Competing for Development (B1): The Intermediate Technology Development Group/Practical Action SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Global Business
Strategy / MBA Resources
Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of Competing for Development (B1): The Intermediate Technology Development Group/Practical Action
This a role play supplement to Competing for Development (A): Fuel Efficient Stoves for Darfur, product # 908M61. The role plays feature additional background, motivations and decision priorities from the key local and international players in Darfur's fuel efficient stove interventions, including the Intermediate Technology Group , renamed to Practical Action in 2005 (ITDG/PA), the Lawrence Berkeley National Lab, Aprovecho, the International Lifeline Fund, the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), and organizations representing local, female, internally displaced persons (IDPs).
Swot Analysis of "Competing for Development (B1): The Intermediate Technology Development Group/Practical Action" written by Oana Branzei, Samer Abdelnour includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Intermediate Fuel facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Competing for Development (B1): The Intermediate Technology Development Group/Practical Action case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Economic development, Emerging markets, Social enterprise, Sustainability and Global Business.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Competing for Development (B1): The Intermediate Technology Development Group/Practical Action casestudy better are - – customer relationship management is fast transforming because of increasing concerns over data privacy, wage bills are increasing, increasing transportation and logistics costs, increasing commodity prices, increasing energy prices, increasing household debt because of falling income levels, talent flight as more people leaving formal jobs,
there is increasing trade war between United States & China, supply chains are disrupted by pandemic , etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Competing for Development (B1): The Intermediate Technology Development Group/Practical Action
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Competing for Development (B1): The Intermediate Technology Development Group/Practical Action case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Intermediate Fuel, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Intermediate Fuel 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 Competing for Development (B1): The Intermediate Technology Development Group/Practical Action can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Competing for Development (B1): The Intermediate Technology Development Group/Practical Action case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Intermediate Fuel
3. Assessing feasibility of the new initiative in Global Business field.
4. Making a Global Business topic specific business decision
5. Set goals for the organization
6. Organizational restructuring of Intermediate Fuel
Strengths Competing for Development (B1): The Intermediate Technology Development Group/Practical Action | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Intermediate Fuel in Competing for Development (B1): The Intermediate Technology Development Group/Practical Action Harvard Business Review case study are -
Digital Transformation in Global Business segment
- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For Intermediate Fuel digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Intermediate Fuel has successfully integrated the four key components of digital transformation – digital integration in processes, digital integration in marketing and customer relationship management, digital integration into the value chain, and using technology to explore new products and market opportunities.
Superior customer experience
– The customer experience strategy of Intermediate Fuel in the segment is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.
Diverse revenue streams
– Intermediate Fuel is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided firm in Competing for Development (B1): The Intermediate Technology Development Group/Practical Action 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.
Organizational Resilience of Intermediate Fuel
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing that Intermediate Fuel does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
Analytics focus
– Intermediate Fuel 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 Oana Branzei, Samer Abdelnour 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.
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Global Business industry
– Competing for Development (B1): The Intermediate Technology Development Group/Practical Action firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Intermediate Fuel to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Global Business industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Intermediate Fuel to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Operational resilience
– The operational resilience strategy in the Competing for Development (B1): The Intermediate Technology Development Group/Practical Action 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.
High switching costs
– The high switching costs that Intermediate Fuel 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.
Highly skilled collaborators
– Intermediate Fuel 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 Competing for Development (B1): The Intermediate Technology Development Group/Practical Action HBR case study have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
Training and development
– Intermediate Fuel has one of the best training and development program in the industry. The effectiveness of the training programs can be measured in Competing for Development (B1): The Intermediate Technology Development Group/Practical Action Harvard Business Review case study by analyzing – employees retention, in-house promotion, loyalty, new venture initiation, lack of conflict, and high level of both employees and customer engagement.
Effective Research and Development (R&D)
– Intermediate Fuel 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 Competing for Development (B1): The Intermediate Technology Development Group/Practical Action - staying ahead in the industry in terms of – new product launches, superior customer experience, highly competitive pricing strategies, and great returns to the shareholders.
Cross disciplinary teams
– Horizontal connected teams at the Intermediate Fuel are driving operational speed, building greater agility, and keeping the organization nimble to compete with new competitors. It helps are organization to ideate new ideas, and execute them swiftly in the marketplace.
Weaknesses Competing for Development (B1): The Intermediate Technology Development Group/Practical Action | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Competing for Development (B1): The Intermediate Technology Development Group/Practical Action are -
Employees’ incomplete understanding of strategy
– From the instances in the HBR case study Competing for Development (B1): The Intermediate Technology Development Group/Practical Action, it seems that the employees of Intermediate Fuel 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.
Ability to respond to the competition
– As the decision making is very deliberative, highlighted in the case study Competing for Development (B1): The Intermediate Technology Development Group/Practical Action, in the dynamic environment Intermediate Fuel has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. Intermediate Fuel has reasonably good record with similar level competitors but it has struggled with new entrants taking away niches of its business.
