Case Study Description of Integrated Strategy: Market and Non-Market Components
A business strategy must be congruent with the capabilities of a firm as well as both its market and nonmarket environments. The market environment includes those interactions between the firm and other parties that are intermediated by markets or private agreements. The nonmarket environment includes those interactions that are intermediated by public institutions. A business strategy must integrate both market and nonmarket components.
Swot Analysis of "Integrated Strategy: Market and Non-Market Components" written by David P. Baron includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Nonmarket Intermediated facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Integrated Strategy: Market and Non-Market Components case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Marketing, Policy, Strategic planning and Global Business.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Integrated Strategy: Market and Non-Market Components casestudy better are - – competitive advantages are harder to sustain because of technology dispersion, increasing inequality as vast percentage of new income is going to the top 1%, banking and financial system is disrupted by Bitcoin and other crypto currencies, geopolitical disruptions, cloud computing is disrupting traditional business models, central banks are concerned over increasing inflation, there is increasing trade war between United States & China,
technology disruption, talent flight as more people leaving formal jobs, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Integrated Strategy: Market and Non-Market Components
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Integrated Strategy: Market and Non-Market Components case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Nonmarket Intermediated, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Nonmarket Intermediated 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 Integrated Strategy: Market and Non-Market Components can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Integrated Strategy: Market and Non-Market Components case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Nonmarket Intermediated
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 Nonmarket Intermediated
Strengths Integrated Strategy: Market and Non-Market Components | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Nonmarket Intermediated in Integrated Strategy: Market and Non-Market Components Harvard Business Review case study are -
Cross disciplinary teams
– Horizontal connected teams at the Nonmarket Intermediated 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.
High switching costs
– The high switching costs that Nonmarket Intermediated 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.
Learning organization
- Nonmarket Intermediated 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 Nonmarket Intermediated is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders in Integrated Strategy: Market and Non-Market Components Harvard Business Review case study emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
Innovation driven organization
– Nonmarket Intermediated is one of the most innovative firm in sector. Manager in Integrated Strategy: Market and Non-Market Components Harvard Business Review case study can use Clayton Christensen Disruptive Innovation strategies to further increase the scale of innovtions in the organization.
Training and development
– Nonmarket Intermediated has one of the best training and development program in the industry. The effectiveness of the training programs can be measured in Integrated Strategy: Market and Non-Market Components 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 lead change in Global Business field
– Nonmarket Intermediated 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 Nonmarket Intermediated in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.
Organizational Resilience of Nonmarket Intermediated
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing that Nonmarket Intermediated does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
Ability to recruit top talent
– Nonmarket Intermediated is one of the leading recruiters in the industry. Managers in the Integrated Strategy: Market and Non-Market Components 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
– Nonmarket Intermediated has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Nonmarket Intermediated 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.
Strong track record of project management
– Nonmarket Intermediated is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of Nonmarket Intermediated in the sector have low bargaining power. Integrated Strategy: Market and Non-Market Components has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Nonmarket Intermediated to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
High brand equity
– Nonmarket Intermediated has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Nonmarket Intermediated to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Weaknesses Integrated Strategy: Market and Non-Market Components | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Integrated Strategy: Market and Non-Market Components are -
Ability to respond to the competition
– As the decision making is very deliberative, highlighted in the case study Integrated Strategy: Market and Non-Market Components, in the dynamic environment Nonmarket Intermediated has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. Nonmarket Intermediated 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 Integrated Strategy: Market and Non-Market Components, 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.
Compensation and incentives
– The revenue per employee as mentioned in the HBR case study Integrated Strategy: Market and Non-Market Components, is just above the industry average. Nonmarket Intermediated 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.
Low market penetration in new markets
– Outside its home market of Nonmarket Intermediated, firm in the HBR case study Integrated Strategy: Market and Non-Market Components needs to spend more promotional, marketing, and advertising efforts to penetrate international markets.
Increasing silos among functional specialists
– The organizational structure of Nonmarket Intermediated is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Global Business segment. Nonmarket Intermediated needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Nonmarket Intermediated to focus more on services rather than just following the product oriented approach.
