Chartwell Technologies: Upping the Ante with Internet Poker SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Technology & Operations
Strategy / MBA Resources
Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of Chartwell Technologies: Upping the Ante with Internet Poker
On March 12, 2005, the founder and chief executive officer (CEO) of Chartwell Technologies (Chartwell), a company that specialized in Internet gaming development, noticed something interesting. The CNN headline news ticker on his television read: "Online Poker Industry Expected to Grow by Billions within the Year." The CEO and his partner, the vice-president of business development, were about to decide whether to acquire MicroPower Inc. (MicroPower), an online poker company, for US$2.6 million in cash. The industry certainly had the potential for explosive growth. The CEO had to decide whether Chartwell should upgrade its current technology or purchase MicroPower to gain instant access to its C++ platform to take advantage of the growth on the online poker industry.
Swot Analysis of "Chartwell Technologies: Upping the Ante with Internet Poker" written by Michael Rouse, David Maslach includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Chartwell Poker facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Chartwell Technologies: Upping the Ante with Internet Poker case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Mergers & acquisitions, Technology and Technology & Operations.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Chartwell Technologies: Upping the Ante with Internet Poker casestudy better are - – challanges to central banks by blockchain based private currencies, digital marketing is dominated by two big players Facebook and Google, increasing energy prices, there is backlash against globalization, cloud computing is disrupting traditional business models, talent flight as more people leaving formal jobs, wage bills are increasing,
technology disruption, increasing household debt because of falling income levels, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Chartwell Technologies: Upping the Ante with Internet Poker
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Chartwell Technologies: Upping the Ante with Internet Poker case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Chartwell Poker, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Chartwell Poker 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 Chartwell Technologies: Upping the Ante with Internet Poker can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Chartwell Technologies: Upping the Ante with Internet Poker case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Chartwell Poker
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 Chartwell Poker
Strengths Chartwell Technologies: Upping the Ante with Internet Poker | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Chartwell Poker in Chartwell Technologies: Upping the Ante with Internet Poker Harvard Business Review case study are -
High brand equity
– Chartwell Poker has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Chartwell Poker to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of Chartwell Poker in the sector have low bargaining power. Chartwell Technologies: Upping the Ante with Internet Poker has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Chartwell Poker to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Technology & Operations industry
– Chartwell Technologies: Upping the Ante with Internet Poker firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Chartwell Poker to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Technology & Operations industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Chartwell Poker to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Ability to recruit top talent
– Chartwell Poker is one of the leading recruiters in the industry. Managers in the Chartwell Technologies: Upping the Ante with Internet Poker are in a position to attract the best talent available. The firm has a robust talent identification program that helps in identifying the brightest.
Ability to lead change in Technology & Operations field
– Chartwell Poker 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 Chartwell Poker in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.
Diverse revenue streams
– Chartwell Poker is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided firm in Chartwell Technologies: Upping the Ante with Internet Poker 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.
Successful track record of launching new products
– Chartwell Poker has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Chartwell Poker 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.
Organizational Resilience of Chartwell Poker
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing that Chartwell Poker does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
High switching costs
– The high switching costs that Chartwell Poker 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.
Highly skilled collaborators
– Chartwell Poker 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 Chartwell Technologies: Upping the Ante with Internet Poker HBR case study have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
Operational resilience
– The operational resilience strategy in the Chartwell Technologies: Upping the Ante with Internet Poker 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.
Digital Transformation in Technology & Operations segment
- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For Chartwell Poker digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Chartwell Poker has successfully integrated the four key components of digital transformation – digital integration in processes, digital integration in marketing and customer relationship management, digital integration into the value chain, and using technology to explore new products and market opportunities.
Weaknesses Chartwell Technologies: Upping the Ante with Internet Poker | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Chartwell Technologies: Upping the Ante with Internet Poker are -
Slow to strategic competitive environment developments
– As Chartwell Technologies: Upping the Ante with Internet Poker HBR case study mentions - Chartwell Poker 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 bargaining power of channel partners
– Because of the regulatory requirements, Michael Rouse, David Maslach suggests that, Chartwell Poker 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.