Aligning sales with marketing
– It come across in the case study Competing for Development (B1): The Intermediate Technology Development Group/Practical Action 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 Competing for Development (B1): The Intermediate Technology Development Group/Practical Action can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Intermediate Fuel is planning to shift buying processes online.
Workers concerns about automation
– As automation is fast increasing in the segment, Intermediate Fuel 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.
Compensation and incentives
– The revenue per employee as mentioned in the HBR case study Competing for Development (B1): The Intermediate Technology Development Group/Practical Action, is just above the industry average. Intermediate Fuel 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.
Slow to strategic competitive environment developments
– As Competing for Development (B1): The Intermediate Technology Development Group/Practical Action HBR case study mentions - Intermediate Fuel 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.
Increasing silos among functional specialists
– The organizational structure of Intermediate Fuel is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Global Business segment. Intermediate Fuel needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Intermediate Fuel to focus more on services rather than just following the product oriented approach.
Skills based hiring
– The stress on hiring functional specialists at Intermediate Fuel 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.
High cash cycle compare to competitors
Intermediate Fuel 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.
High bargaining power of channel partners
– Because of the regulatory requirements, Oana Branzei, Samer Abdelnour suggests that, Intermediate Fuel 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.
Slow decision making process
– As mentioned earlier in the report, Intermediate Fuel 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. Intermediate Fuel 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.
Opportunities Competing for Development (B1): The Intermediate Technology Development Group/Practical Action | 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 Competing for Development (B1): The Intermediate Technology Development Group/Practical Action are -
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– Intermediate Fuel 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 Competing for Development (B1): The Intermediate Technology Development Group/Practical Action - to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Intermediate Fuel to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
Changes in consumer behavior post Covid-19
– Consumer behavior has changed in the Global Business industry because of Covid-19 restrictions. Some of this behavior will stay once things get back to normal. Intermediate Fuel 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. Intermediate Fuel 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.
Loyalty marketing
– Intermediate Fuel 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.
Building a culture of innovation
– managers at Intermediate Fuel 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 Global Business segment.
Redefining models of collaboration and team work
– As explained in the weaknesses section, Intermediate Fuel is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. Competing for Development (B1): The Intermediate Technology Development Group/Practical Action 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.
Learning at scale
– Online learning technologies has now opened space for Intermediate Fuel 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.
Lowering marketing communication costs
– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Intermediate Fuel in the field of marketing communication. It will bring down the cost of doing business, provide technology platform to build new products in the Global Business segment, and it will provide faster access to the consumers.
Finding new ways to collaborate
– Covid-19 has not only transformed business models of companies in Global Business industry, but it has also influenced the consumer preferences. Intermediate Fuel can tie-up with other value chain partners to explore new opportunities regarding meeting customer demands and building a rewarding and engaging relationship.
Developing new processes and practices
– Intermediate Fuel can develop new processes and procedures in Global Business 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.
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. Intermediate Fuel can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.
Reforming the budgeting process
- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects Intermediate Fuel can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.
Increase in government spending
– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Intermediate Fuel can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Intermediate Fuel operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Global Business sector.
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Intermediate Fuel has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Intermediate Fuel to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the Competing for Development (B1): The Intermediate Technology Development Group/Practical Action case study. Intermediate Fuel can build new products and services such as - data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
Threats Competing for Development (B1): The Intermediate Technology Development Group/Practical Action External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Competing for Development (B1): The Intermediate Technology Development Group/Practical Action are -
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. Intermediate Fuel 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.
Consumer confidence and its impact on Intermediate Fuel 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.
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 Intermediate Fuel business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, as highlighted in case study Competing for Development (B1): The Intermediate Technology Development Group/Practical Action, Intermediate Fuel may face longer learning curve for training and development of existing employees. This can open space for more nimble competitors in the field of Global Business .
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Intermediate Fuel has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Global Business industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Intermediate Fuel needs to keep up with the evolution of technology in the Global Business 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.
High dependence on third party suppliers
– Intermediate Fuel 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.
New competition
– After the dotcom bust of 2001, financial crisis of 2008-09, the business formation in US economy had declined. But in 2020 alone, there are more than 1.5 million new business applications in United States. This can lead to greater competition for Intermediate Fuel in the Global Business sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Intermediate Fuel can face lack of demand in the market place because of Fed actions to reduce inflation. This can lead to sluggish growth in the economy, lower demands, lower investments, higher borrowing costs, and consolidation in the field.
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Intermediate Fuel 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 Competing for Development (B1): The Intermediate Technology Development Group/Practical Action .
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Intermediate Fuel is facing in Global Business sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.
Regulatory challenges
– Intermediate Fuel 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 Global Business industry regulations.
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. Intermediate Fuel needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Global Business industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
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.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Competing for Development (B1): The Intermediate Technology Development Group/Practical Action 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 Competing for Development (B1): The Intermediate Technology Development Group/Practical Action 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 Competing for Development (B1): The Intermediate Technology Development Group/Practical Action 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 Competing for Development (B1): The Intermediate Technology Development Group/Practical Action 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 Competing for Development (B1): The Intermediate Technology Development Group/Practical Action 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 Intermediate Fuel needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.
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