Case Study Description of Parentune.com: Partnering Parents
In June 2016, the founder and chief executive officer of Parentune.com, a rapidly growing online parents' community based in Gurgaon, India, was feeling the pressure of keeping his parenting support service relevant to the changing needs of millennial parents. Parentune.com supported parents at all stages of parenting by networking parents and experts. Since Parentune.com launched in November 2012, more than one million parents had become members of the community, with another 6,000 added every month. Parentune.com was trusted by parents for its personalized, validated, and state-of-the-art parenting resources. However, many similar platforms began entering the niche segment of digital parenting services, capitalizing on growing Internet reach and social media penetration. In the wake of evolving parenting needs and mounting competition from look-alike platforms, Parentune.com needed to evaluate its plan for continuous improvement in its service delivery. Anupama Prashar is affiliated with Management Development Institute.
Swot Analysis of "Parentune.com: Partnering Parents" written by Anupama Prashar includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Parentune.com Parents facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Parentune.com: Partnering Parents case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Internet and Technology & Operations.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Parentune.com: Partnering Parents casestudy better are - – increasing inequality as vast percentage of new income is going to the top 1%, there is increasing trade war between United States & China, supply chains are disrupted by pandemic , challanges to central banks by blockchain based private currencies, increasing transportation and logistics costs, increasing energy prices, competitive advantages are harder to sustain because of technology dispersion,
there is backlash against globalization, geopolitical disruptions, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Parentune.com: Partnering Parents
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Parentune.com: Partnering Parents case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Parentune.com Parents, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Parentune.com Parents 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 Parentune.com: Partnering Parents can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Parentune.com: Partnering Parents case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Parentune.com Parents
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 Parentune.com Parents
Strengths Parentune.com: Partnering Parents | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Parentune.com Parents in Parentune.com: Partnering Parents Harvard Business Review case study are -
Organizational Resilience of Parentune.com Parents
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing that Parentune.com Parents does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of Parentune.com Parents in the sector have low bargaining power. Parentune.com: Partnering Parents has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Parentune.com Parents to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
Strong track record of project management
– Parentune.com Parents 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
– Parentune.com: Partnering Parents firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Parentune.com Parents to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Technology & Operations industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Parentune.com Parents to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
High brand equity
– Parentune.com Parents has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Parentune.com Parents to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Cross disciplinary teams
– Horizontal connected teams at the Parentune.com Parents 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.
Successful track record of launching new products
– Parentune.com Parents has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Parentune.com Parents has effective processes in place that helps in exploring new product needs, doing quick pilot testing, and then launching the products quickly using its extensive distribution network.
Innovation driven organization
– Parentune.com Parents is one of the most innovative firm in sector. Manager in Parentune.com: Partnering Parents Harvard Business Review case study can use Clayton Christensen Disruptive Innovation strategies to further increase the scale of innovtions in the organization.
Operational resilience
– The operational resilience strategy in the Parentune.com: Partnering Parents 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.
Diverse revenue streams
– Parentune.com Parents is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided firm in Parentune.com: Partnering Parents 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.
Learning organization
- Parentune.com Parents 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 Parentune.com Parents is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders in Parentune.com: Partnering Parents Harvard Business Review case study emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
Ability to recruit top talent
– Parentune.com Parents is one of the leading recruiters in the industry. Managers in the Parentune.com: Partnering Parents are in a position to attract the best talent available. The firm has a robust talent identification program that helps in identifying the brightest.
Weaknesses Parentune.com: Partnering Parents | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Parentune.com: Partnering Parents are -
No frontier risks strategy
– After analyzing the HBR case study Parentune.com: Partnering Parents, 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.
Low market penetration in new markets
– Outside its home market of Parentune.com Parents, firm in the HBR case study Parentune.com: Partnering Parents needs to spend more promotional, marketing, and advertising efforts to penetrate international markets.
Capital Spending Reduction
– Even during the low interest decade, Parentune.com Parents 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.
Need for greater diversity
– Parentune.com Parents 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 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 Parentune.com Parents supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes mentioned in the HBR case study - Parentune.com: Partnering Parents, it is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left Parentune.com Parents vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.
Slow to strategic competitive environment developments
– As Parentune.com: Partnering Parents HBR case study mentions - Parentune.com Parents 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.
Aligning sales with marketing
– It come across in the case study Parentune.com: Partnering Parents 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 Parentune.com: Partnering Parents can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Parentune.com Parents is planning to shift buying processes online.
Compensation and incentives
– The revenue per employee as mentioned in the HBR case study Parentune.com: Partnering Parents, is just above the industry average. Parentune.com Parents 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.
Products dominated business model
– Even though Parentune.com Parents 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 - Parentune.com: Partnering Parents should strive to include more intangible value offerings along with its core products and services.
High cash cycle compare to competitors
Parentune.com Parents 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 Parentune.com Parents is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Technology & Operations segment. Parentune.com Parents needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Parentune.com Parents to focus more on services rather than just following the product oriented approach.
Opportunities Parentune.com: Partnering Parents | 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 Parentune.com: Partnering Parents are -
Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities
– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Parentune.com Parents 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 Parentune.com Parents to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
Better consumer reach
– The expansion of the 5G network will help Parentune.com Parents to increase its market reach. Parentune.com Parents 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.
Loyalty marketing
– Parentune.com Parents 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.
Building a culture of innovation
– managers at Parentune.com Parents 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.
Redefining models of collaboration and team work
– As explained in the weaknesses section, Parentune.com Parents is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. Parentune.com: Partnering Parents 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.
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Parentune.com Parents has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Parentune.com Parents to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the Parentune.com: Partnering Parents case study. Parentune.com Parents can build new products and services such as - data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
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 Parentune.com Parents in the consumer business. Now Parentune.com Parents can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.
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. Parentune.com Parents 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. Parentune.com Parents 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.
Developing new processes and practices
– Parentune.com Parents 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.
Lowering marketing communication costs
– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Parentune.com Parents 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.
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– Parentune.com Parents 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 Parentune.com: Partnering Parents - to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Parentune.com Parents to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains
– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Parentune.com Parents 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, Parentune.com: Partnering Parents, to buy more products closer to the markets, and it can leverage its size and influence to get better deal from the local markets.
Low interest rates
– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Parentune.com Parents 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.
Threats Parentune.com: Partnering Parents External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Parentune.com: Partnering Parents are -
Environmental challenges
– Parentune.com Parents 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. Parentune.com Parents can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Technology & Operations industry.
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, as highlighted in case study Parentune.com: Partnering Parents, Parentune.com Parents 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 wage structure of Parentune.com Parents
– 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 Parentune.com Parents.
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Parentune.com Parents has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Technology & Operations industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Parentune.com Parents needs to keep up with the evolution of technology in the Technology & Operations sector. According to Mckinsey study top managers believe that the adoption of technology in operations, communications is 20-25 times faster than what they planned in the beginning of 2019.
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Parentune.com Parents is facing in Technology & Operations sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.
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. Parentune.com Parents 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.
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. Parentune.com Parents can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry in the industry are lowering. It can presents Parentune.com Parents with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the sector.
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 Parentune.com Parents in the Technology & Operations sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
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.
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, Parentune.com Parents 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 Parentune.com: Partnering Parents .
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Parentune.com Parents 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.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Parentune.com: Partnering Parents 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 Parentune.com: Partnering Parents 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 Parentune.com: Partnering Parents 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 Parentune.com: Partnering Parents 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 Parentune.com: Partnering Parents 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 Parentune.com Parents needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.
