Swot Analysis of "$19B 4 txt app WhatsApp...omg! (B)" written by David B. Yoffie, Aakash Mehta includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Whatsapp 19b facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in $19B 4 txt app WhatsApp...omg! (B) case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Strategy, Technology and Strategy & Execution.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the $19B 4 txt app WhatsApp...omg! (B) casestudy better are - – increasing inequality as vast percentage of new income is going to the top 1%, increasing household debt because of falling income levels, competitive advantages are harder to sustain because of technology dispersion, technology disruption, increasing commodity prices, central banks are concerned over increasing inflation, digital marketing is dominated by two big players Facebook and Google,
cloud computing is disrupting traditional business models, challanges to central banks by blockchain based private currencies, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of $19B 4 txt app WhatsApp...omg! (B)
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in $19B 4 txt app WhatsApp...omg! (B) case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Whatsapp 19b, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Whatsapp 19b 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 $19B 4 txt app WhatsApp...omg! (B) can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in $19B 4 txt app WhatsApp...omg! (B) case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Whatsapp 19b
3. Assessing feasibility of the new initiative in Strategy & Execution field.
4. Making a Strategy & Execution topic specific business decision
5. Set goals for the organization
6. Organizational restructuring of Whatsapp 19b
Strengths $19B 4 txt app WhatsApp...omg! (B) | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Whatsapp 19b in $19B 4 txt app WhatsApp...omg! (B) Harvard Business Review case study are -
Superior customer experience
– The customer experience strategy of Whatsapp 19b in the segment is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.
Digital Transformation in Strategy & Execution segment
- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For Whatsapp 19b digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Whatsapp 19b 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.
Highly skilled collaborators
– Whatsapp 19b 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 $19B 4 txt app WhatsApp...omg! (B) HBR case study have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
Training and development
– Whatsapp 19b has one of the best training and development program in the industry. The effectiveness of the training programs can be measured in $19B 4 txt app WhatsApp...omg! (B) 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.
Ability to recruit top talent
– Whatsapp 19b is one of the leading recruiters in the industry. Managers in the $19B 4 txt app WhatsApp...omg! (B) are in a position to attract the best talent available. The firm has a robust talent identification program that helps in identifying the brightest.
Successful track record of launching new products
– Whatsapp 19b has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Whatsapp 19b 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.
Analytics focus
– Whatsapp 19b 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 David B. Yoffie, Aakash Mehta 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.
Diverse revenue streams
– Whatsapp 19b is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided firm in $19B 4 txt app WhatsApp...omg! (B) case study a diverse revenue stream that has helped it to survive disruptions such as global pandemic in Covid-19, financial disruption of 2008, and supply chain disruption of 2021.
Learning organization
- Whatsapp 19b 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 Whatsapp 19b is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders in $19B 4 txt app WhatsApp...omg! (B) Harvard Business Review case study emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
High switching costs
– The high switching costs that Whatsapp 19b 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.
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of Whatsapp 19b in the sector have low bargaining power. $19B 4 txt app WhatsApp...omg! (B) has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Whatsapp 19b to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
Operational resilience
– The operational resilience strategy in the $19B 4 txt app WhatsApp...omg! (B) 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.
Weaknesses $19B 4 txt app WhatsApp...omg! (B) | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of $19B 4 txt app WhatsApp...omg! (B) are -
Interest costs
– Compare to the competition, Whatsapp 19b has borrowed money from the capital market at higher rates. It needs to restructure the interest payment and costs so that it can compete better and improve profitability.
High operating costs
– Compare to the competitors, firm in the HBR case study $19B 4 txt app WhatsApp...omg! (B) 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 Whatsapp 19b 's lucrative customers.
Slow to harness new channels of communication
– Even though competitors are using new communication channels such as Instagram, Tiktok, and Snap, Whatsapp 19b is slow explore the new channels of communication. These new channels of communication mentioned in marketing section of case study $19B 4 txt app WhatsApp...omg! (B) can help to provide better information regarding products and services. It can also build an online community to further reach out to potential customers.
High dependence on star products
– The top 2 products and services of the firm as mentioned in the $19B 4 txt app WhatsApp...omg! (B) 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 Whatsapp 19b has relatively successful track record of launching new products.
Ability to respond to the competition
– As the decision making is very deliberative, highlighted in the case study $19B 4 txt app WhatsApp...omg! (B), in the dynamic environment Whatsapp 19b has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. Whatsapp 19b has reasonably good record with similar level competitors but it has struggled with new entrants taking away niches of its business.
