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New E-Commerce Intermediaries SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis

Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution

Case Study Description of New E-Commerce Intermediaries


This is an MIT Sloan Management Review article. When companies first plunged into e-commerce, they thought success meant cutting out middlemen. That approach didn't work, in part because e-businesses misunderstood the role of intermediaries. Middlemen are not costly, necessary evils. They solve problems for customers and, in so doing, enable sales and create value for producers. INSEAD's Philip Anderson and Erin Anderson show how intermediaries are helping smart companies realize the promise of the Web. They explain intermediaries' nine ways of adding value, suggesting that three will change, three will survive in a new form, and three (reducing uncertainty about quality, preserving customer anonymity, and tailoring offerings to customer needs) present growth opportunities. Middlemen can co-opt the Internet by offering services that would be too difficult for individual producers to provide. However, the authors caution, intermediaries must be open to new ways of doing business with suppliers and vice versa. The Web transforms but does not eliminate the advantages of the middleman's central lookout position. But what was once thought of as a straight distribution channel from supplier through middleman to customer is now more accurately described as a service hub. The player that takes the customer order--possibly a Web site--occupies the center and interacts with many partners. The authors specify appropriate, fair incentives (for example, Ethan Allen's quasi-independent furniture stores that customers browse before buying directly from the manufacturer's Web site automatically receive a 10% tip). And they describe service-hub management that will generate enough trust to permit producers to get closer to customers--indirectly.

Authors :: Philip Anderson, Paul Anderson, Erin Anderson

Topics :: Technology & Operations

Tags :: Internet, Supply chain, SWOT Analysis, SWOT Matrix, TOWS, Weighted SWOT Analysis

Swot Analysis of "New E-Commerce Intermediaries" written by Philip Anderson, Paul Anderson, Erin Anderson includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Intermediaries Middlemen facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in New E-Commerce Intermediaries case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Internet, Supply chain and Technology & Operations.


Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the New E-Commerce Intermediaries casestudy better are - – increasing government debt because of Covid-19 spendings, talent flight as more people leaving formal jobs, cloud computing is disrupting traditional business models, increasing household debt because of falling income levels, increasing inequality as vast percentage of new income is going to the top 1%, competitive advantages are harder to sustain because of technology dispersion, increasing energy prices, geopolitical disruptions, technology disruption, etc



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Introduction to SWOT Analysis of New E-Commerce Intermediaries


SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in New E-Commerce Intermediaries case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Intermediaries Middlemen, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Intermediaries Middlemen 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 New E-Commerce Intermediaries can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in New E-Commerce Intermediaries case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Intermediaries Middlemen
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 Intermediaries Middlemen




Strengths New E-Commerce Intermediaries | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis

The strengths of Intermediaries Middlemen in New E-Commerce Intermediaries Harvard Business Review case study are -

Ability to recruit top talent

– Intermediaries Middlemen is one of the leading recruiters in the industry. Managers in the New E-Commerce Intermediaries are in a position to attract the best talent available. The firm has a robust talent identification program that helps in identifying the brightest.

Successful track record of launching new products

– Intermediaries Middlemen has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Intermediaries Middlemen 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.

Low bargaining power of suppliers

– Suppliers of Intermediaries Middlemen in the sector have low bargaining power. New E-Commerce Intermediaries has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Intermediaries Middlemen to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.

Training and development

– Intermediaries Middlemen has one of the best training and development program in the industry. The effectiveness of the training programs can be measured in New E-Commerce Intermediaries 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.

Learning organization

- Intermediaries Middlemen is a learning organization. It has inculcated three key characters of learning organization in its processes and operations – exploration, creativity, and expansiveness. The work place at Intermediaries Middlemen is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders in New E-Commerce Intermediaries Harvard Business Review case study emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.

Organizational Resilience of Intermediaries Middlemen

– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing that Intermediaries Middlemen does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.

Strong track record of project management

– Intermediaries Middlemen is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.

Sustainable margins compare to other players in Technology & Operations industry

– New E-Commerce Intermediaries firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Intermediaries Middlemen to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Technology & Operations industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Intermediaries Middlemen to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.

High switching costs

– The high switching costs that Intermediaries Middlemen 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.

Operational resilience

– The operational resilience strategy in the New E-Commerce Intermediaries 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.

Cross disciplinary teams

– Horizontal connected teams at the Intermediaries Middlemen 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.

Diverse revenue streams

– Intermediaries Middlemen is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided firm in New E-Commerce Intermediaries 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.



02468eBags: Managing Growth eBay (C): PayPal Merger Selecting a Hosting Provider Spartan Stores, Inc.: Reengineering for Efficient Consumer Response H.E. Butt Grocery Co.: The New Digital Strategy (B) New E-Commerce Intermediaries
Net Promoter Score



Weaknesses New E-Commerce Intermediaries | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis

The weaknesses of New E-Commerce Intermediaries are -

Capital Spending Reduction

– Even during the low interest decade, Intermediaries Middlemen 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.

