Jewellworld.com: Leading Web-Based IT Development in the Jewellery Industry SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Technology & Operations
Strategy / MBA Resources
Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of Jewellworld.com: Leading Web-Based IT Development in the Jewellery Industry
In mid-2004, Jewellworld.com was one of the few, if not the only, surviving jewelry portals in Hong Kong, with both a business-to-business (B2B) and business-to-consumer (B2C) scope. For its business clients, it had become an Internet technology consultancy specializing in the jewelry industry, providing services such as B2B trading portal, eTraining, security surveillance systems, and so on. Its B2C business had improved as well, appealing to both the local young generation and overseas Chinese.
Swot Analysis of "Jewellworld.com: Leading Web-Based IT Development in the Jewellery Industry" written by Bennett Yim, Andrew Lee includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Jewellworld.com Jewelry facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Jewellworld.com: Leading Web-Based IT Development in the Jewellery Industry case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, and Technology & Operations.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Jewellworld.com: Leading Web-Based IT Development in the Jewellery Industry casestudy better are - – supply chains are disrupted by pandemic , there is increasing trade war between United States & China, geopolitical disruptions, increasing energy prices, wage bills are increasing, increasing transportation and logistics costs, increasing inequality as vast percentage of new income is going to the top 1%,
cloud computing is disrupting traditional business models, talent flight as more people leaving formal jobs, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Jewellworld.com: Leading Web-Based IT Development in the Jewellery Industry
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Jewellworld.com: Leading Web-Based IT Development in the Jewellery Industry case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Jewellworld.com Jewelry, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Jewellworld.com Jewelry 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 Jewellworld.com: Leading Web-Based IT Development in the Jewellery Industry can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Jewellworld.com: Leading Web-Based IT Development in the Jewellery Industry case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Jewellworld.com Jewelry
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 Jewellworld.com Jewelry
Strengths Jewellworld.com: Leading Web-Based IT Development in the Jewellery Industry | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Jewellworld.com Jewelry in Jewellworld.com: Leading Web-Based IT Development in the Jewellery Industry Harvard Business Review case study are -
Diverse revenue streams
– Jewellworld.com Jewelry is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided firm in Jewellworld.com: Leading Web-Based IT Development in the Jewellery Industry 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.
High switching costs
– The high switching costs that Jewellworld.com Jewelry 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.
Ability to recruit top talent
– Jewellworld.com Jewelry is one of the leading recruiters in the industry. Managers in the Jewellworld.com: Leading Web-Based IT Development in the Jewellery Industry are in a position to attract the best talent available. The firm has a robust talent identification program that helps in identifying the brightest.
Superior customer experience
– The customer experience strategy of Jewellworld.com Jewelry in the segment is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.
Learning organization
- Jewellworld.com Jewelry 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 Jewellworld.com Jewelry is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders in Jewellworld.com: Leading Web-Based IT Development in the Jewellery Industry Harvard Business Review case study emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
Analytics focus
– Jewellworld.com Jewelry 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 Bennett Yim, Andrew Lee 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.
Digital Transformation in Technology & Operations segment
- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For Jewellworld.com Jewelry digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Jewellworld.com Jewelry 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.
Ability to lead change in Technology & Operations field
– Jewellworld.com Jewelry 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 Jewellworld.com Jewelry in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Technology & Operations industry
– Jewellworld.com: Leading Web-Based IT Development in the Jewellery Industry firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Jewellworld.com Jewelry to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Technology & Operations industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Jewellworld.com Jewelry to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of Jewellworld.com Jewelry in the sector have low bargaining power. Jewellworld.com: Leading Web-Based IT Development in the Jewellery Industry has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Jewellworld.com Jewelry to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
Successful track record of launching new products
– Jewellworld.com Jewelry has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Jewellworld.com Jewelry 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.
Organizational Resilience of Jewellworld.com Jewelry
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing that Jewellworld.com Jewelry does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
Weaknesses Jewellworld.com: Leading Web-Based IT Development in the Jewellery Industry | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Jewellworld.com: Leading Web-Based IT Development in the Jewellery Industry are -
High dependence on star products
– The top 2 products and services of the firm as mentioned in the Jewellworld.com: Leading Web-Based IT Development in the Jewellery Industry 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 Jewellworld.com Jewelry has relatively successful track record of launching new products.
High bargaining power of channel partners
– Because of the regulatory requirements, Bennett Yim, Andrew Lee suggests that, Jewellworld.com Jewelry 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.
Slow to strategic competitive environment developments
– As Jewellworld.com: Leading Web-Based IT Development in the Jewellery Industry HBR case study mentions - Jewellworld.com Jewelry 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.
Interest costs
– Compare to the competition, Jewellworld.com Jewelry 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.
