Linkfluence: Building on ActSocial's Relationships SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Innovation & Entrepreneurship
Strategy / MBA Resources
Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of Linkfluence: Building on ActSocial's Relationships
Founded in 2008 in Singapore and China, ActSocial was a social marketing company that initially provided brands with word-of-mouth (WOM) marketing services. The firm then adjusted its model to focus on providing online social media and digital content marketing services. After significant success from 2013 to 2015, ActSocial was fully acquired by Linkfluence, a leading global social media monitoring and research company. As part of this larger company, the new leadership team at Linkfluence Asia now needed to decide how to proceed and wondered if they would have influence over the direction of their product, hiring decisions, team-building, and growth plans.
Swot Analysis of "Linkfluence: Building on ActSocial's Relationships" written by Jeff Chai, Wei Lu, Darren Meister includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Linkfluence Actsocial facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Linkfluence: Building on ActSocial's Relationships case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Social platforms and Innovation & Entrepreneurship.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Linkfluence: Building on ActSocial's Relationships casestudy better are - – talent flight as more people leaving formal jobs, supply chains are disrupted by pandemic , increasing inequality as vast percentage of new income is going to the top 1%, there is backlash against globalization, challanges to central banks by blockchain based private currencies, increasing commodity prices, banking and financial system is disrupted by Bitcoin and other crypto currencies,
increasing household debt because of falling income levels, customer relationship management is fast transforming because of increasing concerns over data privacy, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Linkfluence: Building on ActSocial's Relationships
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Linkfluence: Building on ActSocial's Relationships case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Linkfluence Actsocial, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Linkfluence Actsocial 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 Linkfluence: Building on ActSocial's Relationships can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Linkfluence: Building on ActSocial's Relationships case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Linkfluence Actsocial
3. Assessing feasibility of the new initiative in Innovation & Entrepreneurship field.
4. Making a Innovation & Entrepreneurship topic specific business decision
5. Set goals for the organization
6. Organizational restructuring of Linkfluence Actsocial
Strengths Linkfluence: Building on ActSocial's Relationships | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Linkfluence Actsocial in Linkfluence: Building on ActSocial's Relationships Harvard Business Review case study are -
Highly skilled collaborators
– Linkfluence Actsocial 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 Linkfluence: Building on ActSocial's Relationships HBR case study have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
Cross disciplinary teams
– Horizontal connected teams at the Linkfluence Actsocial 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.
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of Linkfluence Actsocial in the sector have low bargaining power. Linkfluence: Building on ActSocial's Relationships has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Linkfluence Actsocial to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
Ability to recruit top talent
– Linkfluence Actsocial is one of the leading recruiters in the industry. Managers in the Linkfluence: Building on ActSocial's Relationships are in a position to attract the best talent available. The firm has a robust talent identification program that helps in identifying the brightest.
Training and development
– Linkfluence Actsocial has one of the best training and development program in the industry. The effectiveness of the training programs can be measured in Linkfluence: Building on ActSocial's Relationships 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.
Effective Research and Development (R&D)
– Linkfluence Actsocial 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 Linkfluence: Building on ActSocial's Relationships - staying ahead in the industry in terms of – new product launches, superior customer experience, highly competitive pricing strategies, and great returns to the shareholders.
Digital Transformation in Innovation & Entrepreneurship segment
- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For Linkfluence Actsocial digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Linkfluence Actsocial 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.
Superior customer experience
– The customer experience strategy of Linkfluence Actsocial in the segment is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.
High brand equity
– Linkfluence Actsocial has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Linkfluence Actsocial to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Organizational Resilience of Linkfluence Actsocial
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing that Linkfluence Actsocial does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
Successful track record of launching new products
– Linkfluence Actsocial has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Linkfluence Actsocial 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
– Linkfluence Actsocial is one of the most innovative firm in sector. Manager in Linkfluence: Building on ActSocial's Relationships Harvard Business Review case study can use Clayton Christensen Disruptive Innovation strategies to further increase the scale of innovtions in the organization.
Weaknesses Linkfluence: Building on ActSocial's Relationships | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Linkfluence: Building on ActSocial's Relationships are -
Slow to strategic competitive environment developments
– As Linkfluence: Building on ActSocial's Relationships HBR case study mentions - Linkfluence Actsocial 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.
Employees’ incomplete understanding of strategy
– From the instances in the HBR case study Linkfluence: Building on ActSocial's Relationships, it seems that the employees of Linkfluence Actsocial 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.
Aligning sales with marketing
– It come across in the case study Linkfluence: Building on ActSocial's Relationships 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 Linkfluence: Building on ActSocial's Relationships can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Linkfluence Actsocial is planning to shift buying processes online.
Slow to harness new channels of communication
– Even though competitors are using new communication channels such as Instagram, Tiktok, and Snap, Linkfluence Actsocial is slow explore the new channels of communication. These new channels of communication mentioned in marketing section of case study Linkfluence: Building on ActSocial's Relationships can help to provide better information regarding products and services. It can also build an online community to further reach out to potential customers.
Capital Spending Reduction
– Even during the low interest decade, Linkfluence Actsocial 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.
Low market penetration in new markets
– Outside its home market of Linkfluence Actsocial, firm in the HBR case study Linkfluence: Building on ActSocial's Relationships needs to spend more promotional, marketing, and advertising efforts to penetrate international markets.
Ability to respond to the competition
– As the decision making is very deliberative, highlighted in the case study Linkfluence: Building on ActSocial's Relationships, in the dynamic environment Linkfluence Actsocial has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. Linkfluence Actsocial has reasonably good record with similar level competitors but it has struggled with new entrants taking away niches of its business.
