Swot Analysis of "AOL's Acquisition of Mirabilis (B): AOL Releases Q4 1998 Operating Results" written by Mary E. Barth, David W. Hoyt includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Q4 Mirabilis facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in AOL's Acquisition of Mirabilis (B): AOL Releases Q4 1998 Operating Results case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Government, Internet, IT, Mergers & acquisitions, Research & development and Finance & Accounting.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the AOL's Acquisition of Mirabilis (B): AOL Releases Q4 1998 Operating Results casestudy better are - – increasing government debt because of Covid-19 spendings, geopolitical disruptions, increasing household debt because of falling income levels, increasing inequality as vast percentage of new income is going to the top 1%, wage bills are increasing, challanges to central banks by blockchain based private currencies, cloud computing is disrupting traditional business models,
increasing energy prices, competitive advantages are harder to sustain because of technology dispersion, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of AOL's Acquisition of Mirabilis (B): AOL Releases Q4 1998 Operating Results
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in AOL's Acquisition of Mirabilis (B): AOL Releases Q4 1998 Operating Results case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Q4 Mirabilis, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Q4 Mirabilis 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 AOL's Acquisition of Mirabilis (B): AOL Releases Q4 1998 Operating Results can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in AOL's Acquisition of Mirabilis (B): AOL Releases Q4 1998 Operating Results case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Q4 Mirabilis
3. Assessing feasibility of the new initiative in Finance & Accounting field.
4. Making a Finance & Accounting topic specific business decision
5. Set goals for the organization
6. Organizational restructuring of Q4 Mirabilis
Strengths AOL's Acquisition of Mirabilis (B): AOL Releases Q4 1998 Operating Results | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Q4 Mirabilis in AOL's Acquisition of Mirabilis (B): AOL Releases Q4 1998 Operating Results Harvard Business Review case study are -
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of Q4 Mirabilis in the sector have low bargaining power. AOL's Acquisition of Mirabilis (B): AOL Releases Q4 1998 Operating Results has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Q4 Mirabilis to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
Diverse revenue streams
– Q4 Mirabilis is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided firm in AOL's Acquisition of Mirabilis (B): AOL Releases Q4 1998 Operating Results 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.
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Finance & Accounting industry
– AOL's Acquisition of Mirabilis (B): AOL Releases Q4 1998 Operating Results firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Q4 Mirabilis to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Finance & Accounting industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Q4 Mirabilis to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Ability to recruit top talent
– Q4 Mirabilis is one of the leading recruiters in the industry. Managers in the AOL's Acquisition of Mirabilis (B): AOL Releases Q4 1998 Operating Results are in a position to attract the best talent available. The firm has a robust talent identification program that helps in identifying the brightest.
Effective Research and Development (R&D)
– Q4 Mirabilis 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 AOL's Acquisition of Mirabilis (B): AOL Releases Q4 1998 Operating Results - staying ahead in the industry in terms of – new product launches, superior customer experience, highly competitive pricing strategies, and great returns to the shareholders.
Superior customer experience
– The customer experience strategy of Q4 Mirabilis in the segment is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.
Learning organization
- Q4 Mirabilis 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 Q4 Mirabilis is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders in AOL's Acquisition of Mirabilis (B): AOL Releases Q4 1998 Operating Results Harvard Business Review case study emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
High brand equity
– Q4 Mirabilis has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Q4 Mirabilis to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Analytics focus
– Q4 Mirabilis is putting a lot of focus on utilizing the power of analytics in business decision making. This has put it among the leading players in the industry. The technology infrastructure suggested by Mary E. Barth, David W. Hoyt can also help it to harness the power of analytics for – marketing optimization, demand forecasting, customer relationship management, inventory management, information sharing across the value chain etc.
Innovation driven organization
– Q4 Mirabilis is one of the most innovative firm in sector. Manager in AOL's Acquisition of Mirabilis (B): AOL Releases Q4 1998 Operating Results Harvard Business Review case study can use Clayton Christensen Disruptive Innovation strategies to further increase the scale of innovtions in the organization.
Ability to lead change in Finance & Accounting field
– Q4 Mirabilis 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 Q4 Mirabilis in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.
Successful track record of launching new products
– Q4 Mirabilis has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Q4 Mirabilis 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.
Weaknesses AOL's Acquisition of Mirabilis (B): AOL Releases Q4 1998 Operating Results | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of AOL's Acquisition of Mirabilis (B): AOL Releases Q4 1998 Operating Results are -
Workers concerns about automation
– As automation is fast increasing in the segment, Q4 Mirabilis 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.
High operating costs
– Compare to the competitors, firm in the HBR case study AOL's Acquisition of Mirabilis (B): AOL Releases Q4 1998 Operating Results 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 Q4 Mirabilis 's lucrative customers.
Slow decision making process
– As mentioned earlier in the report, Q4 Mirabilis 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. Q4 Mirabilis 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.
Lack of clear differentiation of Q4 Mirabilis products
– To increase the profitability and margins on the products, Q4 Mirabilis needs to provide more differentiated products than what it is currently offering in the marketplace.
High bargaining power of channel partners
– Because of the regulatory requirements, Mary E. Barth, David W. Hoyt suggests that, Q4 Mirabilis 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.
Capital Spending Reduction
– Even during the low interest decade, Q4 Mirabilis 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.
