Liferay: A Portal and Content Management Platform SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Technology & Operations
Strategy / MBA Resources
Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of Liferay: A Portal and Content Management Platform
Liferay, an enterprise portal and content management system, uses an open-source development model. Its flagship portal (also named Liferay) is distributed under a Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) licence. This licence allows users to access, modify and distribute Liferay's source code, and to re-license their derivative work. Open-source licencing has significant implications for Liferay's adoption process. Organizations simply download the Liferay portal for free, try it out for different business requirements and engage the vendor for dedicated service-level agreements for more advanced usage support. Several developers and users outside Liferay participate in the software development process and make significant contributions. However, unrestricted access and liberal distribution norms allow other software organizations to make free use of Liferay's efforts. These organizations slightly modify Liferay's source code (particularly Liferay's core system) and repackage the software. By 2010, this scenario has become particularly difficult. Liferay's recent adoption of a platform strategy is based on preserving the uniformity and stability of the core system. Due to unconstrained modifications to the source code, the core system could soon become fractured and non-standardized. The CEO has to select a suitable licencing framework that will align with the newly adopted platform strategy but at the same time retain Liferay's adherence to open source. Alternately, Liferay could abandon open source altogether.
Authors :: Swanand Deodhar, Kul Bhushan C. Saxena, Rajen Gupta
Swot Analysis of "Liferay: A Portal and Content Management Platform" written by Swanand Deodhar, Kul Bhushan C. Saxena, Rajen Gupta includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Liferay's Liferay facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Liferay: A Portal and Content Management Platform case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, and Technology & Operations.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Liferay: A Portal and Content Management Platform casestudy better are - – geopolitical disruptions, digital marketing is dominated by two big players Facebook and Google, challanges to central banks by blockchain based private currencies, wage bills are increasing, supply chains are disrupted by pandemic , central banks are concerned over increasing inflation, there is increasing trade war between United States & China,
increasing transportation and logistics costs, there is backlash against globalization, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Liferay: A Portal and Content Management Platform
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Liferay: A Portal and Content Management Platform case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Liferay's Liferay, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Liferay's Liferay 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 Liferay: A Portal and Content Management Platform can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Liferay: A Portal and Content Management Platform case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Liferay's Liferay
3. Assessing feasibility of the new initiative in Technology & Operations field.
4. Making a Technology & Operations topic specific business decision
5. Set goals for the organization
6. Organizational restructuring of Liferay's Liferay
Strengths Liferay: A Portal and Content Management Platform | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Liferay's Liferay in Liferay: A Portal and Content Management Platform Harvard Business Review case study are -
Highly skilled collaborators
– Liferay's Liferay 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 Liferay: A Portal and Content Management Platform HBR case study have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
Diverse revenue streams
– Liferay's Liferay is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided firm in Liferay: A Portal and Content Management Platform 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.
Training and development
– Liferay's Liferay has one of the best training and development program in the industry. The effectiveness of the training programs can be measured in Liferay: A Portal and Content Management Platform 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.
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of Liferay's Liferay in the sector have low bargaining power. Liferay: A Portal and Content Management Platform has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Liferay's Liferay to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
Superior customer experience
– The customer experience strategy of Liferay's Liferay in the segment is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.
Digital Transformation in Technology & Operations segment
- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For Liferay's Liferay digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Liferay's Liferay 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.
High brand equity
– Liferay's Liferay has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Liferay's Liferay to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Strong track record of project management
– Liferay's Liferay is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.
Cross disciplinary teams
– Horizontal connected teams at the Liferay's Liferay 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.
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Technology & Operations industry
– Liferay: A Portal and Content Management Platform firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Liferay's Liferay to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Technology & Operations industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Liferay's Liferay to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Ability to lead change in Technology & Operations field
– Liferay's Liferay 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 Liferay's Liferay in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.
Analytics focus
– Liferay's Liferay 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 Swanand Deodhar, Kul Bhushan C. Saxena, Rajen Gupta 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.
Weaknesses Liferay: A Portal and Content Management Platform | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Liferay: A Portal and Content Management Platform are -
High dependence on star products
– The top 2 products and services of the firm as mentioned in the Liferay: A Portal and Content Management Platform 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 Liferay's Liferay has relatively successful track record of launching new products.
