IIF and QuaTeams Creating a Custom CRM SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Technology & Operations
Strategy / MBA Resources
Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of IIF and QuaTeams Creating a Custom CRM
IIF (Institute of International Finance) was eight months into the customized development of a customer relationship management system (CRM) by a small software development firm, QuaTeams. IIF, a member organization, wants to replace its current CRM, an Access database, by integrating member information from different departments: economic research, membership, events, and finance. In addition, it wants to be able to handle the growing number of members and track the interactions between its staff and membership. With two months to go before the scheduled launch, both sides must make decisions to overcome the remaining technical hurdles with the database and security. The IIF must also consider implementation issues and think of creative ways to use the CRM system once it is operational.
Authors :: Nicole R.D. Haggerty, Jordan Mitchell, Matt Woerner, Yulian Zhang
Swot Analysis of "IIF and QuaTeams Creating a Custom CRM" written by Nicole R.D. Haggerty, Jordan Mitchell, Matt Woerner, Yulian Zhang includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Iif Crm facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in IIF and QuaTeams Creating a Custom CRM case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, IT, Project management and Technology & Operations.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the IIF and QuaTeams Creating a Custom CRM casestudy better are - – increasing energy prices, wage bills are increasing, there is backlash against globalization, customer relationship management is fast transforming because of increasing concerns over data privacy, geopolitical disruptions, central banks are concerned over increasing inflation, increasing inequality as vast percentage of new income is going to the top 1%,
challanges to central banks by blockchain based private currencies, there is increasing trade war between United States & China, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of IIF and QuaTeams Creating a Custom CRM
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in IIF and QuaTeams Creating a Custom CRM case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Iif Crm, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Iif Crm 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 IIF and QuaTeams Creating a Custom CRM can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in IIF and QuaTeams Creating a Custom CRM case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Iif Crm
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 Iif Crm
Strengths IIF and QuaTeams Creating a Custom CRM | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Iif Crm in IIF and QuaTeams Creating a Custom CRM Harvard Business Review case study are -
Operational resilience
– The operational resilience strategy in the IIF and QuaTeams Creating a Custom CRM 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.
Ability to recruit top talent
– Iif Crm is one of the leading recruiters in the industry. Managers in the IIF and QuaTeams Creating a Custom CRM are in a position to attract the best talent available. The firm has a robust talent identification program that helps in identifying the brightest.
Highly skilled collaborators
– Iif Crm 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 IIF and QuaTeams Creating a Custom CRM HBR case study have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
Training and development
– Iif Crm has one of the best training and development program in the industry. The effectiveness of the training programs can be measured in IIF and QuaTeams Creating a Custom CRM 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.
Digital Transformation in Technology & Operations segment
- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For Iif Crm digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Iif Crm 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.
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of Iif Crm in the sector have low bargaining power. IIF and QuaTeams Creating a Custom CRM has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Iif Crm to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
Strong track record of project management
– Iif Crm is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.
High brand equity
– Iif Crm has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Iif Crm to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Organizational Resilience of Iif Crm
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing that Iif Crm does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
Innovation driven organization
– Iif Crm is one of the most innovative firm in sector. Manager in IIF and QuaTeams Creating a Custom CRM Harvard Business Review case study can use Clayton Christensen Disruptive Innovation strategies to further increase the scale of innovtions in the organization.
Superior customer experience
– The customer experience strategy of Iif Crm in the segment is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.
Analytics focus
– Iif Crm 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 Nicole R.D. Haggerty, Jordan Mitchell, Matt Woerner, Yulian Zhang can also help it to harness the power of analytics for – marketing optimization, demand forecasting, customer relationship management, inventory management, information sharing across the value chain etc.
Weaknesses IIF and QuaTeams Creating a Custom CRM | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of IIF and QuaTeams Creating a Custom CRM are -
Skills based hiring
– The stress on hiring functional specialists at Iif Crm 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.
