Blinds To Go: Evaluating the Blindstogo.com Retail E-Commerce Venture SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Strategy & Execution
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Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of Blinds To Go: Evaluating the Blindstogo.com Retail E-Commerce Venture
When Blindstogo.com, the online project of Blinds To Go (BTG), was first proposed in mid-1999 its board of directors was lukewarm to the idea. However, after six months of operation and seeing other retailers go online and the tremendous valuation being given to dot-coms, the board was encouraging BTG to devote more resources to the project. Plans were already in place to further expand their retail store network. Senior management at BTG had received sales, spending and survey results from their retail e-commerce venture. Data obtained from the web site indicated that the people who visited the site were the same people who visited the stores. The vice-chairman of BTG wanted to evaluate the results of this online venture by examining the fit of the e-commerce project within the overall business strategy, to determine where resources should be focused.
Swot Analysis of "Blinds To Go: Evaluating the Blindstogo.com Retail E-Commerce Venture" written by Michael R. Pearce, Ken Mark includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Btg Blindstogo.com facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Blinds To Go: Evaluating the Blindstogo.com Retail E-Commerce Venture case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Strategic planning and Strategy & Execution.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Blinds To Go: Evaluating the Blindstogo.com Retail E-Commerce Venture casestudy better are - – supply chains are disrupted by pandemic , challanges to central banks by blockchain based private currencies, increasing inequality as vast percentage of new income is going to the top 1%, geopolitical disruptions, customer relationship management is fast transforming because of increasing concerns over data privacy, increasing household debt because of falling income levels, central banks are concerned over increasing inflation,
increasing transportation and logistics costs, there is increasing trade war between United States & China, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Blinds To Go: Evaluating the Blindstogo.com Retail E-Commerce Venture
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Blinds To Go: Evaluating the Blindstogo.com Retail E-Commerce Venture case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Btg Blindstogo.com, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Btg Blindstogo.com 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 Blinds To Go: Evaluating the Blindstogo.com Retail E-Commerce Venture can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Blinds To Go: Evaluating the Blindstogo.com Retail E-Commerce Venture case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Btg Blindstogo.com
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 Btg Blindstogo.com
Strengths Blinds To Go: Evaluating the Blindstogo.com Retail E-Commerce Venture | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Btg Blindstogo.com in Blinds To Go: Evaluating the Blindstogo.com Retail E-Commerce Venture Harvard Business Review case study are -
Digital Transformation in Strategy & Execution segment
- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For Btg Blindstogo.com digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Btg Blindstogo.com 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.
Effective Research and Development (R&D)
– Btg Blindstogo.com 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 Blinds To Go: Evaluating the Blindstogo.com Retail E-Commerce Venture - staying ahead in the industry in terms of – new product launches, superior customer experience, highly competitive pricing strategies, and great returns to the shareholders.
Ability to recruit top talent
– Btg Blindstogo.com is one of the leading recruiters in the industry. Managers in the Blinds To Go: Evaluating the Blindstogo.com Retail E-Commerce Venture are in a position to attract the best talent available. The firm has a robust talent identification program that helps in identifying the brightest.
Training and development
– Btg Blindstogo.com has one of the best training and development program in the industry. The effectiveness of the training programs can be measured in Blinds To Go: Evaluating the Blindstogo.com Retail E-Commerce Venture 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.
Operational resilience
– The operational resilience strategy in the Blinds To Go: Evaluating the Blindstogo.com Retail E-Commerce Venture 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.
Superior customer experience
– The customer experience strategy of Btg Blindstogo.com in the segment is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.
High brand equity
– Btg Blindstogo.com has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Btg Blindstogo.com to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Strategy & Execution industry
– Blinds To Go: Evaluating the Blindstogo.com Retail E-Commerce Venture firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Btg Blindstogo.com to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Strategy & Execution industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Btg Blindstogo.com to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Successful track record of launching new products
– Btg Blindstogo.com has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Btg Blindstogo.com 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.
Analytics focus
– Btg Blindstogo.com 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 Michael R. Pearce, Ken Mark 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.
Diverse revenue streams
– Btg Blindstogo.com is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided firm in Blinds To Go: Evaluating the Blindstogo.com Retail E-Commerce Venture 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.
Cross disciplinary teams
– Horizontal connected teams at the Btg Blindstogo.com 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.
Weaknesses Blinds To Go: Evaluating the Blindstogo.com Retail E-Commerce Venture | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Blinds To Go: Evaluating the Blindstogo.com Retail E-Commerce Venture are -
High bargaining power of channel partners
– Because of the regulatory requirements, Michael R. Pearce, Ken Mark suggests that, Btg Blindstogo.com 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.
No frontier risks strategy
– After analyzing the HBR case study Blinds To Go: Evaluating the Blindstogo.com Retail E-Commerce Venture, 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.
Skills based hiring
– The stress on hiring functional specialists at Btg Blindstogo.com 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.
Slow to harness new channels of communication
– Even though competitors are using new communication channels such as Instagram, Tiktok, and Snap, Btg Blindstogo.com is slow explore the new channels of communication. These new channels of communication mentioned in marketing section of case study Blinds To Go: Evaluating the Blindstogo.com Retail E-Commerce Venture can help to provide better information regarding products and services. It can also build an online community to further reach out to potential customers.