Compensation and incentives
– The revenue per employee as mentioned in the HBR case study Jewellworld.com: Leading Web-Based IT Development in the Jewellery Industry, is just above the industry average. Jewellworld.com Jewelry 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.
Aligning sales with marketing
– It come across in the case study Jewellworld.com: Leading Web-Based IT Development in the Jewellery Industry 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 Jewellworld.com: Leading Web-Based IT Development in the Jewellery Industry can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Jewellworld.com Jewelry is planning to shift buying processes online.
Workers concerns about automation
– As automation is fast increasing in the segment, Jewellworld.com Jewelry 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.
Employees’ incomplete understanding of strategy
– From the instances in the HBR case study Jewellworld.com: Leading Web-Based IT Development in the Jewellery Industry, it seems that the employees of Jewellworld.com Jewelry 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.
Skills based hiring
– The stress on hiring functional specialists at Jewellworld.com Jewelry 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.
High operating costs
– Compare to the competitors, firm in the HBR case study Jewellworld.com: Leading Web-Based IT Development in the Jewellery Industry 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 Jewellworld.com Jewelry 's lucrative customers.
Products dominated business model
– Even though Jewellworld.com Jewelry 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 - Jewellworld.com: Leading Web-Based IT Development in the Jewellery Industry should strive to include more intangible value offerings along with its core products and services.
Opportunities Jewellworld.com: Leading Web-Based IT Development in the Jewellery Industry | 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 Jewellworld.com: Leading Web-Based IT Development in the Jewellery Industry are -
Learning at scale
– Online learning technologies has now opened space for Jewellworld.com Jewelry 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.
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Jewellworld.com Jewelry has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Jewellworld.com Jewelry to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the Jewellworld.com: Leading Web-Based IT Development in the Jewellery Industry case study. Jewellworld.com Jewelry can build new products and services such as - data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
Changes in consumer behavior post Covid-19
– Consumer behavior has changed in the Technology & Operations industry because of Covid-19 restrictions. Some of this behavior will stay once things get back to normal. Jewellworld.com Jewelry 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. Jewellworld.com Jewelry 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.
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. Jewellworld.com Jewelry can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.
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 Jewellworld.com Jewelry 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.
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– Jewellworld.com Jewelry 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 Jewellworld.com: Leading Web-Based IT Development in the Jewellery Industry - to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Jewellworld.com Jewelry to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
Developing new processes and practices
– Jewellworld.com Jewelry 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.
Finding new ways to collaborate
– Covid-19 has not only transformed business models of companies in Technology & Operations industry, but it has also influenced the consumer preferences. Jewellworld.com Jewelry can tie-up with other value chain partners to explore new opportunities regarding meeting customer demands and building a rewarding and engaging relationship.
Reforming the budgeting process
- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects Jewellworld.com Jewelry can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.
Buying journey improvements
– Jewellworld.com Jewelry can improve the customer journey of consumers in the industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. Jewellworld.com: Leading Web-Based IT Development in the Jewellery Industry 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.
Loyalty marketing
– Jewellworld.com Jewelry 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.
Building a culture of innovation
– managers at Jewellworld.com Jewelry 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 Technology & Operations segment.
Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities
– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Jewellworld.com Jewelry 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 Jewellworld.com Jewelry to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
Threats Jewellworld.com: Leading Web-Based IT Development in the Jewellery Industry External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Jewellworld.com: Leading Web-Based IT Development in the Jewellery Industry are -
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.
Easy access to finance
– Easy access to finance in Technology & Operations field will also reduce the barriers to entry in the industry, thus putting downward pressure on the prices because of increasing competition. Jewellworld.com Jewelry can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
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 Jewellworld.com Jewelry.
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, as highlighted in case study Jewellworld.com: Leading Web-Based IT Development in the Jewellery Industry, Jewellworld.com Jewelry 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 .
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Jewellworld.com Jewelry has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Technology & Operations industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Jewellworld.com Jewelry 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.
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Jewellworld.com Jewelry is facing in Technology & Operations 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 Jewellworld.com Jewelry 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
– Jewellworld.com Jewelry 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.
Environmental challenges
– Jewellworld.com Jewelry 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. Jewellworld.com Jewelry can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Technology & Operations industry.
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.
High dependence on third party suppliers
– Jewellworld.com Jewelry 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.
Regulatory challenges
– Jewellworld.com Jewelry 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 Technology & Operations industry regulations.
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. Jewellworld.com Jewelry 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.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Jewellworld.com: Leading Web-Based IT Development in the Jewellery Industry 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 Jewellworld.com: Leading Web-Based IT Development in the Jewellery Industry 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 Jewellworld.com: Leading Web-Based IT Development in the Jewellery Industry 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 Jewellworld.com: Leading Web-Based IT Development in the Jewellery Industry 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 Jewellworld.com: Leading Web-Based IT Development in the Jewellery Industry 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 Jewellworld.com Jewelry needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.