Skills based hiring
– The stress on hiring functional specialists at Linkfluence Actsocial has created an environment where the organization is dominated by functional specialists rather than management generalist. This has resulted into product oriented approach rather than marketing oriented approach or consumers oriented approach.
Increasing silos among functional specialists
– The organizational structure of Linkfluence Actsocial is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Innovation & Entrepreneurship segment. Linkfluence Actsocial needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Linkfluence Actsocial to focus more on services rather than just following the product oriented approach.
Slow decision making process
– As mentioned earlier in the report, Linkfluence Actsocial 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. Linkfluence Actsocial 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.
High dependence on star products
– The top 2 products and services of the firm as mentioned in the Linkfluence: Building on ActSocial's Relationships 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 Linkfluence Actsocial has relatively successful track record of launching new products.
Opportunities Linkfluence: Building on ActSocial's Relationships | External Strategic Factors
What are Opportunities in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The opportunities highlighted in the Harvard Business Review case study Linkfluence: Building on ActSocial's Relationships are -
Increase in government spending
– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Linkfluence Actsocial can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Linkfluence Actsocial operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Innovation & Entrepreneurship sector.
Better consumer reach
– The expansion of the 5G network will help Linkfluence Actsocial to increase its market reach. Linkfluence Actsocial 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.
Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities
– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Linkfluence Actsocial 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 Linkfluence Actsocial to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
Developing new processes and practices
– Linkfluence Actsocial can develop new processes and procedures in Innovation & Entrepreneurship 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.
Finding new ways to collaborate
– Covid-19 has not only transformed business models of companies in Innovation & Entrepreneurship industry, but it has also influenced the consumer preferences. Linkfluence Actsocial can tie-up with other value chain partners to explore new opportunities regarding meeting customer demands and building a rewarding and engaging relationship.
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. Linkfluence Actsocial can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.
Leveraging digital technologies
– Linkfluence Actsocial 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.
Building a culture of innovation
– managers at Linkfluence Actsocial 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 Innovation & Entrepreneurship segment.
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Linkfluence Actsocial has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Linkfluence Actsocial to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the Linkfluence: Building on ActSocial's Relationships case study. Linkfluence Actsocial can build new products and services such as - data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
Loyalty marketing
– Linkfluence Actsocial 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.
Buying journey improvements
– Linkfluence Actsocial can improve the customer journey of consumers in the industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. Linkfluence: Building on ActSocial's Relationships suggest that firm can provide automated chats to help consumers solve their own problems, provide online suggestions to get maximum out of the products and services, and help consumers to build a community where they can interact with each other to develop new features and uses.
Lowering marketing communication costs
– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Linkfluence Actsocial in the field of marketing communication. It will bring down the cost of doing business, provide technology platform to build new products in the Innovation & Entrepreneurship segment, and it will provide faster access to the consumers.
Changes in consumer behavior post Covid-19
– Consumer behavior has changed in the Innovation & Entrepreneurship industry because of Covid-19 restrictions. Some of this behavior will stay once things get back to normal. Linkfluence Actsocial 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. Linkfluence Actsocial 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.
Threats Linkfluence: Building on ActSocial's Relationships External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Linkfluence: Building on ActSocial's Relationships are -
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Linkfluence Actsocial in the Innovation & Entrepreneurship industry. The Innovation & Entrepreneurship 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.
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 Linkfluence Actsocial business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
Increasing wage structure of Linkfluence Actsocial
– 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 Linkfluence Actsocial.
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry in the industry are lowering. It can presents Linkfluence Actsocial with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the sector.
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.
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Linkfluence Actsocial 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.
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Linkfluence Actsocial 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 Linkfluence: Building on ActSocial's Relationships .
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 Linkfluence Actsocial in the Innovation & Entrepreneurship sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
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. Linkfluence Actsocial 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. Linkfluence Actsocial needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Innovation & Entrepreneurship industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
High dependence on third party suppliers
– Linkfluence Actsocial 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.
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 Linkfluence Actsocial.
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Linkfluence Actsocial has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Innovation & Entrepreneurship industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Linkfluence Actsocial needs to keep up with the evolution of technology in the Innovation & Entrepreneurship 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.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Linkfluence: Building on ActSocial's Relationships Template, Example
Not all factors mentioned under the Strengths, Weakness, Opportunities, and Threats quadrants in the SWOT Analysis are equal. Managers in the HBR case study Linkfluence: Building on ActSocial's Relationships needs to zero down on the relative importance of each factor mentioned in the Strengths, Weakness, Opportunities, and Threats quadrants.
We can provide the relative importance to each factor by assigning relative weights. Weighted SWOT analysis process is a three stage process –
First stage for doing weighted SWOT analysis of the case study Linkfluence: Building on ActSocial's Relationships is to rank the strengths and weaknesses of the organization. This will help you to assess the most important strengths and weaknesses of the firm and which one of the strengths and weaknesses mentioned in the initial lists are marginal and can be left out.
Second stage for conducting weighted SWOT analysis of the Harvard case study Linkfluence: Building on ActSocial's Relationships is to give probabilities to the external strategic factors thus better understanding the opportunities and threats arising out of macro environment changes and developments.
Third stage of constructing weighted SWOT analysis of Linkfluence: Building on ActSocial's Relationships is to provide strategic recommendations includes – joining likelihood of external strategic factors such as opportunities and threats to the internal strategic factors – strengths and weaknesses. You should start with external factors as they will provide the direction of the overall industry. Secondly by joining probabilities with internal strategic factors can help the company not only strategic fit but also the most probably strategic trade-off that Linkfluence Actsocial needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.