AGENCY.COM (A): Launching an Interactive Service Agency SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Technology & Operations
Strategy / MBA Resources
Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of AGENCY.COM (A): Launching an Interactive Service Agency
Having recently launched one of Silicon Valley's first start-ups, cofounders Chan Suh and Kyle Shannon ponder whether their interactive consulting firm is prepared to bid for work from a very large client.
Authors :: Ashish Nanda, Thomas J. DeLong, Scot Landry
Swot Analysis of "AGENCY.COM (A): Launching an Interactive Service Agency" written by Ashish Nanda, Thomas J. DeLong, Scot Landry includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Interactive Agency.com facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in AGENCY.COM (A): Launching an Interactive Service Agency case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Entrepreneurship, Growth strategy, Internet and Technology & Operations.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the AGENCY.COM (A): Launching an Interactive Service Agency casestudy better are - – there is backlash against globalization, there is increasing trade war between United States & China, increasing energy prices, central banks are concerned over increasing inflation, increasing commodity prices, increasing inequality as vast percentage of new income is going to the top 1%, increasing household debt because of falling income levels,
increasing transportation and logistics costs, customer relationship management is fast transforming because of increasing concerns over data privacy, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of AGENCY.COM (A): Launching an Interactive Service Agency
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in AGENCY.COM (A): Launching an Interactive Service Agency case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Interactive Agency.com, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Interactive Agency.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 AGENCY.COM (A): Launching an Interactive Service Agency can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in AGENCY.COM (A): Launching an Interactive Service Agency case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Interactive Agency.com
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 Interactive Agency.com
Strengths AGENCY.COM (A): Launching an Interactive Service Agency | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Interactive Agency.com in AGENCY.COM (A): Launching an Interactive Service Agency Harvard Business Review case study are -
Diverse revenue streams
– Interactive Agency.com is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided firm in AGENCY.COM (A): Launching an Interactive Service Agency 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 Interactive Agency.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.
Training and development
– Interactive Agency.com has one of the best training and development program in the industry. The effectiveness of the training programs can be measured in AGENCY.COM (A): Launching an Interactive Service Agency 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.
Successful track record of launching new products
– Interactive Agency.com has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Interactive Agency.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.
Ability to lead change in Technology & Operations field
– Interactive Agency.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 Interactive Agency.com in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.
Learning organization
- Interactive Agency.com 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 Interactive Agency.com is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders in AGENCY.COM (A): Launching an Interactive Service Agency Harvard Business Review case study emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
Organizational Resilience of Interactive Agency.com
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing that Interactive Agency.com does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
Analytics focus
– Interactive Agency.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 Ashish Nanda, Thomas J. DeLong, Scot Landry 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.
Operational resilience
– The operational resilience strategy in the AGENCY.COM (A): Launching an Interactive Service Agency 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.
Highly skilled collaborators
– Interactive Agency.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 AGENCY.COM (A): Launching an Interactive Service Agency HBR case study have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
Innovation driven organization
– Interactive Agency.com is one of the most innovative firm in sector. Manager in AGENCY.COM (A): Launching an Interactive Service Agency Harvard Business Review case study can use Clayton Christensen Disruptive Innovation strategies to further increase the scale of innovtions in the organization.
Strong track record of project management
– Interactive Agency.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.
Weaknesses AGENCY.COM (A): Launching an Interactive Service Agency | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of AGENCY.COM (A): Launching an Interactive Service Agency are -
Interest costs
– Compare to the competition, Interactive Agency.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.
High bargaining power of channel partners
– Because of the regulatory requirements, Ashish Nanda, Thomas J. DeLong, Scot Landry suggests that, Interactive Agency.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.
High operating costs
– Compare to the competitors, firm in the HBR case study AGENCY.COM (A): Launching an Interactive Service Agency 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 Interactive Agency.com 's lucrative customers.
No frontier risks strategy
– After analyzing the HBR case study AGENCY.COM (A): Launching an Interactive Service Agency, it seems that company is thinking about the frontier risks that can impact Technology & Operations 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 Interactive Agency.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.
