Case Study Description of Electronic Commerce: Trends and Opportunities
In a 1966 Harvard Business Review article, Felix Kaufman implored general managers to think beyond their own organizational boundaries to the possibilities of interorganizational systems (IOS)--networked computers that enable companies to share information and information processing across organizational boundaries. His was a visionary argument that was already becoming a reality; from entrepreneurial actions at American Hospital Supply Corp. and American Airlines grew two legendary strategic IT applications that changed the face of their respective industries. In doing so, they helped change the role of IT so that it became a tool to support commerce--the organizational strategies, structures, and systems through which an organization conducts business with buyers, sellers, and other industry participants. Today, many of the most dramatic and potentially powerful uses of IT involve networks that transcend company boundaries. These IOS enable firms to incorporate buyers, suppliers, and partners in the redesign of their key business processes, thereby enhancing productivity, quality, speed, and flexibility.
Swot Analysis of "Electronic Commerce: Trends and Opportunities" written by Lynda M. Applegate, Janis L. Gogan includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Boundaries Ios facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Electronic Commerce: Trends and Opportunities case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Marketing, Organizational structure and Technology & Operations.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Electronic Commerce: Trends and Opportunities casestudy better are - – increasing government debt because of Covid-19 spendings, customer relationship management is fast transforming because of increasing concerns over data privacy, supply chains are disrupted by pandemic , talent flight as more people leaving formal jobs, increasing transportation and logistics costs, geopolitical disruptions, wage bills are increasing,
challanges to central banks by blockchain based private currencies, cloud computing is disrupting traditional business models, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Electronic Commerce: Trends and Opportunities
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Electronic Commerce: Trends and Opportunities case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Boundaries Ios, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Boundaries Ios 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 Electronic Commerce: Trends and Opportunities can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Electronic Commerce: Trends and Opportunities case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Boundaries Ios
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 Boundaries Ios
Strengths Electronic Commerce: Trends and Opportunities | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Boundaries Ios in Electronic Commerce: Trends and Opportunities Harvard Business Review case study are -
Training and development
– Boundaries Ios has one of the best training and development program in the industry. The effectiveness of the training programs can be measured in Electronic Commerce: Trends and Opportunities 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.
Organizational Resilience of Boundaries Ios
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing that Boundaries Ios does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
Diverse revenue streams
– Boundaries Ios is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided firm in Electronic Commerce: Trends and Opportunities 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.
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of Boundaries Ios in the sector have low bargaining power. Electronic Commerce: Trends and Opportunities has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Boundaries Ios to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
Ability to recruit top talent
– Boundaries Ios is one of the leading recruiters in the industry. Managers in the Electronic Commerce: Trends and Opportunities are in a position to attract the best talent available. The firm has a robust talent identification program that helps in identifying the brightest.
High brand equity
– Boundaries Ios has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Boundaries Ios to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Successful track record of launching new products
– Boundaries Ios has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Boundaries Ios 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.
Innovation driven organization
– Boundaries Ios is one of the most innovative firm in sector. Manager in Electronic Commerce: Trends and Opportunities Harvard Business Review case study can use Clayton Christensen Disruptive Innovation strategies to further increase the scale of innovtions in the organization.
Analytics focus
– Boundaries Ios 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 Lynda M. Applegate, Janis L. Gogan 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.
Superior customer experience
– The customer experience strategy of Boundaries Ios in the segment is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.
Ability to lead change in Technology & Operations field
– Boundaries Ios 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 Boundaries Ios in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.
Cross disciplinary teams
– Horizontal connected teams at the Boundaries Ios 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.
Weaknesses Electronic Commerce: Trends and Opportunities | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Electronic Commerce: Trends and Opportunities are -
High bargaining power of channel partners
– Because of the regulatory requirements, Lynda M. Applegate, Janis L. Gogan suggests that, Boundaries Ios 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 Electronic Commerce: Trends and Opportunities HBR case study mentions - Boundaries Ios 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.
