GasBuddy: Fueling Its Digital Platform for Agility and Growth SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Technology & Operations
Strategy / MBA Resources
Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of GasBuddy: Fueling Its Digital Platform for Agility and Growth
GasBuddy is a 15-year-old mobile app-led company, providing gas station and pricing information to drivers and selling ads to fuel stations and convenience store owners. Though the GasBuddy Mobile App has received many awards and often ranks among the top-three travel apps in downloads, competitive pressure is building. Recognizing the competitive shifts, its parent company, UCG, brings in a new management team that is steeped in start-up experience spanning payments, convenience stores, social and mobile media, digital transformation, point of sale systems, modern technology platforms, agile development, and UI/UX. The new team recognizes that speed as well as agility will be essential for future growth. The case takes readers through the company's cultural, digital platform, and product line changes, including a bold entry into the payments industry. The changes support the company's evolved branding and a new multi-sided platform (MSP) business strategy. Early changes across the three areas - culture, digital platform, and product line - are put to the test during highly destructive Hurricanes Harvey and Irma.
Swot Analysis of "GasBuddy: Fueling Its Digital Platform for Agility and Growth" written by Clare M. Gillan Huang includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Gasbuddy Platform facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in GasBuddy: Fueling Its Digital Platform for Agility and Growth case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Entrepreneurship, IT, Mobile and Technology & Operations.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the GasBuddy: Fueling Its Digital Platform for Agility and Growth casestudy better are - – increasing commodity prices, banking and financial system is disrupted by Bitcoin and other crypto currencies, talent flight as more people leaving formal jobs, customer relationship management is fast transforming because of increasing concerns over data privacy, increasing government debt because of Covid-19 spendings, increasing transportation and logistics costs, supply chains are disrupted by pandemic ,
technology disruption, cloud computing is disrupting traditional business models, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of GasBuddy: Fueling Its Digital Platform for Agility and Growth
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in GasBuddy: Fueling Its Digital Platform for Agility and Growth case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Gasbuddy Platform, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Gasbuddy Platform 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 GasBuddy: Fueling Its Digital Platform for Agility and Growth can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in GasBuddy: Fueling Its Digital Platform for Agility and Growth case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Gasbuddy Platform
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 Gasbuddy Platform
Strengths GasBuddy: Fueling Its Digital Platform for Agility and Growth | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Gasbuddy Platform in GasBuddy: Fueling Its Digital Platform for Agility and Growth Harvard Business Review case study are -
Ability to lead change in Technology & Operations field
– Gasbuddy Platform 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 Gasbuddy Platform in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.
Organizational Resilience of Gasbuddy Platform
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing that Gasbuddy Platform does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
Diverse revenue streams
– Gasbuddy Platform is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided firm in GasBuddy: Fueling Its Digital Platform for Agility and Growth 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.
High switching costs
– The high switching costs that Gasbuddy Platform 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.
Digital Transformation in Technology & Operations segment
- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For Gasbuddy Platform digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Gasbuddy Platform 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.
Learning organization
- Gasbuddy Platform 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 Gasbuddy Platform is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders in GasBuddy: Fueling Its Digital Platform for Agility and Growth Harvard Business Review case study emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
Successful track record of launching new products
– Gasbuddy Platform has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Gasbuddy Platform 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
– Gasbuddy Platform is one of the most innovative firm in sector. Manager in GasBuddy: Fueling Its Digital Platform for Agility and Growth 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 GasBuddy: Fueling Its Digital Platform for Agility and Growth 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.
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of Gasbuddy Platform in the sector have low bargaining power. GasBuddy: Fueling Its Digital Platform for Agility and Growth has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Gasbuddy Platform to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
Ability to recruit top talent
– Gasbuddy Platform is one of the leading recruiters in the industry. Managers in the GasBuddy: Fueling Its Digital Platform for Agility and Growth 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
– Gasbuddy Platform has one of the best training and development program in the industry. The effectiveness of the training programs can be measured in GasBuddy: Fueling Its Digital Platform for Agility and Growth 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.
Weaknesses GasBuddy: Fueling Its Digital Platform for Agility and Growth | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of GasBuddy: Fueling Its Digital Platform for Agility and Growth are -
Workers concerns about automation
– As automation is fast increasing in the segment, Gasbuddy Platform 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.
Skills based hiring
– The stress on hiring functional specialists at Gasbuddy Platform 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 Gasbuddy Platform is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Technology & Operations segment. Gasbuddy Platform needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Gasbuddy Platform to focus more on services rather than just following the product oriented approach.
No frontier risks strategy
– After analyzing the HBR case study GasBuddy: Fueling Its Digital Platform for Agility and Growth, 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.
Products dominated business model
– Even though Gasbuddy Platform 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 - GasBuddy: Fueling Its Digital Platform for Agility and Growth should strive to include more intangible value offerings along with its core products and services.