High operating costs
– Compare to the competitors, firm in the HBR case study Liferay: A Portal and Content Management Platform 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 Liferay's Liferay 's lucrative customers.
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 Liferay's Liferay supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes mentioned in the HBR case study - Liferay: A Portal and Content Management Platform, it is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left Liferay's Liferay vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.
Ability to respond to the competition
– As the decision making is very deliberative, highlighted in the case study Liferay: A Portal and Content Management Platform, in the dynamic environment Liferay's Liferay has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. Liferay's Liferay has reasonably good record with similar level competitors but it has struggled with new entrants taking away niches of its business.
Workers concerns about automation
– As automation is fast increasing in the segment, Liferay's Liferay 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.
Products dominated business model
– Even though Liferay's Liferay 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 - Liferay: A Portal and Content Management Platform should strive to include more intangible value offerings along with its core products and services.
Slow decision making process
– As mentioned earlier in the report, Liferay's Liferay 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. Liferay's Liferay 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.
Skills based hiring
– The stress on hiring functional specialists at Liferay's Liferay 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.
Interest costs
– Compare to the competition, Liferay's Liferay 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.
Aligning sales with marketing
– It come across in the case study Liferay: A Portal and Content Management Platform 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 Liferay: A Portal and Content Management Platform can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Liferay's Liferay is planning to shift buying processes online.
Increasing silos among functional specialists
– The organizational structure of Liferay's Liferay is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Technology & Operations segment. Liferay's Liferay needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Liferay's Liferay to focus more on services rather than just following the product oriented approach.
Opportunities Liferay: A Portal and Content Management Platform | 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 Liferay: A Portal and Content Management Platform are -
Developing new processes and practices
– Liferay's Liferay can develop new processes and procedures in Technology & Operations 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.
Increase in government spending
– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Liferay's Liferay can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Liferay's Liferay operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Technology & Operations sector.
Leveraging digital technologies
– Liferay's Liferay 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.
Learning at scale
– Online learning technologies has now opened space for Liferay's Liferay to conduct training and development for its employees across the world. This will result in not only reducing the cost of training but also help employees in different part of the world to integrate with the headquarter work culture, ethos, and standards.
Loyalty marketing
– Liferay's Liferay 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.
Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities
– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Liferay's Liferay 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 Liferay's Liferay to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains
– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Liferay's Liferay 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, Liferay: A Portal and Content Management Platform, to buy more products closer to the markets, and it can leverage its size and influence to get better deal from the local markets.
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 Liferay's Liferay in the consumer business. Now Liferay's Liferay can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.
Buying journey improvements
– Liferay's Liferay can improve the customer journey of consumers in the industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. Liferay: A Portal and Content Management Platform 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.
Low interest rates
– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Liferay's Liferay 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, Liferay's Liferay is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. Liferay: A Portal and Content Management Platform 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.
Reforming the budgeting process
- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects Liferay's Liferay can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.
Lowering marketing communication costs
– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Liferay's Liferay in the field of marketing communication. It will bring down the cost of doing business, provide technology platform to build new products in the Technology & Operations segment, and it will provide faster access to the consumers.
Threats Liferay: A Portal and Content Management Platform External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Liferay: A Portal and Content Management Platform are -
Increasing wage structure of Liferay's Liferay
– 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 Liferay's Liferay.
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.
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.
Consumer confidence and its impact on Liferay's Liferay 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 international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Liferay's Liferay 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 Liferay: A Portal and Content Management Platform .
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Liferay's Liferay has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Technology & Operations industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Liferay's Liferay needs to keep up with the evolution of technology in the Technology & Operations 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 Liferay's Liferay business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Liferay's Liferay in the Technology & Operations industry. The Technology & Operations 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.
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, as highlighted in case study Liferay: A Portal and Content Management Platform, Liferay's Liferay may face longer learning curve for training and development of existing employees. This can open space for more nimble competitors in the field of Technology & Operations .
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry in the industry are lowering. It can presents Liferay's Liferay with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the sector.
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 Liferay's Liferay in the Technology & Operations sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Liferay's Liferay 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.
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 Liferay's Liferay.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Liferay: A Portal and Content Management Platform 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 Liferay: A Portal and Content Management Platform 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 Liferay: A Portal and Content Management Platform 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 Liferay: A Portal and Content Management Platform 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 Liferay: A Portal and Content Management Platform 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 Liferay's Liferay needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.