No frontier risks strategy
– After analyzing the HBR case study Electronic Commerce: Trends and Opportunities, 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.
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 Boundaries Ios supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes mentioned in the HBR case study - Electronic Commerce: Trends and Opportunities, it is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left Boundaries Ios vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.
Lack of clear differentiation of Boundaries Ios products
– To increase the profitability and margins on the products, Boundaries Ios needs to provide more differentiated products than what it is currently offering in the marketplace.
Need for greater diversity
– Boundaries Ios has taken concrete steps on diversity, equity, and inclusion. But the efforts so far has resulted in limited success. It needs to expand the recruitment and selection process to hire more people from the minorities and underprivileged background.
Interest costs
– Compare to the competition, Boundaries Ios 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.
Increasing silos among functional specialists
– The organizational structure of Boundaries Ios is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Technology & Operations segment. Boundaries Ios needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Boundaries Ios to focus more on services rather than just following the product oriented approach.
Employees’ incomplete understanding of strategy
– From the instances in the HBR case study Electronic Commerce: Trends and Opportunities, it seems that the employees of Boundaries Ios 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.
Workers concerns about automation
– As automation is fast increasing in the segment, Boundaries Ios 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.
High dependence on star products
– The top 2 products and services of the firm as mentioned in the Electronic Commerce: Trends and Opportunities 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 Boundaries Ios has relatively successful track record of launching new products.
Opportunities Electronic Commerce: Trends and Opportunities | 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 Electronic Commerce: Trends and Opportunities are -
Reforming the budgeting process
- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects Boundaries Ios can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– Boundaries Ios 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 Electronic Commerce: Trends and Opportunities - to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Boundaries Ios to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
Buying journey improvements
– Boundaries Ios can improve the customer journey of consumers in the industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. Electronic Commerce: Trends and Opportunities 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.
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. Boundaries Ios can tie-up with other value chain partners to explore new opportunities regarding meeting customer demands and building a rewarding and engaging relationship.
Loyalty marketing
– Boundaries Ios 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.
Leveraging digital technologies
– Boundaries Ios can leverage digital technologies such as artificial intelligence and machine learning to automate the production process, customer analytics to get better insights into consumer behavior, realtime digital dashboards to get better sales tracking, logistics and transportation, product tracking, etc.
Low interest rates
– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Boundaries Ios 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.
Better consumer reach
– The expansion of the 5G network will help Boundaries Ios to increase its market reach. Boundaries Ios will be able to reach out to new customers. Secondly 5G will also provide technology framework to build new tools and products that can help more immersive consumer experience and faster consumer journey.
Lowering marketing communication costs
– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Boundaries Ios 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.
Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities
– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Boundaries Ios 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 Boundaries Ios to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
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 Boundaries Ios 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.
Building a culture of innovation
– managers at Boundaries Ios 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.
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 Boundaries Ios in the consumer business. Now Boundaries Ios can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.
Threats Electronic Commerce: Trends and Opportunities External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Electronic Commerce: Trends and Opportunities are -
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. Boundaries Ios 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.
Consumer confidence and its impact on Boundaries Ios 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.
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 Boundaries Ios in the Technology & Operations sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
Environmental challenges
– Boundaries Ios 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. Boundaries Ios can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Technology & Operations industry.
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, as highlighted in case study Electronic Commerce: Trends and Opportunities, Boundaries Ios 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 .
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Boundaries Ios 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 Electronic Commerce: Trends and Opportunities .
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Boundaries Ios 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.
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry in the industry are lowering. It can presents Boundaries Ios with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the sector.
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. Boundaries Ios can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
High dependence on third party suppliers
– Boundaries Ios 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.
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Boundaries Ios is facing in Technology & Operations sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.
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 Boundaries Ios.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Electronic Commerce: Trends and Opportunities 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 Electronic Commerce: Trends and Opportunities 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 Electronic Commerce: Trends and Opportunities 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 Electronic Commerce: Trends and Opportunities 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 Electronic Commerce: Trends and Opportunities 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 Boundaries Ios needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.