Slow decision making process
– As mentioned earlier in the report, Gasbuddy Platform 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. Gasbuddy Platform 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.
Ability to respond to the competition
– As the decision making is very deliberative, highlighted in the case study GasBuddy: Fueling Its Digital Platform for Agility and Growth, in the dynamic environment Gasbuddy Platform has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. Gasbuddy Platform has reasonably good record with similar level competitors but it has struggled with new entrants taking away niches of its business.
High cash cycle compare to competitors
Gasbuddy Platform 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.
Need for greater diversity
– Gasbuddy Platform 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 Gasbuddy Platform supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes mentioned in the HBR case study - GasBuddy: Fueling Its Digital Platform for Agility and Growth, it is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left Gasbuddy Platform vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.
Slow to harness new channels of communication
– Even though competitors are using new communication channels such as Instagram, Tiktok, and Snap, Gasbuddy Platform is slow explore the new channels of communication. These new channels of communication mentioned in marketing section of case study GasBuddy: Fueling Its Digital Platform for Agility and Growth can help to provide better information regarding products and services. It can also build an online community to further reach out to potential customers.
Opportunities GasBuddy: Fueling Its Digital Platform for Agility and Growth | 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 GasBuddy: Fueling Its Digital Platform for Agility and Growth are -
Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains
– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Gasbuddy Platform 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, GasBuddy: Fueling Its Digital Platform for Agility and Growth, to buy more products closer to the markets, and it can leverage its size and influence to get better deal from the local markets.
Buying journey improvements
– Gasbuddy Platform can improve the customer journey of consumers in the industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. GasBuddy: Fueling Its Digital Platform for Agility and Growth 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.
Low interest rates
– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Gasbuddy Platform 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.
Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities
– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Gasbuddy Platform 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 Gasbuddy Platform to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
Increase in government spending
– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Gasbuddy Platform can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Gasbuddy Platform operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Technology & Operations sector.
Leveraging digital technologies
– Gasbuddy Platform 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.
Manufacturing automation
– Gasbuddy Platform can use the latest technology developments to improve its manufacturing and designing process in Technology & Operations segment. It can use CAD and 3D printing to build a quick prototype and pilot testing products. It can leverage automation using machine learning and artificial intelligence to do faster production at lowers costs, and it can leverage the growth in satellite and tracking technologies to improve inventory management, transportation, and shipping.
Lowering marketing communication costs
– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Gasbuddy Platform 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.
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 Gasbuddy Platform 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
– Gasbuddy Platform 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.
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. Gasbuddy Platform 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. Gasbuddy Platform 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.
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Gasbuddy Platform has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Gasbuddy Platform to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the GasBuddy: Fueling Its Digital Platform for Agility and Growth case study. Gasbuddy Platform can build new products and services such as - data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
Building a culture of innovation
– managers at Gasbuddy Platform 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.
Threats GasBuddy: Fueling Its Digital Platform for Agility and Growth External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study GasBuddy: Fueling Its Digital Platform for Agility and Growth are -
Increasing wage structure of Gasbuddy Platform
– 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 Gasbuddy Platform.
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.
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Gasbuddy Platform 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 GasBuddy: Fueling Its Digital Platform for Agility and Growth .
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry in the industry are lowering. It can presents Gasbuddy Platform with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the sector.
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. Gasbuddy Platform 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.
Regulatory challenges
– Gasbuddy Platform needs to prepare for regulatory challenges as consumer protection groups and other pressure groups are vigorously advocating for more regulations on big business - to reduce inequality, to create a level playing field, to product data privacy and consumer privacy, to reduce the influence of big money on democratic institutions, etc. This can lead to significant changes in the Technology & Operations industry regulations.
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, as highlighted in case study GasBuddy: Fueling Its Digital Platform for Agility and Growth, Gasbuddy Platform 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 .
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 Gasbuddy Platform.
Consumer confidence and its impact on Gasbuddy Platform 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.
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Gasbuddy Platform is facing in Technology & Operations sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.
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. Gasbuddy Platform needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Technology & Operations industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
Technology disruption because of hacks, piracy etc
– The colonial pipeline illustrated, how vulnerable modern organization are to international hackers, miscreants, and disruptors. The cyber security interruption, data leaks, etc can seriously jeopardize the future growth of the organization.
Environmental challenges
– Gasbuddy Platform 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. Gasbuddy Platform can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Technology & Operations industry.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of GasBuddy: Fueling Its Digital Platform for Agility and Growth 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 GasBuddy: Fueling Its Digital Platform for Agility and Growth 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 GasBuddy: Fueling Its Digital Platform for Agility and Growth 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 GasBuddy: Fueling Its Digital Platform for Agility and Growth 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 GasBuddy: Fueling Its Digital Platform for Agility and Growth 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 Gasbuddy Platform needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.
