To Agree or Not to Agree: Legal Issues in Online Contracting SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
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Case Study Description of To Agree or Not to Agree: Legal Issues in Online Contracting
E-commerce for merchants and consumers is more than just establishing or visiting an attractive web site to conduct business over the Internet. For companies and consumers alike, conducting business in cyberspace entails not only the traditional risks of sales and contracting, but also a new set of risks related to the electronic environment. For entities of all sizes, important components of those risks involve such legal issues as jurisdiction, contract formation, contract validity, contract changes and errors, authentication and attribution, message integrity, and nonrepudiation. Becoming familiar with these issues can help avoid costly disputes in e-business.
Authors :: Carl Pacini, Christine Andrews, William Hillison
Swot Analysis of "To Agree or Not to Agree: Legal Issues in Online Contracting" written by Carl Pacini, Christine Andrews, William Hillison includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Contracting Contract facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in To Agree or Not to Agree: Legal Issues in Online Contracting case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Regulation and Global Business.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the To Agree or Not to Agree: Legal Issues in Online Contracting casestudy better are - – customer relationship management is fast transforming because of increasing concerns over data privacy, competitive advantages are harder to sustain because of technology dispersion, banking and financial system is disrupted by Bitcoin and other crypto currencies, cloud computing is disrupting traditional business models, supply chains are disrupted by pandemic , there is increasing trade war between United States & China, increasing energy prices,
challanges to central banks by blockchain based private currencies, increasing transportation and logistics costs, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of To Agree or Not to Agree: Legal Issues in Online Contracting
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in To Agree or Not to Agree: Legal Issues in Online Contracting case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Contracting Contract, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Contracting Contract 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 To Agree or Not to Agree: Legal Issues in Online Contracting can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in To Agree or Not to Agree: Legal Issues in Online Contracting case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Contracting Contract
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 Contracting Contract
Strengths To Agree or Not to Agree: Legal Issues in Online Contracting | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Contracting Contract in To Agree or Not to Agree: Legal Issues in Online Contracting Harvard Business Review case study are -
Learning organization
- Contracting Contract 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 Contracting Contract is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders in To Agree or Not to Agree: Legal Issues in Online Contracting Harvard Business Review case study emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Global Business industry
– To Agree or Not to Agree: Legal Issues in Online Contracting firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Contracting Contract to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Global Business industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Contracting Contract to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Analytics focus
– Contracting Contract 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 Carl Pacini, Christine Andrews, William Hillison 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.
Training and development
– Contracting Contract has one of the best training and development program in the industry. The effectiveness of the training programs can be measured in To Agree or Not to Agree: Legal Issues in Online Contracting 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)
– Contracting Contract 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 To Agree or Not to Agree: Legal Issues in Online Contracting - 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 Contracting Contract 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.
Strong track record of project management
– Contracting Contract is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.
Operational resilience
– The operational resilience strategy in the To Agree or Not to Agree: Legal Issues in Online Contracting 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.
Superior customer experience
– The customer experience strategy of Contracting Contract in the segment is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.
High brand equity
– Contracting Contract has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Contracting Contract to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Innovation driven organization
– Contracting Contract is one of the most innovative firm in sector. Manager in To Agree or Not to Agree: Legal Issues in Online Contracting Harvard Business Review case study can use Clayton Christensen Disruptive Innovation strategies to further increase the scale of innovtions in the organization.
Organizational Resilience of Contracting Contract
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing that Contracting Contract does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
Weaknesses To Agree or Not to Agree: Legal Issues in Online Contracting | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of To Agree or Not to Agree: Legal Issues in Online Contracting are -
High bargaining power of channel partners
– Because of the regulatory requirements, Carl Pacini, Christine Andrews, William Hillison suggests that, Contracting Contract 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.
High dependence on star products
– The top 2 products and services of the firm as mentioned in the To Agree or Not to Agree: Legal Issues in Online Contracting 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 Contracting Contract has relatively successful track record of launching new products.
Employees’ incomplete understanding of strategy
– From the instances in the HBR case study To Agree or Not to Agree: Legal Issues in Online Contracting, it seems that the employees of Contracting Contract 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.