Aligning sales with marketing
– It come across in the case study Integrated Strategy: Market and Non-Market Components 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 Integrated Strategy: Market and Non-Market Components can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Nonmarket Intermediated is planning to shift buying processes online.
Workers concerns about automation
– As automation is fast increasing in the segment, Nonmarket Intermediated 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.
High cash cycle compare to competitors
Nonmarket Intermediated 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.
Products dominated business model
– Even though Nonmarket Intermediated 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 - Integrated Strategy: Market and Non-Market Components should strive to include more intangible value offerings along with its core products and services.
Employees’ incomplete understanding of strategy
– From the instances in the HBR case study Integrated Strategy: Market and Non-Market Components, it seems that the employees of Nonmarket Intermediated 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.
Lack of clear differentiation of Nonmarket Intermediated products
– To increase the profitability and margins on the products, Nonmarket Intermediated needs to provide more differentiated products than what it is currently offering in the marketplace.
Opportunities Integrated Strategy: Market and Non-Market Components | 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 Integrated Strategy: Market and Non-Market Components are -
Leveraging digital technologies
– Nonmarket Intermediated 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.
Low interest rates
– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Nonmarket Intermediated can still utilize the low interest rates to borrow money for capital investment. Secondly it can also use the increase of government spending in infrastructure projects to get new business.
Lowering marketing communication costs
– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Nonmarket Intermediated 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.
Redefining models of collaboration and team work
– As explained in the weaknesses section, Nonmarket Intermediated is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. Integrated Strategy: Market and Non-Market Components 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.
Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains
– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Nonmarket Intermediated 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, Integrated Strategy: Market and Non-Market Components, 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
– Nonmarket Intermediated 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.
Reforming the budgeting process
- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects Nonmarket Intermediated can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.
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. Nonmarket Intermediated 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
– Nonmarket Intermediated 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 Integrated Strategy: Market and Non-Market Components - to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Nonmarket Intermediated to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Nonmarket Intermediated has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Nonmarket Intermediated to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the Integrated Strategy: Market and Non-Market Components case study. Nonmarket Intermediated can build new products and services such as - data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities
– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Nonmarket Intermediated to expand its talent hiring zone. According to McKinsey Global Institute, 20% of the high end workforce in fields such as finance, information technology, can continously work from remote local post Covid-19. This presents a really great opportunity for Nonmarket Intermediated to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
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 Nonmarket Intermediated to reconfigure its entire business model. For example it can used blockchain based technologies to reduce piracy of its products in the big markets such as China. Secondly it can use the popularity of e-commerce in various developing markets to build a Direct to Customer business model rather than the current Channel Heavy distribution network.
Developing new processes and practices
– Nonmarket Intermediated 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.
Threats Integrated Strategy: Market and Non-Market Components External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Integrated Strategy: Market and Non-Market Components are -
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, as highlighted in case study Integrated Strategy: Market and Non-Market Components, Nonmarket Intermediated 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 .
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 Nonmarket Intermediated.
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. Nonmarket Intermediated needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Global Business industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Nonmarket Intermediated 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 Integrated Strategy: Market and Non-Market Components .
Easy access to finance
– Easy access to finance in Global Business field will also reduce the barriers to entry in the industry, thus putting downward pressure on the prices because of increasing competition. Nonmarket Intermediated can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Nonmarket Intermediated has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Global Business industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Nonmarket Intermediated 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.
Consumer confidence and its impact on Nonmarket Intermediated 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.
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.
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry in the industry are lowering. It can presents Nonmarket Intermediated with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the sector.
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 Nonmarket Intermediated in the Global Business sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Nonmarket Intermediated is facing in Global Business sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Nonmarket Intermediated 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.
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 Integrated Strategy: Market and Non-Market Components 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 Integrated Strategy: Market and Non-Market Components 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 Integrated Strategy: Market and Non-Market Components 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 Integrated Strategy: Market and Non-Market Components 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 Integrated Strategy: Market and Non-Market Components 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 Nonmarket Intermediated needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.