Increasing silos among functional specialists

– The organizational structure of Intermediaries Middlemen is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Technology & Operations segment. Intermediaries Middlemen needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Intermediaries Middlemen to focus more on services rather than just following the product oriented approach.

Ability to respond to the competition

– As the decision making is very deliberative, highlighted in the case study New E-Commerce Intermediaries, in the dynamic environment Intermediaries Middlemen has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. Intermediaries Middlemen has reasonably good record with similar level competitors but it has struggled with new entrants taking away niches of its business.

Interest costs

– Compare to the competition, Intermediaries Middlemen 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.

Lack of clear differentiation of Intermediaries Middlemen products

– To increase the profitability and margins on the products, Intermediaries Middlemen needs to provide more differentiated products than what it is currently offering in the marketplace.

High dependence on star products

– The top 2 products and services of the firm as mentioned in the New E-Commerce Intermediaries 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 Intermediaries Middlemen has relatively successful track record of launching new products.

Slow to strategic competitive environment developments

– As New E-Commerce Intermediaries HBR case study mentions - Intermediaries Middlemen 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 operating costs

– Compare to the competitors, firm in the HBR case study New E-Commerce Intermediaries 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 Intermediaries Middlemen 's lucrative customers.

Aligning sales with marketing

– It come across in the case study New E-Commerce Intermediaries 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 New E-Commerce Intermediaries can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Intermediaries Middlemen is planning to shift buying processes online.

High bargaining power of channel partners

– Because of the regulatory requirements, Philip Anderson, Paul Anderson, Erin Anderson suggests that, Intermediaries Middlemen 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.

Workers concerns about automation

– As automation is fast increasing in the segment, Intermediaries Middlemen 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.




Opportunities New E-Commerce Intermediaries | 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 New E-Commerce Intermediaries are -

Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains

– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Intermediaries Middlemen 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, New E-Commerce Intermediaries, to buy more products closer to the markets, and it can leverage its size and influence to get better deal from the local markets.

Learning at scale

– Online learning technologies has now opened space for Intermediaries Middlemen 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.

Reforming the budgeting process

- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects Intermediaries Middlemen can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.

Buying journey improvements

– Intermediaries Middlemen can improve the customer journey of consumers in the industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. New E-Commerce Intermediaries 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.

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. Intermediaries Middlemen can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.

Loyalty marketing

– Intermediaries Middlemen 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.

Low interest rates

– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Intermediaries Middlemen 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.

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 Intermediaries Middlemen 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. Intermediaries Middlemen 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. Intermediaries Middlemen 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.

Redefining models of collaboration and team work

– As explained in the weaknesses section, Intermediaries Middlemen is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. New E-Commerce Intermediaries 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.

Manufacturing automation

– Intermediaries Middlemen 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.

Leveraging digital technologies

– Intermediaries Middlemen 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.

Creating value in data economy

– The success of analytics program of Intermediaries Middlemen has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Intermediaries Middlemen to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the New E-Commerce Intermediaries case study. Intermediaries Middlemen can build new products and services such as - data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.




Threats New E-Commerce Intermediaries External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis


The threats mentioned in the HBR case study New E-Commerce Intermediaries are -

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 Intermediaries Middlemen.

Trade war between China and United States

– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Intermediaries Middlemen 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.

Shortening product life cycle

– it is one of the major threat that Intermediaries Middlemen is facing in Technology & Operations sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.

Increasing wage structure of Intermediaries Middlemen

– 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 Intermediaries Middlemen.

Technology disruption because of hacks, piracy etc

– The colonial pipeline illustrated, how vulnerable modern organization are to international hackers, miscreants, and disruptors. The cyber security interruption, data leaks, etc can seriously jeopardize the future growth of the organization.

Environmental challenges

– Intermediaries Middlemen 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. Intermediaries Middlemen can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Technology & Operations industry.

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 Intermediaries Middlemen in the Technology & Operations sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.

Regulatory challenges

– Intermediaries Middlemen 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.

Learning curve for new practices

– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, as highlighted in case study New E-Commerce Intermediaries, Intermediaries Middlemen 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 .

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. Intermediaries Middlemen 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. Intermediaries Middlemen can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.

Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins

– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Intermediaries Middlemen 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 New E-Commerce Intermediaries .

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.




Weighted SWOT Analysis of New E-Commerce Intermediaries 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 New E-Commerce Intermediaries 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 New E-Commerce Intermediaries 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 New E-Commerce Intermediaries 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 New E-Commerce Intermediaries 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 Intermediaries Middlemen needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.



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