High dependence on star products
– The top 2 products and services of the firm as mentioned in the AOL's Acquisition of Mirabilis (B): AOL Releases Q4 1998 Operating Results 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 Q4 Mirabilis has relatively successful track record of launching new products.
Aligning sales with marketing
– It come across in the case study AOL's Acquisition of Mirabilis (B): AOL Releases Q4 1998 Operating Results 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 AOL's Acquisition of Mirabilis (B): AOL Releases Q4 1998 Operating Results can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Q4 Mirabilis is planning to shift buying processes online.
Compensation and incentives
– The revenue per employee as mentioned in the HBR case study AOL's Acquisition of Mirabilis (B): AOL Releases Q4 1998 Operating Results, is just above the industry average. Q4 Mirabilis 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.
No frontier risks strategy
– After analyzing the HBR case study AOL's Acquisition of Mirabilis (B): AOL Releases Q4 1998 Operating Results, it seems that company is thinking about the frontier risks that can impact Finance & Accounting 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.
Employees’ incomplete understanding of strategy
– From the instances in the HBR case study AOL's Acquisition of Mirabilis (B): AOL Releases Q4 1998 Operating Results, it seems that the employees of Q4 Mirabilis 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 AOL's Acquisition of Mirabilis (B): AOL Releases Q4 1998 Operating Results | 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 AOL's Acquisition of Mirabilis (B): AOL Releases Q4 1998 Operating Results are -
Loyalty marketing
– Q4 Mirabilis 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 Q4 Mirabilis 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 Q4 Mirabilis to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
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. Q4 Mirabilis can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.
Leveraging digital technologies
– Q4 Mirabilis 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.
Finding new ways to collaborate
– Covid-19 has not only transformed business models of companies in Finance & Accounting industry, but it has also influenced the consumer preferences. Q4 Mirabilis can tie-up with other value chain partners to explore new opportunities regarding meeting customer demands and building a rewarding and engaging relationship.
Low interest rates
– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Q4 Mirabilis 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.
Lowering marketing communication costs
– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Q4 Mirabilis in the field of marketing communication. It will bring down the cost of doing business, provide technology platform to build new products in the Finance & Accounting segment, and it will provide faster access to the consumers.
Better consumer reach
– The expansion of the 5G network will help Q4 Mirabilis to increase its market reach. Q4 Mirabilis 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.
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 Q4 Mirabilis 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.
Developing new processes and practices
– Q4 Mirabilis can develop new processes and procedures in Finance & Accounting 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.
Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains
– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Q4 Mirabilis 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, AOL's Acquisition of Mirabilis (B): AOL Releases Q4 1998 Operating Results, to buy more products closer to the markets, and it can leverage its size and influence to get better deal from the local markets.
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Q4 Mirabilis has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Q4 Mirabilis to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the AOL's Acquisition of Mirabilis (B): AOL Releases Q4 1998 Operating Results case study. Q4 Mirabilis can build new products and services such as - data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
Manufacturing automation
– Q4 Mirabilis can use the latest technology developments to improve its manufacturing and designing process in Finance & Accounting 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.
Threats AOL's Acquisition of Mirabilis (B): AOL Releases Q4 1998 Operating Results External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study AOL's Acquisition of Mirabilis (B): AOL Releases Q4 1998 Operating Results are -
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. Q4 Mirabilis needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Finance & Accounting industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Q4 Mirabilis 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 AOL's Acquisition of Mirabilis (B): AOL Releases Q4 1998 Operating Results .
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. Q4 Mirabilis 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.
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Q4 Mirabilis has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Finance & Accounting industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Q4 Mirabilis needs to keep up with the evolution of technology in the Finance & Accounting 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.
Easy access to finance
– Easy access to finance in Finance & Accounting field will also reduce the barriers to entry in the industry, thus putting downward pressure on the prices because of increasing competition. Q4 Mirabilis can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
Regulatory challenges
– Q4 Mirabilis 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 Finance & Accounting industry regulations.
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 Q4 Mirabilis business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
High dependence on third party suppliers
– Q4 Mirabilis 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.
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.
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, as highlighted in case study AOL's Acquisition of Mirabilis (B): AOL Releases Q4 1998 Operating Results, Q4 Mirabilis may face longer learning curve for training and development of existing employees. This can open space for more nimble competitors in the field of Finance & Accounting .
Consumer confidence and its impact on Q4 Mirabilis demand
– There is a high probability of declining consumer confidence, given – high inflammation rate, rise of gig economy, lower job stability, increasing cost of living, higher interest rates, and aging demography. All the factors contribute to people saving higher rate of their income, resulting in lower consumer demand in the industry and other sectors.
Environmental challenges
– Q4 Mirabilis 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. Q4 Mirabilis can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Finance & Accounting industry.
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry in the industry are lowering. It can presents Q4 Mirabilis with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the sector.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of AOL's Acquisition of Mirabilis (B): AOL Releases Q4 1998 Operating Results 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 AOL's Acquisition of Mirabilis (B): AOL Releases Q4 1998 Operating Results 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 AOL's Acquisition of Mirabilis (B): AOL Releases Q4 1998 Operating Results 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 AOL's Acquisition of Mirabilis (B): AOL Releases Q4 1998 Operating Results 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 AOL's Acquisition of Mirabilis (B): AOL Releases Q4 1998 Operating Results 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 Q4 Mirabilis needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.