Products dominated business model
– Even though Contracting Contract 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 - To Agree or Not to Agree: Legal Issues in Online Contracting should strive to include more intangible value offerings along with its core products and services.
Workers concerns about automation
– As automation is fast increasing in the segment, Contracting Contract 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.
Ability to respond to the competition
– As the decision making is very deliberative, highlighted in the case study To Agree or Not to Agree: Legal Issues in Online Contracting, in the dynamic environment Contracting Contract has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. Contracting Contract has reasonably good record with similar level competitors but it has struggled with new entrants taking away niches of its business.
No frontier risks strategy
– After analyzing the HBR case study To Agree or Not to Agree: Legal Issues in Online Contracting, it seems that company is thinking about the frontier risks that can impact Global Business 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.
Skills based hiring
– The stress on hiring functional specialists at Contracting Contract 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
Contracting Contract 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 operating costs
– Compare to the competitors, firm in the HBR case study To Agree or Not to Agree: Legal Issues in Online Contracting 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 Contracting Contract 's lucrative customers.
Lack of clear differentiation of Contracting Contract products
– To increase the profitability and margins on the products, Contracting Contract needs to provide more differentiated products than what it is currently offering in the marketplace.
Opportunities To Agree or Not to Agree: Legal Issues in Online Contracting | 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 To Agree or Not to Agree: Legal Issues in Online Contracting are -
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. Contracting Contract can tie-up with other value chain partners to explore new opportunities regarding meeting customer demands and building a rewarding and engaging relationship.
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– Contracting Contract 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 To Agree or Not to Agree: Legal Issues in Online Contracting - to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Contracting Contract to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
Increase in government spending
– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Contracting Contract can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Contracting Contract operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Global Business sector.
Building a culture of innovation
– managers at Contracting Contract 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.
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. Contracting Contract can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.
Buying journey improvements
– Contracting Contract can improve the customer journey of consumers in the industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. To Agree or Not to Agree: Legal Issues in Online Contracting 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.
Leveraging digital technologies
– Contracting Contract 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.
Learning at scale
– Online learning technologies has now opened space for Contracting Contract 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.
Developing new processes and practices
– Contracting Contract 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.
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. Contracting Contract 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. Contracting Contract 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.
Manufacturing automation
– Contracting Contract can use the latest technology developments to improve its manufacturing and designing process in Global Business 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.
Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains
– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Contracting Contract 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, To Agree or Not to Agree: Legal Issues in Online Contracting, to buy more products closer to the markets, and it can leverage its size and influence to get better deal from the local markets.
Redefining models of collaboration and team work
– As explained in the weaknesses section, Contracting Contract is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. To Agree or Not to Agree: Legal Issues in Online Contracting 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.
Threats To Agree or Not to Agree: Legal Issues in Online Contracting External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study To Agree or Not to Agree: Legal Issues in Online Contracting are -
High level of anxiety and lack of motivation
– the Great Resignation in United States is the sign of broader dissatisfaction among the workforce in United States. Contracting Contract needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Global Business industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Contracting Contract has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Global Business industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Contracting Contract 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.
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Contracting Contract 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.
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.
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Contracting Contract is facing in Global Business sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.
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.
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 Contracting Contract.
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry in the industry are lowering. It can presents Contracting Contract 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 Contracting Contract in the Global Business industry. The Global Business 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.
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. Contracting Contract 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.
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, as highlighted in case study To Agree or Not to Agree: Legal Issues in Online Contracting, Contracting Contract 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 .
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 Contracting Contract business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
Environmental challenges
– Contracting Contract 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. Contracting Contract can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Global Business industry.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of To Agree or Not to Agree: Legal Issues in Online Contracting 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 To Agree or Not to Agree: Legal Issues in Online Contracting 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 To Agree or Not to Agree: Legal Issues in Online Contracting 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 To Agree or Not to Agree: Legal Issues in Online Contracting 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 To Agree or Not to Agree: Legal Issues in Online Contracting 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 Contracting Contract needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.