Building a culture of innovation
– managers at Oracle Flex 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.
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. Oracle Flex 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. Oracle Flex 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.
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 Oracle Flex in the consumer business. Now Oracle Flex can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.
Threats i-flex solutions limited (B): The Oracle Years External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study i-flex solutions limited (B): The Oracle Years are -
Environmental challenges
– Oracle Flex 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. Oracle Flex can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Strategy & Execution industry.
Consumer confidence and its impact on Oracle Flex 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.
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 Oracle Flex.
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.
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Oracle Flex 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 i-flex solutions limited (B): The Oracle Years .
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Oracle Flex 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.
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 Oracle Flex in the Strategy & Execution sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, as highlighted in case study i-flex solutions limited (B): The Oracle Years, Oracle Flex 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 .
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Oracle Flex in the Strategy & Execution industry. The Strategy & Execution industry is already at various protected from local competition in China, with the rise of trade war the protection levels may go up. This presents a clear threat of current business model in Chinese market.
Regulatory challenges
– Oracle Flex 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.
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Oracle Flex is facing in Strategy & Execution sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry in the industry are lowering. It can presents Oracle Flex with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the sector.
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 Oracle Flex business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of i-flex solutions limited (B): The Oracle Years 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 i-flex solutions limited (B): The Oracle Years 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 i-flex solutions limited (B): The Oracle Years 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 i-flex solutions limited (B): The Oracle Years 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 i-flex solutions limited (B): The Oracle Years 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 Oracle Flex needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.