Compensation and incentives
– The revenue per employee as mentioned in the HBR case study IIF and QuaTeams Creating a Custom CRM, is just above the industry average. Iif Crm 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 bargaining power of channel partners
– Because of the regulatory requirements, Nicole R.D. Haggerty, Jordan Mitchell, Matt Woerner, Yulian Zhang suggests that, Iif Crm 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 dependence on star products
– The top 2 products and services of the firm as mentioned in the IIF and QuaTeams Creating a Custom CRM 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 Iif Crm has relatively successful track record of launching new products.
High cash cycle compare to competitors
Iif Crm 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.
Increasing silos among functional specialists
– The organizational structure of Iif Crm is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Technology & Operations segment. Iif Crm needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Iif Crm to focus more on services rather than just following the product oriented approach.
Aligning sales with marketing
– It come across in the case study IIF and QuaTeams Creating a Custom CRM 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 IIF and QuaTeams Creating a Custom CRM can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Iif Crm is planning to shift buying processes online.
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 Iif Crm supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes mentioned in the HBR case study - IIF and QuaTeams Creating a Custom CRM, it is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left Iif Crm vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.
Employees’ incomplete understanding of strategy
– From the instances in the HBR case study IIF and QuaTeams Creating a Custom CRM, it seems that the employees of Iif Crm 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.
Low market penetration in new markets
– Outside its home market of Iif Crm, firm in the HBR case study IIF and QuaTeams Creating a Custom CRM needs to spend more promotional, marketing, and advertising efforts to penetrate international markets.
Slow to strategic competitive environment developments
– As IIF and QuaTeams Creating a Custom CRM HBR case study mentions - Iif Crm 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.
Opportunities IIF and QuaTeams Creating a Custom CRM | 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 IIF and QuaTeams Creating a Custom CRM are -
Low interest rates
– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Iif Crm 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.
Manufacturing automation
– Iif Crm 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.
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Iif Crm has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Iif Crm to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the IIF and QuaTeams Creating a Custom CRM case study. Iif Crm can build new products and services such as - data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
Building a culture of innovation
– managers at Iif Crm 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.
Learning at scale
– Online learning technologies has now opened space for Iif Crm 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.
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. Iif Crm 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. Iif Crm 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.
Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains
– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Iif Crm 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, IIF and QuaTeams Creating a Custom CRM, to buy more products closer to the markets, and it can leverage its size and influence to get better deal from the local markets.
Loyalty marketing
– Iif Crm 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
– Iif Crm 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.
Buying journey improvements
– Iif Crm can improve the customer journey of consumers in the industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. IIF and QuaTeams Creating a Custom CRM 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.
Lowering marketing communication costs
– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Iif Crm 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.
Reforming the budgeting process
- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects Iif Crm can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.
Increase in government spending
– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Iif Crm can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Iif Crm operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Technology & Operations sector.
Threats IIF and QuaTeams Creating a Custom CRM External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study IIF and QuaTeams Creating a Custom CRM are -
Consumer confidence and its impact on Iif Crm 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.
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry in the industry are lowering. It can presents Iif Crm with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the sector.
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Iif Crm 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 IIF and QuaTeams Creating a Custom CRM .
High dependence on third party suppliers
– Iif Crm 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.
Environmental challenges
– Iif Crm 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. Iif Crm 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. Iif Crm 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 Iif Crm.
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 Iif Crm business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
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. Iif Crm needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Technology & Operations industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, as highlighted in case study IIF and QuaTeams Creating a Custom CRM, Iif Crm 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 .
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. Iif Crm 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.
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Iif Crm 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.
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Iif Crm is facing in Technology & Operations sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of IIF and QuaTeams Creating a Custom CRM 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 IIF and QuaTeams Creating a Custom CRM 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 IIF and QuaTeams Creating a Custom CRM 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 IIF and QuaTeams Creating a Custom CRM 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 IIF and QuaTeams Creating a Custom CRM 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 Iif Crm needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.
