Bluntly Media: A Private Company Valuation SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Finance & Accounting
Strategy / MBA Resources
Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of Bluntly Media: A Private Company Valuation
In August 2013, an intern at Slatestone Group, an Arizona-based boutique investment bank, was working on a targeted sell-side deal. Paterson Publishing, a Fortune 200 company, had expressed interest in acquiring Slatestone's client Bluntly Media Holdings, a private direct marketing agency. The intern was assigned to help prepare the deal marketing material and assist with the valuation assessment of Bluntly Media. He needed to use a variety of valuation methods and propose a strategy that could assist Bluntly Media in attaining a higher price. Colette Southam is affiliated with Bond University.
Swot Analysis of "Bluntly Media: A Private Company Valuation" written by Colette Southam, Annabel Yee includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Bluntly Media facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Bluntly Media: A Private Company Valuation case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Mergers & acquisitions and Finance & Accounting.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Bluntly Media: A Private Company Valuation casestudy better are - – banking and financial system is disrupted by Bitcoin and other crypto currencies, increasing transportation and logistics costs, increasing energy prices, increasing government debt because of Covid-19 spendings, supply chains are disrupted by pandemic , challanges to central banks by blockchain based private currencies, technology disruption,
there is increasing trade war between United States & China, there is backlash against globalization, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Bluntly Media: A Private Company Valuation
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Bluntly Media: A Private Company Valuation case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Bluntly Media, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Bluntly Media 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 Bluntly Media: A Private Company Valuation can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Bluntly Media: A Private Company Valuation case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Bluntly Media
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 Bluntly Media
Strengths Bluntly Media: A Private Company Valuation | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Bluntly Media in Bluntly Media: A Private Company Valuation Harvard Business Review case study are -
Learning organization
- Bluntly Media 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 Bluntly Media is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders in Bluntly Media: A Private Company Valuation Harvard Business Review case study emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
Highly skilled collaborators
– Bluntly Media 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 Bluntly Media: A Private Company Valuation HBR case study have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
Innovation driven organization
– Bluntly Media is one of the most innovative firm in sector. Manager in Bluntly Media: A Private Company Valuation Harvard Business Review case study can use Clayton Christensen Disruptive Innovation strategies to further increase the scale of innovtions in the organization.
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Finance & Accounting industry
– Bluntly Media: A Private Company Valuation firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Bluntly Media to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Finance & Accounting industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Bluntly Media to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Ability to lead change in Finance & Accounting field
– Bluntly Media 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 Bluntly Media in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.
Analytics focus
– Bluntly Media 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 Colette Southam, Annabel Yee 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.
Strong track record of project management
– Bluntly Media is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.
Diverse revenue streams
– Bluntly Media is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided firm in Bluntly Media: A Private Company Valuation 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.
Superior customer experience
– The customer experience strategy of Bluntly Media in the segment is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.
High switching costs
– The high switching costs that Bluntly Media 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.
Ability to recruit top talent
– Bluntly Media is one of the leading recruiters in the industry. Managers in the Bluntly Media: A Private Company Valuation 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
– Bluntly Media has one of the best training and development program in the industry. The effectiveness of the training programs can be measured in Bluntly Media: A Private Company Valuation 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 Bluntly Media: A Private Company Valuation | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Bluntly Media: A Private Company Valuation are -
Increasing silos among functional specialists
– The organizational structure of Bluntly Media is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Finance & Accounting segment. Bluntly Media needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Bluntly Media to focus more on services rather than just following the product oriented approach.
Skills based hiring
– The stress on hiring functional specialists at Bluntly Media 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 Bluntly Media, firm in the HBR case study Bluntly Media: A Private Company Valuation 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 Bluntly Media: A Private Company Valuation, it seems that the employees of Bluntly Media 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.
Slow to strategic competitive environment developments
– As Bluntly Media: A Private Company Valuation HBR case study mentions - Bluntly Media takes time to assess the upcoming competitions. This has led to missing out on atleast 2-3 big opportunities in the industry in last five years.
High bargaining power of channel partners
– Because of the regulatory requirements, Colette Southam, Annabel Yee suggests that, Bluntly Media 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.
Products dominated business model
– Even though Bluntly Media 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 - Bluntly Media: A Private Company Valuation should strive to include more intangible value offerings along with its core products and services.
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 Bluntly Media supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes mentioned in the HBR case study - Bluntly Media: A Private Company Valuation, it is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left Bluntly Media vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.
Aligning sales with marketing
– It come across in the case study Bluntly Media: A Private Company Valuation 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 Bluntly Media: A Private Company Valuation can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Bluntly Media is planning to shift buying processes online.
High operating costs
– Compare to the competitors, firm in the HBR case study Bluntly Media: A Private Company Valuation 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 Bluntly Media 's lucrative customers.
Workers concerns about automation
– As automation is fast increasing in the segment, Bluntly Media 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.
Opportunities Bluntly Media: A Private Company Valuation | 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 Bluntly Media: A Private Company Valuation are -
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. Bluntly Media can tie-up with other value chain partners to explore new opportunities regarding meeting customer demands and building a rewarding and engaging relationship.
Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains
– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Bluntly Media 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, Bluntly Media: A Private Company Valuation, to buy more products closer to the markets, and it can leverage its size and influence to get better deal from the local markets.
Changes in consumer behavior post Covid-19
– Consumer behavior has changed in the Finance & Accounting industry because of Covid-19 restrictions. Some of this behavior will stay once things get back to normal. Bluntly Media 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. Bluntly Media 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.
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. Bluntly Media can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.
Redefining models of collaboration and team work
– As explained in the weaknesses section, Bluntly Media is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. Bluntly Media: A Private Company Valuation 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.
Leveraging digital technologies
– Bluntly Media 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.
Buying journey improvements
– Bluntly Media can improve the customer journey of consumers in the industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. Bluntly Media: A Private Company Valuation 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.
Loyalty marketing
– Bluntly Media 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.
Manufacturing automation
– Bluntly Media 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.
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Bluntly Media has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Bluntly Media to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the Bluntly Media: A Private Company Valuation case study. Bluntly Media 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 Bluntly Media 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 Finance & Accounting segment.
Lowering marketing communication costs
– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Bluntly Media 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.
Learning at scale
– Online learning technologies has now opened space for Bluntly Media 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.
Threats Bluntly Media: A Private Company Valuation External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Bluntly Media: A Private Company Valuation are -
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.
Increasing wage structure of Bluntly Media
– 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 Bluntly Media.
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Bluntly Media 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.
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. Bluntly Media needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Finance & Accounting industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
Consumer confidence and its impact on Bluntly Media 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
– Bluntly Media 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. Bluntly Media 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 Bluntly Media with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the sector.
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Bluntly Media in the Finance & Accounting industry. The Finance & Accounting 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.
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Bluntly Media is facing in Finance & Accounting sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.
Regulatory challenges
– Bluntly Media 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.
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 Bluntly Media.
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.
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. Bluntly Media can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Bluntly Media: A Private Company Valuation 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 Bluntly Media: A Private Company Valuation 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 Bluntly Media: A Private Company Valuation 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 Bluntly Media: A Private Company Valuation 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 Bluntly Media: A Private Company Valuation 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 Bluntly Media needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.
