STEELSCREEN.com: Why IT is Not Everywhere in B2B and the Role of the CEO in 'IT' SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Technology & Operations
Strategy / MBA Resources
Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of STEELSCREEN.com: Why IT is Not Everywhere in B2B and the Role of the CEO in 'IT'
This case is intended to serve as the basis for one or two sessions of an introductory Information Technology course at an MBA program or for one session at a senior executive program. The aim is to address what needs to be known by general managers in terms of technology and at the same time serve as an introduction for those who want to deepen their knowledge in business-to-business (B2B) technologies. Thus, it is intended to cover basic technology principles and concepts essential for any CEO/MBA. It also covers key business concepts that are impacted by information technology such as industry convergence and B2B. The approach we suggest be taken with this case is an integrative one where both technology and business concepts are intermingled throughout the class discussion. An essential ingredient of this approach is to provide a business rational for why technology matters - using this case in the first session before drilling-down into the more specific technology details of XML and metadata in a possible second session. We have worked on other cases to extend this approach to a full-scale introductory MBA/senior executive class. There are two unique features of this approach. First, it is neither technology centric nor business centric. Instead, it links executive decisions with solid information technology fundamentals. Second, our approach would be concise not requiring more than 200 pages of core case material for a full 25-session course. We believe this is an important feature because MBA-style audience base does not go into a CIO career path most of the times and will therefore not be able to afford the amount of time a longer approach would require.
Swot Analysis of "STEELSCREEN.com: Why IT is Not Everywhere in B2B and the Role of the CEO in 'IT'" written by Brian Subirana includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Session Technology facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in STEELSCREEN.com: Why IT is Not Everywhere in B2B and the Role of the CEO in 'IT' case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Leadership and Technology & Operations.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the STEELSCREEN.com: Why IT is Not Everywhere in B2B and the Role of the CEO in 'IT' casestudy better are - – supply chains are disrupted by pandemic , geopolitical disruptions, wage bills are increasing, customer relationship management is fast transforming because of increasing concerns over data privacy, central banks are concerned over increasing inflation, increasing energy prices, there is increasing trade war between United States & China,
technology disruption, digital marketing is dominated by two big players Facebook and Google, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of STEELSCREEN.com: Why IT is Not Everywhere in B2B and the Role of the CEO in 'IT'
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in STEELSCREEN.com: Why IT is Not Everywhere in B2B and the Role of the CEO in 'IT' case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Session Technology, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Session Technology 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 STEELSCREEN.com: Why IT is Not Everywhere in B2B and the Role of the CEO in 'IT' can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in STEELSCREEN.com: Why IT is Not Everywhere in B2B and the Role of the CEO in 'IT' case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Session Technology
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 Session Technology
Strengths STEELSCREEN.com: Why IT is Not Everywhere in B2B and the Role of the CEO in 'IT' | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Session Technology in STEELSCREEN.com: Why IT is Not Everywhere in B2B and the Role of the CEO in 'IT' Harvard Business Review case study are -
Analytics focus
– Session Technology 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 Brian Subirana 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
– STEELSCREEN.com: Why IT is Not Everywhere in B2B and the Role of the CEO in 'IT' firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Session Technology to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Technology & Operations industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Session Technology to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Ability to recruit top talent
– Session Technology is one of the leading recruiters in the industry. Managers in the STEELSCREEN.com: Why IT is Not Everywhere in B2B and the Role of the CEO in 'IT' are in a position to attract the best talent available. The firm has a robust talent identification program that helps in identifying the brightest.
Operational resilience
– The operational resilience strategy in the STEELSCREEN.com: Why IT is Not Everywhere in B2B and the Role of the CEO in 'IT' 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.
High switching costs
– The high switching costs that Session Technology has built up over years in its products and services combo offer has resulted in high retention of customers, lower marketing costs, and greater ability of the firm to focus on its customers.
Superior customer experience
– The customer experience strategy of Session Technology in the segment is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.
Effective Research and Development (R&D)
– Session Technology has innovation driven culture where significant part of the revenues are spent on the research and development activities. This has resulted in, as mentioned in case study STEELSCREEN.com: Why IT is Not Everywhere in B2B and the Role of the CEO in 'IT' - staying ahead in the industry in terms of – new product launches, superior customer experience, highly competitive pricing strategies, and great returns to the shareholders.
Organizational Resilience of Session Technology
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing that Session Technology does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
Cross disciplinary teams
– Horizontal connected teams at the Session Technology 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.
Innovation driven organization
– Session Technology is one of the most innovative firm in sector. Manager in STEELSCREEN.com: Why IT is Not Everywhere in B2B and the Role of the CEO in 'IT' Harvard Business Review case study can use Clayton Christensen Disruptive Innovation strategies to further increase the scale of innovtions in the organization.
Strong track record of project management
– Session Technology is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.
Ability to lead change in Technology & Operations field
– Session Technology 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 Session Technology in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.
Weaknesses STEELSCREEN.com: Why IT is Not Everywhere in B2B and the Role of the CEO in 'IT' | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of STEELSCREEN.com: Why IT is Not Everywhere in B2B and the Role of the CEO in 'IT' are -
Ability to respond to the competition
– As the decision making is very deliberative, highlighted in the case study STEELSCREEN.com: Why IT is Not Everywhere in B2B and the Role of the CEO in 'IT', in the dynamic environment Session Technology has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. Session Technology has reasonably good record with similar level competitors but it has struggled with new entrants taking away niches of its business.