High operating costs
– Compare to the competitors, firm in the HBR case study Blinds To Go: Evaluating the Blindstogo.com Retail E-Commerce Venture 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 Btg Blindstogo.com 's lucrative customers.
Compensation and incentives
– The revenue per employee as mentioned in the HBR case study Blinds To Go: Evaluating the Blindstogo.com Retail E-Commerce Venture, is just above the industry average. Btg Blindstogo.com 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.
Increasing silos among functional specialists
– The organizational structure of Btg Blindstogo.com is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Strategy & Execution segment. Btg Blindstogo.com needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Btg Blindstogo.com to focus more on services rather than just following the product oriented approach.
Interest costs
– Compare to the competition, Btg Blindstogo.com 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.
Slow to strategic competitive environment developments
– As Blinds To Go: Evaluating the Blindstogo.com Retail E-Commerce Venture HBR case study mentions - Btg Blindstogo.com takes time to assess the upcoming competitions. This has led to missing out on atleast 2-3 big opportunities in the industry in last five years.
Slow decision making process
– As mentioned earlier in the report, Btg Blindstogo.com 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. Btg Blindstogo.com 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.
Aligning sales with marketing
– It come across in the case study Blinds To Go: Evaluating the Blindstogo.com Retail E-Commerce Venture 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 Blinds To Go: Evaluating the Blindstogo.com Retail E-Commerce Venture can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Btg Blindstogo.com is planning to shift buying processes online.
Opportunities Blinds To Go: Evaluating the Blindstogo.com Retail E-Commerce Venture | 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 Blinds To Go: Evaluating the Blindstogo.com Retail E-Commerce Venture are -
Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities
– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Btg Blindstogo.com 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 Btg Blindstogo.com to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
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. Btg Blindstogo.com can tie-up with other value chain partners to explore new opportunities regarding meeting customer demands and building a rewarding and engaging relationship.
Lowering marketing communication costs
– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Btg Blindstogo.com in the field of marketing communication. It will bring down the cost of doing business, provide technology platform to build new products in the Strategy & Execution segment, and it will provide faster access to the consumers.
Low interest rates
– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Btg Blindstogo.com 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.
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Btg Blindstogo.com has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Btg Blindstogo.com to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the Blinds To Go: Evaluating the Blindstogo.com Retail E-Commerce Venture case study. Btg Blindstogo.com can build new products and services such as - data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
Better consumer reach
– The expansion of the 5G network will help Btg Blindstogo.com to increase its market reach. Btg Blindstogo.com 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.
Leveraging digital technologies
– Btg Blindstogo.com 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.
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 Btg Blindstogo.com 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
– Btg Blindstogo.com 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.
Buying journey improvements
– Btg Blindstogo.com can improve the customer journey of consumers in the industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. Blinds To Go: Evaluating the Blindstogo.com Retail E-Commerce Venture suggest that firm can provide automated chats to help consumers solve their own problems, provide online suggestions to get maximum out of the products and services, and help consumers to build a community where they can interact with each other to develop new features and uses.
Learning at scale
– Online learning technologies has now opened space for Btg Blindstogo.com 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.
Building a culture of innovation
– managers at Btg Blindstogo.com 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.
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– Btg Blindstogo.com 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 Blinds To Go: Evaluating the Blindstogo.com Retail E-Commerce Venture - to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Btg Blindstogo.com to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
Threats Blinds To Go: Evaluating the Blindstogo.com Retail E-Commerce Venture External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Blinds To Go: Evaluating the Blindstogo.com Retail E-Commerce Venture are -
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. Btg Blindstogo.com 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.
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. Btg Blindstogo.com needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Strategy & Execution industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
Environmental challenges
– Btg Blindstogo.com 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. Btg Blindstogo.com can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Strategy & Execution industry.
Regulatory challenges
– Btg Blindstogo.com 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.
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 Btg Blindstogo.com.
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. Btg Blindstogo.com can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry in the industry are lowering. It can presents Btg Blindstogo.com with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the sector.
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Btg Blindstogo.com 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.
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.
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Btg Blindstogo.com has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Strategy & Execution industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Btg Blindstogo.com 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.
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Btg Blindstogo.com 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 Blinds To Go: Evaluating the Blindstogo.com Retail E-Commerce Venture .
Technology disruption because of hacks, piracy etc
– The colonial pipeline illustrated, how vulnerable modern organization are to international hackers, miscreants, and disruptors. The cyber security interruption, data leaks, etc can seriously jeopardize the future growth of the organization.
New competition
– After the dotcom bust of 2001, financial crisis of 2008-09, the business formation in US economy had declined. But in 2020 alone, there are more than 1.5 million new business applications in United States. This can lead to greater competition for Btg Blindstogo.com in the Strategy & Execution sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Blinds To Go: Evaluating the Blindstogo.com Retail E-Commerce Venture 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 Blinds To Go: Evaluating the Blindstogo.com Retail E-Commerce Venture 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 Blinds To Go: Evaluating the Blindstogo.com Retail E-Commerce Venture 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 Blinds To Go: Evaluating the Blindstogo.com Retail E-Commerce Venture 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 Blinds To Go: Evaluating the Blindstogo.com Retail E-Commerce Venture 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 Btg Blindstogo.com needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.
