Blinds To Go: Evaluating the Blindstogo.com Retail E-Commerce Venture SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Strategy & Execution
Strategy / MBA Resources
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 - – increasing commodity prices, there is backlash against globalization, increasing government debt because of Covid-19 spendings, competitive advantages are harder to sustain because of technology dispersion, supply chains are disrupted by pandemic , challanges to central banks by blockchain based private currencies, customer relationship management is fast transforming because of increasing concerns over data privacy,
geopolitical disruptions, technology disruption, 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 -
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.
Organizational Resilience of Btg Blindstogo.com
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing that Btg Blindstogo.com does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of Btg Blindstogo.com in the sector have low bargaining power. Blinds To Go: Evaluating the Blindstogo.com Retail E-Commerce Venture has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Btg Blindstogo.com to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
Innovation driven organization
– Btg Blindstogo.com is one of the most innovative firm in sector. Manager in Blinds To Go: Evaluating the Blindstogo.com Retail E-Commerce Venture Harvard Business Review case study can use Clayton Christensen Disruptive Innovation strategies to further increase the scale of innovtions in the organization.
Ability to lead change in Strategy & Execution field
– Btg Blindstogo.com 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 Btg Blindstogo.com in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.
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.
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.
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.
Highly skilled collaborators
– Btg Blindstogo.com 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 Blinds To Go: Evaluating the Blindstogo.com Retail E-Commerce Venture HBR case study have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
Strong track record of project management
– Btg Blindstogo.com is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.
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.
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.
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 -
Employees’ incomplete understanding of strategy
– From the instances in the HBR case study Blinds To Go: Evaluating the Blindstogo.com Retail E-Commerce Venture, it seems that the employees of Btg Blindstogo.com 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.
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.
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 Btg Blindstogo.com supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes mentioned in the HBR case study - Blinds To Go: Evaluating the Blindstogo.com Retail E-Commerce Venture, it is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left Btg Blindstogo.com vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.
Workers concerns about automation
– As automation is fast increasing in the segment, Btg Blindstogo.com needs to come up with a strategy to reduce the workers concern regarding automation. Without a clear strategy, it could lead to disruption and uncertainty within the organization.
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.
Ability to respond to the competition
– As the decision making is very deliberative, highlighted in the case study Blinds To Go: Evaluating the Blindstogo.com Retail E-Commerce Venture, in the dynamic environment Btg Blindstogo.com has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. Btg Blindstogo.com 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 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.
Low market penetration in new markets
– Outside its home market of Btg Blindstogo.com, firm in the HBR case study Blinds To Go: Evaluating the Blindstogo.com Retail E-Commerce Venture needs to spend more promotional, marketing, and advertising efforts to penetrate international markets.
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.
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.
Products dominated business model
– Even though Btg Blindstogo.com 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 - Blinds To Go: Evaluating the Blindstogo.com Retail E-Commerce Venture should strive to include more intangible value offerings along with its core products and services.
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 -
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.
Increase in government spending
– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Btg Blindstogo.com can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Btg Blindstogo.com operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Strategy & Execution sector.
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.
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.
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. Btg Blindstogo.com can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.
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.
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 Btg Blindstogo.com in the consumer business. Now Btg Blindstogo.com can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.
Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains
– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Btg Blindstogo.com 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, Blinds To Go: Evaluating the Blindstogo.com Retail E-Commerce Venture, to buy more products closer to the markets, and it can leverage its size and influence to get better deal from the local markets.
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.
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.
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.
Loyalty marketing
– Btg Blindstogo.com 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.
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 -
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Btg Blindstogo.com 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.
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.
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 Btg Blindstogo.com business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Btg Blindstogo.com is facing in Strategy & Execution sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.
High dependence on third party suppliers
– Btg Blindstogo.com high dependence on third party suppliers can disrupt its processes and delivery mechanism. For example -the current troubles of car makers because of chip shortage is because the chip companies started producing chips for electronic companies rather than car manufacturers.
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 .
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.
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, as highlighted in case study Blinds To Go: Evaluating the Blindstogo.com Retail E-Commerce Venture, Btg Blindstogo.com 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 .
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.