Need for greater diversity
– Whatsapp 19b 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.
Increasing silos among functional specialists
– The organizational structure of Whatsapp 19b is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Strategy & Execution segment. Whatsapp 19b needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Whatsapp 19b to focus more on services rather than just following the product oriented approach.
Lack of clear differentiation of Whatsapp 19b products
– To increase the profitability and margins on the products, Whatsapp 19b needs to provide more differentiated products than what it is currently offering in the marketplace.
Skills based hiring
– The stress on hiring functional specialists at Whatsapp 19b 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.
Low market penetration in new markets
– Outside its home market of Whatsapp 19b, firm in the HBR case study $19B 4 txt app WhatsApp...omg! (B) needs to spend more promotional, marketing, and advertising efforts to penetrate international markets.
Employees’ incomplete understanding of strategy
– From the instances in the HBR case study $19B 4 txt app WhatsApp...omg! (B), it seems that the employees of Whatsapp 19b 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 $19B 4 txt app WhatsApp...omg! (B) | 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 $19B 4 txt app WhatsApp...omg! (B) are -
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Whatsapp 19b has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Whatsapp 19b to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the $19B 4 txt app WhatsApp...omg! (B) case study. Whatsapp 19b 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 Whatsapp 19b 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 Strategy & Execution segment.
Lowering marketing communication costs
– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Whatsapp 19b in the field of marketing communication. It will bring down the cost of doing business, provide technology platform to build new products in the Strategy & Execution segment, and it will provide faster access to the consumers.
Increase in government spending
– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Whatsapp 19b can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Whatsapp 19b operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Strategy & Execution sector.
Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains
– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Whatsapp 19b 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, $19B 4 txt app WhatsApp...omg! (B), to buy more products closer to the markets, and it can leverage its size and influence to get better deal from the local markets.
Loyalty marketing
– Whatsapp 19b 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
– Whatsapp 19b can improve the customer journey of consumers in the industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. $19B 4 txt app WhatsApp...omg! (B) 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.
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 Whatsapp 19b 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.
Learning at scale
– Online learning technologies has now opened space for Whatsapp 19b 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.
Changes in consumer behavior post Covid-19
– Consumer behavior has changed in the Strategy & Execution industry because of Covid-19 restrictions. Some of this behavior will stay once things get back to normal. Whatsapp 19b 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. Whatsapp 19b 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.
Redefining models of collaboration and team work
– As explained in the weaknesses section, Whatsapp 19b is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. $19B 4 txt app WhatsApp...omg! (B) case study suggests that firm can utilize new technology to build more coordinated teams and streamline operations and communications using tools such as CAD, Zoom, etc.
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– Whatsapp 19b 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 $19B 4 txt app WhatsApp...omg! (B) - to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Whatsapp 19b to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
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 Whatsapp 19b in the consumer business. Now Whatsapp 19b can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.
Threats $19B 4 txt app WhatsApp...omg! (B) External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study $19B 4 txt app WhatsApp...omg! (B) are -
Increasing wage structure of Whatsapp 19b
– 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 Whatsapp 19b.
Consumer confidence and its impact on Whatsapp 19b 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 Whatsapp 19b is facing in Strategy & Execution sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Whatsapp 19b 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 $19B 4 txt app WhatsApp...omg! (B) .
Easy access to finance
– Easy access to finance in Strategy & Execution field will also reduce the barriers to entry in the industry, thus putting downward pressure on the prices because of increasing competition. Whatsapp 19b can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
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. Whatsapp 19b needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Strategy & Execution industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Whatsapp 19b in the Strategy & Execution industry. The Strategy & Execution 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.
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 Whatsapp 19b.
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry in the industry are lowering. It can presents Whatsapp 19b with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the sector.
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, as highlighted in case study $19B 4 txt app WhatsApp...omg! (B), Whatsapp 19b may face longer learning curve for training and development of existing employees. This can open space for more nimble competitors in the field of Strategy & Execution .
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Whatsapp 19b has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Strategy & Execution industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Whatsapp 19b needs to keep up with the evolution of technology in the Strategy & Execution 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.
Environmental challenges
– Whatsapp 19b 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. Whatsapp 19b can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Strategy & Execution industry.
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.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of $19B 4 txt app WhatsApp...omg! (B) 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 $19B 4 txt app WhatsApp...omg! (B) 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 $19B 4 txt app WhatsApp...omg! (B) 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 $19B 4 txt app WhatsApp...omg! (B) 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 $19B 4 txt app WhatsApp...omg! (B) 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 Whatsapp 19b needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.
