Leveraging Internet Technologies in B2B Relationships SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
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Strategy / MBA Resources
Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of Leveraging Internet Technologies in B2B Relationships
Why is it that two firms can use the Internet in the same way (e.g., to reach new customers) and achieve very different outcomes? How can firms better allocate and subsequently leverage the investments they make in Internet technologies? This article shows that e-commerce technologies cannot be successfully leveraged without considering the organizational relationships in which the technologies are being embedded. By properly matching the B2B context with Internet technologies, firms can be in a better position not only to achieve significant economic outcomes, but also to attain sustainable competitive advantages, improve coordination and collaboration processes, and decrease channel resistance.
Swot Analysis of "Leveraging Internet Technologies in B2B Relationships" written by Sandy Jap, Jakki J. Mohr includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Technologies Internet facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Leveraging Internet Technologies in B2B Relationships case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Internet and Technology & Operations.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Leveraging Internet Technologies in B2B Relationships casestudy better are - – challanges to central banks by blockchain based private currencies, digital marketing is dominated by two big players Facebook and Google, there is backlash against globalization, increasing energy prices, talent flight as more people leaving formal jobs, increasing transportation and logistics costs, geopolitical disruptions,
increasing government debt because of Covid-19 spendings, increasing inequality as vast percentage of new income is going to the top 1%, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Leveraging Internet Technologies in B2B Relationships
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Leveraging Internet Technologies in B2B Relationships case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Technologies Internet, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Technologies Internet 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 Leveraging Internet Technologies in B2B Relationships can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Leveraging Internet Technologies in B2B Relationships case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Technologies Internet
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 Technologies Internet
Strengths Leveraging Internet Technologies in B2B Relationships | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Technologies Internet in Leveraging Internet Technologies in B2B Relationships Harvard Business Review case study are -
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Technology & Operations industry
– Leveraging Internet Technologies in B2B Relationships firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Technologies Internet to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Technology & Operations industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Technologies Internet to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Organizational Resilience of Technologies Internet
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing that Technologies Internet does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
Analytics focus
– Technologies Internet 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 Sandy Jap, Jakki J. Mohr 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.
Strong track record of project management
– Technologies Internet is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.
Innovation driven organization
– Technologies Internet is one of the most innovative firm in sector. Manager in Leveraging Internet Technologies in B2B Relationships 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
– Technologies Internet is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided firm in Leveraging Internet Technologies in B2B Relationships 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.
Highly skilled collaborators
– Technologies Internet 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 Leveraging Internet Technologies in B2B Relationships HBR case study have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
High brand equity
– Technologies Internet has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Technologies Internet to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Successful track record of launching new products
– Technologies Internet has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Technologies Internet 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 recruit top talent
– Technologies Internet is one of the leading recruiters in the industry. Managers in the Leveraging Internet Technologies in B2B Relationships are in a position to attract the best talent available. The firm has a robust talent identification program that helps in identifying the brightest.
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of Technologies Internet in the sector have low bargaining power. Leveraging Internet Technologies in B2B Relationships has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Technologies Internet to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
Cross disciplinary teams
– Horizontal connected teams at the Technologies Internet 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 Leveraging Internet Technologies in B2B Relationships | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Leveraging Internet Technologies in B2B Relationships are -
Low market penetration in new markets
– Outside its home market of Technologies Internet, firm in the HBR case study Leveraging Internet Technologies in B2B Relationships needs to spend more promotional, marketing, and advertising efforts to penetrate international markets.
Need for greater diversity
– Technologies Internet 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.
High operating costs
– Compare to the competitors, firm in the HBR case study Leveraging Internet Technologies in B2B Relationships 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 Technologies Internet 's lucrative customers.
Slow to harness new channels of communication
– Even though competitors are using new communication channels such as Instagram, Tiktok, and Snap, Technologies Internet is slow explore the new channels of communication. These new channels of communication mentioned in marketing section of case study Leveraging Internet Technologies in B2B Relationships can help to provide better information regarding products and services. It can also build an online community to further reach out to potential customers.
Lack of clear differentiation of Technologies Internet products
– To increase the profitability and margins on the products, Technologies Internet needs to provide more differentiated products than what it is currently offering in the marketplace.
High bargaining power of channel partners
– Because of the regulatory requirements, Sandy Jap, Jakki J. Mohr suggests that, Technologies Internet 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.
Employees’ incomplete understanding of strategy
– From the instances in the HBR case study Leveraging Internet Technologies in B2B Relationships, it seems that the employees of Technologies Internet 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.
High cash cycle compare to competitors
Technologies Internet 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.
Capital Spending Reduction
– Even during the low interest decade, Technologies Internet has not been able to do capital spending to the tune of the competition. This has resulted into fewer innovations and company facing stiff competition from both existing competitors and new entrants who are disrupting the industry using digital technology.
Compensation and incentives
– The revenue per employee as mentioned in the HBR case study Leveraging Internet Technologies in B2B Relationships, is just above the industry average. Technologies Internet 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.
No frontier risks strategy
– After analyzing the HBR case study Leveraging Internet Technologies in B2B Relationships, 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.
Opportunities Leveraging Internet Technologies in B2B Relationships | 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 Leveraging Internet Technologies in B2B Relationships are -
Learning at scale
– Online learning technologies has now opened space for Technologies Internet 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 Technologies Internet has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Technologies Internet to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the Leveraging Internet Technologies in B2B Relationships case study. Technologies Internet can build new products and services such as - data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, 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 Technologies Internet 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.
Redefining models of collaboration and team work
– As explained in the weaknesses section, Technologies Internet is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. Leveraging Internet Technologies in B2B Relationships 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 Technologies Internet 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 Technologies Internet 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 Technologies Internet to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
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 Technologies Internet in the consumer business. Now Technologies Internet can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.
Developing new processes and practices
– Technologies Internet 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.
Better consumer reach
– The expansion of the 5G network will help Technologies Internet to increase its market reach. Technologies Internet 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.
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– Technologies Internet 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 Leveraging Internet Technologies in B2B Relationships - to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Technologies Internet to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
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. Technologies Internet can tie-up with other value chain partners to explore new opportunities regarding meeting customer demands and building a rewarding and engaging relationship.
Increase in government spending
– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Technologies Internet can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Technologies Internet operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Technology & Operations sector.
Buying journey improvements
– Technologies Internet can improve the customer journey of consumers in the industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. Leveraging Internet Technologies in B2B Relationships 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.
Threats Leveraging Internet Technologies in B2B Relationships External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Leveraging Internet Technologies in B2B Relationships are -
Regulatory challenges
– Technologies Internet 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.
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Technologies Internet is facing in Technology & Operations sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.
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.
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Technologies Internet 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 Leveraging Internet Technologies in B2B Relationships .
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Technologies Internet 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.
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.
Environmental challenges
– Technologies Internet 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. Technologies Internet can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Technology & Operations industry.
Increasing wage structure of Technologies Internet
– 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 Technologies Internet.
High dependence on third party suppliers
– Technologies Internet 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.
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. Technologies Internet needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Technology & Operations industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
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. Technologies Internet can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
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 Technologies Internet in the Technology & Operations sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Technologies Internet 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.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Leveraging Internet Technologies in B2B Relationships 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 Leveraging Internet Technologies in B2B Relationships 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 Leveraging Internet Technologies in B2B Relationships 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 Leveraging Internet Technologies in B2B Relationships 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 Leveraging Internet Technologies in B2B Relationships 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 Technologies Internet needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.