Vicinity Corp.: Turning Web Traffic into Store Traffic SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Technology & Operations
Strategy / MBA Resources
Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of Vicinity Corp.: Turning Web Traffic into Store Traffic
Vicinity uses its Internet and m-commerce technology to help drive traffic into its customers' physical distribution outlets. The company has terrific technology and is seemingly successful in getting more consumers into its customers' stores, yet it is in a precarious position. To date, Vicinity has not been able to identify which consumers it has influenced to go to the retail outlets. Without this ability, Vicinity can continue to get subscription-based fees from its customers but cannot get the much needed transaction-based fees. At the time of the case, Vicinity is in an unstable financial position and is facing the difficult dilemma of "closing the loop" and positively identifying consumers at the point of sale.
Authors :: Frances X. Frei, David Margalit, Amanda Yelsh
Swot Analysis of "Vicinity Corp.: Turning Web Traffic into Store Traffic" written by Frances X. Frei, David Margalit, Amanda Yelsh includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Vicinity Traffic facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Vicinity Corp.: Turning Web Traffic into Store Traffic case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Internet and Technology & Operations.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Vicinity Corp.: Turning Web Traffic into Store Traffic casestudy better are - – digital marketing is dominated by two big players Facebook and Google, talent flight as more people leaving formal jobs, increasing inequality as vast percentage of new income is going to the top 1%, increasing transportation and logistics costs, competitive advantages are harder to sustain because of technology dispersion, banking and financial system is disrupted by Bitcoin and other crypto currencies, supply chains are disrupted by pandemic ,
there is backlash against globalization, increasing government debt because of Covid-19 spendings, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Vicinity Corp.: Turning Web Traffic into Store Traffic
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Vicinity Corp.: Turning Web Traffic into Store Traffic case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Vicinity Traffic, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Vicinity Traffic 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 Vicinity Corp.: Turning Web Traffic into Store Traffic can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Vicinity Corp.: Turning Web Traffic into Store Traffic case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Vicinity Traffic
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 Vicinity Traffic
Strengths Vicinity Corp.: Turning Web Traffic into Store Traffic | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Vicinity Traffic in Vicinity Corp.: Turning Web Traffic into Store Traffic Harvard Business Review case study are -
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of Vicinity Traffic in the sector have low bargaining power. Vicinity Corp.: Turning Web Traffic into Store Traffic has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Vicinity Traffic to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
Operational resilience
– The operational resilience strategy in the Vicinity Corp.: Turning Web Traffic into Store Traffic 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.
Innovation driven organization
– Vicinity Traffic is one of the most innovative firm in sector. Manager in Vicinity Corp.: Turning Web Traffic into Store Traffic Harvard Business Review case study can use Clayton Christensen Disruptive Innovation strategies to further increase the scale of innovtions in the organization.
Diverse revenue streams
– Vicinity Traffic is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided firm in Vicinity Corp.: Turning Web Traffic into Store Traffic 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.
Organizational Resilience of Vicinity Traffic
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing that Vicinity Traffic does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
Ability to lead change in Technology & Operations field
– Vicinity Traffic 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 Vicinity Traffic in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.
High brand equity
– Vicinity Traffic has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Vicinity Traffic to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Analytics focus
– Vicinity Traffic 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 Frances X. Frei, David Margalit, Amanda Yelsh 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.
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Technology & Operations industry
– Vicinity Corp.: Turning Web Traffic into Store Traffic firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Vicinity Traffic to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Technology & Operations industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Vicinity Traffic to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Successful track record of launching new products
– Vicinity Traffic has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Vicinity Traffic 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.
Training and development
– Vicinity Traffic has one of the best training and development program in the industry. The effectiveness of the training programs can be measured in Vicinity Corp.: Turning Web Traffic into Store Traffic 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.
Superior customer experience
– The customer experience strategy of Vicinity Traffic in the segment is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.
Weaknesses Vicinity Corp.: Turning Web Traffic into Store Traffic | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Vicinity Corp.: Turning Web Traffic into Store Traffic are -
High bargaining power of channel partners
– Because of the regulatory requirements, Frances X. Frei, David Margalit, Amanda Yelsh suggests that, Vicinity Traffic 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.
Increasing silos among functional specialists
– The organizational structure of Vicinity Traffic is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Technology & Operations segment. Vicinity Traffic needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Vicinity Traffic to focus more on services rather than just following the product oriented approach.
Compensation and incentives
– The revenue per employee as mentioned in the HBR case study Vicinity Corp.: Turning Web Traffic into Store Traffic, is just above the industry average. Vicinity Traffic 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.