Slow to strategic competitive environment developments
– As STEELSCREEN.com: Why IT is Not Everywhere in B2B and the Role of the CEO in 'IT' HBR case study mentions - Session Technology 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 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 Session Technology supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes mentioned in the HBR case study - STEELSCREEN.com: Why IT is Not Everywhere in B2B and the Role of the CEO in 'IT', it is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left Session Technology vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.
Slow decision making process
– As mentioned earlier in the report, Session Technology has a very deliberative decision making approach. This approach has resulted in prudent decisions, but it has also resulted in missing opportunities in the industry over the last five years. Session Technology even though has strong showing on digital transformation primary two stages, it has struggled to capitalize the power of digital transformation in marketing efforts and new venture efforts.
Increasing silos among functional specialists
– The organizational structure of Session Technology is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Technology & Operations segment. Session Technology needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Session Technology to focus more on services rather than just following the product oriented approach.
High operating costs
– Compare to the competitors, firm in the HBR case study STEELSCREEN.com: Why IT is Not Everywhere in B2B and the Role of the CEO in 'IT' 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 Session Technology 's lucrative customers.
Slow to harness new channels of communication
– Even though competitors are using new communication channels such as Instagram, Tiktok, and Snap, Session Technology is slow explore the new channels of communication. These new channels of communication mentioned in marketing section of case study STEELSCREEN.com: Why IT is Not Everywhere in B2B and the Role of the CEO in 'IT' 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 STEELSCREEN.com: Why IT is Not Everywhere in B2B and the Role of the CEO in 'IT' 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 STEELSCREEN.com: Why IT is Not Everywhere in B2B and the Role of the CEO in 'IT' can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Session Technology is planning to shift buying processes online.
High bargaining power of channel partners
– Because of the regulatory requirements, Brian Subirana suggests that, Session Technology 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.
Need for greater diversity
– Session Technology 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.
Products dominated business model
– Even though Session Technology has some of the most successful products in the industry, this business model has made each new product launch extremely critical for continuous financial growth of the organization. firm in the HBR case study - STEELSCREEN.com: Why IT is Not Everywhere in B2B and the Role of the CEO in 'IT' should strive to include more intangible value offerings along with its core products and services.
Opportunities STEELSCREEN.com: Why IT is Not Everywhere in B2B and the Role of the CEO in 'IT' | 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 STEELSCREEN.com: Why IT is Not Everywhere in B2B and the Role of the CEO in 'IT' are -
Leveraging digital technologies
– Session Technology 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.
Better consumer reach
– The expansion of the 5G network will help Session Technology to increase its market reach. Session Technology 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.
Learning at scale
– Online learning technologies has now opened space for Session Technology 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.
Buying journey improvements
– Session Technology can improve the customer journey of consumers in the industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. STEELSCREEN.com: Why IT is Not Everywhere in B2B and the Role of the CEO in 'IT' 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.
Increase in government spending
– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Session Technology can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Session Technology operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Technology & Operations sector.
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– Session Technology 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 STEELSCREEN.com: Why IT is Not Everywhere in B2B and the Role of the CEO in 'IT' - to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Session Technology to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
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. Session Technology can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Session Technology has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Session Technology to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the STEELSCREEN.com: Why IT is Not Everywhere in B2B and the Role of the CEO in 'IT' case study. Session Technology 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 Session Technology 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.
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. Session Technology 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. Session Technology 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.
Reforming the budgeting process
- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects Session Technology can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.
Low interest rates
– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Session Technology 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.
Developing new processes and practices
– Session Technology 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 STEELSCREEN.com: Why IT is Not Everywhere in B2B and the Role of the CEO in 'IT' External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study STEELSCREEN.com: Why IT is Not Everywhere in B2B and the Role of the CEO in 'IT' are -
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.
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 Session Technology business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, 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.
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Session Technology 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.
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. Session Technology 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.
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 Session Technology in the Technology & Operations sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, as highlighted in case study STEELSCREEN.com: Why IT is Not Everywhere in B2B and the Role of the CEO in 'IT', Session Technology 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, Session Technology 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 STEELSCREEN.com: Why IT is Not Everywhere in B2B and the Role of the CEO in 'IT' .
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Session Technology is facing in Technology & Operations sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.
Environmental challenges
– Session Technology 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. Session Technology can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Technology & Operations industry.
Regulatory challenges
– Session Technology 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.
High dependence on third party suppliers
– Session Technology 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.
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. Session Technology can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of STEELSCREEN.com: Why IT is Not Everywhere in B2B and the Role of the CEO in 'IT' 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 STEELSCREEN.com: Why IT is Not Everywhere in B2B and the Role of the CEO in 'IT' 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 STEELSCREEN.com: Why IT is Not Everywhere in B2B and the Role of the CEO in 'IT' 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 STEELSCREEN.com: Why IT is Not Everywhere in B2B and the Role of the CEO in 'IT' 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 STEELSCREEN.com: Why IT is Not Everywhere in B2B and the Role of the CEO in 'IT' 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 Session Technology needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.