Low market penetration in new markets
– Outside its home market of Chartwell Poker, firm in the HBR case study Chartwell Technologies: Upping the Ante with Internet Poker needs to spend more promotional, marketing, and advertising efforts to penetrate international markets.
High operating costs
– Compare to the competitors, firm in the HBR case study Chartwell Technologies: Upping the Ante with Internet Poker 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 Chartwell Poker 's lucrative customers.
High cash cycle compare to competitors
Chartwell Poker 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.
No frontier risks strategy
– After analyzing the HBR case study Chartwell Technologies: Upping the Ante with Internet Poker, 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.
Slow decision making process
– As mentioned earlier in the report, Chartwell Poker 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. Chartwell Poker 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.
Aligning sales with marketing
– It come across in the case study Chartwell Technologies: Upping the Ante with Internet Poker 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 Chartwell Technologies: Upping the Ante with Internet Poker can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Chartwell Poker is planning to shift buying processes online.
Ability to respond to the competition
– As the decision making is very deliberative, highlighted in the case study Chartwell Technologies: Upping the Ante with Internet Poker, in the dynamic environment Chartwell Poker has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. Chartwell Poker has reasonably good record with similar level competitors but it has struggled with new entrants taking away niches of its business.
Products dominated business model
– Even though Chartwell Poker 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 - Chartwell Technologies: Upping the Ante with Internet Poker should strive to include more intangible value offerings along with its core products and services.
Employees’ incomplete understanding of strategy
– From the instances in the HBR case study Chartwell Technologies: Upping the Ante with Internet Poker, it seems that the employees of Chartwell Poker 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.
Opportunities Chartwell Technologies: Upping the Ante with Internet Poker | 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 Chartwell Technologies: Upping the Ante with Internet Poker are -
Loyalty marketing
– Chartwell Poker 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.
Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities
– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Chartwell Poker 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 Chartwell Poker to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
Low interest rates
– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Chartwell Poker 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.
Building a culture of innovation
– managers at Chartwell Poker 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.
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 Chartwell Poker 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.
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. Chartwell Poker can tie-up with other value chain partners to explore new opportunities regarding meeting customer demands and building a rewarding and engaging relationship.
Learning at scale
– Online learning technologies has now opened space for Chartwell Poker 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.
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 Chartwell Poker in the consumer business. Now Chartwell Poker 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. Chartwell Poker 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. Chartwell Poker 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 Chartwell Poker can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– Chartwell Poker 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 Chartwell Technologies: Upping the Ante with Internet Poker - to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Chartwell Poker to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
Buying journey improvements
– Chartwell Poker can improve the customer journey of consumers in the industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. Chartwell Technologies: Upping the Ante with Internet Poker 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.
Developing new processes and practices
– Chartwell Poker 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 Chartwell Technologies: Upping the Ante with Internet Poker External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Chartwell Technologies: Upping the Ante with Internet Poker 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.
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Chartwell Poker is facing in Technology & Operations sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.
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 Chartwell Poker.
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 Chartwell Poker in the Technology & Operations sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Chartwell Poker 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 Chartwell Technologies: Upping the Ante with Internet Poker .
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 Chartwell Poker business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry in the industry are lowering. It can presents Chartwell Poker with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the sector.
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Chartwell Poker 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.
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Chartwell Poker 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. Chartwell Poker 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.
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. Chartwell Poker needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Technology & Operations industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, as highlighted in case study Chartwell Technologies: Upping the Ante with Internet Poker, Chartwell Poker 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 dependence on third party suppliers
– Chartwell Poker 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.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Chartwell Technologies: Upping the Ante with Internet Poker 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 Chartwell Technologies: Upping the Ante with Internet Poker 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 Chartwell Technologies: Upping the Ante with Internet Poker 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 Chartwell Technologies: Upping the Ante with Internet Poker 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 Chartwell Technologies: Upping the Ante with Internet Poker 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 Chartwell Poker needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.