Slow to harness new channels of communication
– Even though competitors are using new communication channels such as Instagram, Tiktok, and Snap, Vicinity Traffic is slow explore the new channels of communication. These new channels of communication mentioned in marketing section of case study Vicinity Corp.: Turning Web Traffic into Store Traffic can help to provide better information regarding products and services. It can also build an online community to further reach out to potential customers.
Aligning sales with marketing
– It come across in the case study Vicinity Corp.: Turning Web Traffic into Store Traffic 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 Vicinity Corp.: Turning Web Traffic into Store Traffic can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Vicinity Traffic is planning to shift buying processes online.
No frontier risks strategy
– After analyzing the HBR case study Vicinity Corp.: Turning Web Traffic into Store Traffic, 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.
Workers concerns about automation
– As automation is fast increasing in the segment, Vicinity Traffic 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 to strategic competitive environment developments
– As Vicinity Corp.: Turning Web Traffic into Store Traffic HBR case study mentions - Vicinity Traffic 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.
High cash cycle compare to competitors
Vicinity Traffic has a high cash cycle compare to other players in the industry. It needs to shorten the cash cycle by 12% to be more competitive in the marketplace, reduce inventory costs, and be more profitable.
High operating costs
– Compare to the competitors, firm in the HBR case study Vicinity Corp.: Turning Web Traffic into Store Traffic 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 Vicinity Traffic 's lucrative customers.
Low market penetration in new markets
– Outside its home market of Vicinity Traffic, firm in the HBR case study Vicinity Corp.: Turning Web Traffic into Store Traffic needs to spend more promotional, marketing, and advertising efforts to penetrate international markets.
Opportunities Vicinity Corp.: Turning Web Traffic into Store Traffic | 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 Vicinity Corp.: Turning Web Traffic into Store Traffic are -
Low interest rates
– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Vicinity Traffic 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.
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. Vicinity Traffic can tie-up with other value chain partners to explore new opportunities regarding meeting customer demands and building a rewarding and engaging relationship.
Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains
– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Vicinity Traffic 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, Vicinity Corp.: Turning Web Traffic into Store Traffic, to buy more products closer to the markets, and it can leverage its size and influence to get better deal from the local markets.
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. Vicinity Traffic can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.
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. Vicinity Traffic 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. Vicinity Traffic 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.
Learning at scale
– Online learning technologies has now opened space for Vicinity Traffic 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 Vicinity Traffic has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Vicinity Traffic to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the Vicinity Corp.: Turning Web Traffic into Store Traffic case study. Vicinity Traffic can build new products and services such as - data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
Redefining models of collaboration and team work
– As explained in the weaknesses section, Vicinity Traffic is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. Vicinity Corp.: Turning Web Traffic into Store Traffic 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.
Lowering marketing communication costs
– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Vicinity Traffic 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.
Leveraging digital technologies
– Vicinity Traffic can leverage digital technologies such as artificial intelligence and machine learning to automate the production process, customer analytics to get better insights into consumer behavior, realtime digital dashboards to get better sales tracking, logistics and transportation, product tracking, etc.
Reconfiguring business model
– The expansion of digital payment system, the bringing down of international transactions costs using Bitcoin and other blockchain based currencies, etc can help Vicinity Traffic 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.
Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities
– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Vicinity Traffic 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 Vicinity Traffic to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
Developing new processes and practices
– Vicinity Traffic 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.
Threats Vicinity Corp.: Turning Web Traffic into Store Traffic External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Vicinity Corp.: Turning Web Traffic into Store Traffic are -
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. Vicinity Traffic needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Technology & Operations industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Vicinity Traffic has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Technology & Operations industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Vicinity Traffic 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.
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, as highlighted in case study Vicinity Corp.: Turning Web Traffic into Store Traffic, Vicinity Traffic 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 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.
Environmental challenges
– Vicinity Traffic 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. Vicinity Traffic can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Technology & Operations industry.
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. Vicinity Traffic 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 Vicinity Traffic.
High dependence on third party suppliers
– Vicinity Traffic 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.
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 Vicinity Traffic in the Technology & Operations sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Vicinity Traffic 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.
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 Vicinity Traffic business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
Regulatory challenges
– Vicinity Traffic 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. Vicinity Traffic 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 Vicinity Corp.: Turning Web Traffic into Store Traffic 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 Vicinity Corp.: Turning Web Traffic into Store Traffic 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 Vicinity Corp.: Turning Web Traffic into Store Traffic 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 Vicinity Corp.: Turning Web Traffic into Store Traffic 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 Vicinity Corp.: Turning Web Traffic into Store Traffic 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 Vicinity Traffic needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.