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 Interactive Agency.com supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes mentioned in the HBR case study - AGENCY.COM (A): Launching an Interactive Service Agency, it is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left Interactive Agency.com vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.
Aligning sales with marketing
– It come across in the case study AGENCY.COM (A): Launching an Interactive Service Agency 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 AGENCY.COM (A): Launching an Interactive Service Agency can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Interactive Agency.com is planning to shift buying processes online.
Slow to strategic competitive environment developments
– As AGENCY.COM (A): Launching an Interactive Service Agency HBR case study mentions - Interactive Agency.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.
Compensation and incentives
– The revenue per employee as mentioned in the HBR case study AGENCY.COM (A): Launching an Interactive Service Agency, is just above the industry average. Interactive Agency.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.
High dependence on star products
– The top 2 products and services of the firm as mentioned in the AGENCY.COM (A): Launching an Interactive Service Agency 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 Interactive Agency.com has relatively successful track record of launching new products.
Ability to respond to the competition
– As the decision making is very deliberative, highlighted in the case study AGENCY.COM (A): Launching an Interactive Service Agency, in the dynamic environment Interactive Agency.com has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. Interactive Agency.com has reasonably good record with similar level competitors but it has struggled with new entrants taking away niches of its business.
Opportunities AGENCY.COM (A): Launching an Interactive Service Agency | 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 AGENCY.COM (A): Launching an Interactive Service Agency are -
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 Interactive Agency.com in the consumer business. Now Interactive Agency.com can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.
Reforming the budgeting process
- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects Interactive Agency.com can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.
Building a culture of innovation
– managers at Interactive Agency.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 Technology & Operations segment.
Low interest rates
– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Interactive Agency.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 Interactive Agency.com has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Interactive Agency.com to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the AGENCY.COM (A): Launching an Interactive Service Agency case study. Interactive Agency.com can build new products and services such as - data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
Learning at scale
– Online learning technologies has now opened space for Interactive Agency.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.
Lowering marketing communication costs
– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Interactive Agency.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 Technology & Operations segment, and it will provide faster access to the consumers.
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– Interactive Agency.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 AGENCY.COM (A): Launching an Interactive Service Agency - to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Interactive Agency.com to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities
– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Interactive Agency.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 Interactive Agency.com to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
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. Interactive Agency.com 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. Interactive Agency.com 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.
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 Interactive Agency.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.
Loyalty marketing
– Interactive Agency.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.
Manufacturing automation
– Interactive Agency.com can use the latest technology developments to improve its manufacturing and designing process in Technology & Operations segment. It can use CAD and 3D printing to build a quick prototype and pilot testing products. It can leverage automation using machine learning and artificial intelligence to do faster production at lowers costs, and it can leverage the growth in satellite and tracking technologies to improve inventory management, transportation, and shipping.
Threats AGENCY.COM (A): Launching an Interactive Service Agency External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study AGENCY.COM (A): Launching an Interactive Service Agency are -
Consumer confidence and its impact on Interactive Agency.com 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.
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Interactive Agency.com is facing in Technology & Operations sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.
Increasing wage structure of Interactive Agency.com
– 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 Interactive Agency.com.
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry in the industry are lowering. It can presents Interactive Agency.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
– Interactive Agency.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.
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Interactive Agency.com 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.
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Interactive Agency.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 AGENCY.COM (A): Launching an Interactive Service Agency .
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 Interactive Agency.com in the Technology & Operations sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
Regulatory challenges
– Interactive Agency.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 Technology & Operations industry regulations.
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, as highlighted in case study AGENCY.COM (A): Launching an Interactive Service Agency, Interactive Agency.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 Technology & Operations .
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. Interactive Agency.com needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Technology & Operations industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
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 Interactive Agency.com business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Interactive Agency.com has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Technology & Operations industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Interactive Agency.com 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.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of AGENCY.COM (A): Launching an Interactive Service Agency 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 AGENCY.COM (A): Launching an Interactive Service Agency 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 AGENCY.COM (A): Launching an Interactive Service Agency 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 AGENCY.COM (A): Launching an Interactive Service Agency 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 AGENCY.COM (A): Launching an Interactive Service Agency 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 Interactive Agency.com needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.
