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Ithmar Capital SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis

Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution

Case Study Description of Ithmar Capital


The founders of Ithmar Capital, a mid-market private equity fund targeting businesses in and addressing the Gulf co-operation Council countries, are about to raise their third fund, targeting $1 billion. The firm's current strategy as demonstrated in Funds I ($70 million) and II ($250 million) emphasized careful targeting of sectors and in-depth work to develop the portfolio companies post-acquisition. With the industry's greater velocity and deal size, can Ithmar continue to pursue this strategy even with a larger fund?

Authors :: Josh Lerner, Ann Leamon

Topics :: Finance & Accounting

Tags :: Entrepreneurial finance, Financial management, Marketing, Strategy, SWOT Analysis, SWOT Matrix, TOWS, Weighted SWOT Analysis

Swot Analysis of "Ithmar Capital" written by Josh Lerner, Ann Leamon includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Ithmar Targeting facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Ithmar Capital case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Entrepreneurial finance, Financial management, Marketing, Strategy and Finance & Accounting.


Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Ithmar Capital casestudy better are - – central banks are concerned over increasing inflation, increasing household debt because of falling income levels, increasing inequality as vast percentage of new income is going to the top 1%, technology disruption, talent flight as more people leaving formal jobs, cloud computing is disrupting traditional business models, geopolitical disruptions, challanges to central banks by blockchain based private currencies, increasing government debt because of Covid-19 spendings, etc



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Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Ithmar Capital


SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Ithmar Capital case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Ithmar Targeting, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Ithmar Targeting 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 Ithmar Capital can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Ithmar Capital case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Ithmar Targeting
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 Ithmar Targeting




Strengths Ithmar Capital | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis

The strengths of Ithmar Targeting in Ithmar Capital Harvard Business Review case study are -

Learning organization

- Ithmar Targeting 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 Ithmar Targeting is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders in Ithmar Capital Harvard Business Review case study emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.

High brand equity

– Ithmar Targeting has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Ithmar Targeting to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.

Sustainable margins compare to other players in Finance & Accounting industry

– Ithmar Capital firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Ithmar Targeting to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Finance & Accounting industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Ithmar Targeting to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.

Innovation driven organization

– Ithmar Targeting is one of the most innovative firm in sector. Manager in Ithmar Capital Harvard Business Review case study can use Clayton Christensen Disruptive Innovation strategies to further increase the scale of innovtions in the organization.

Digital Transformation in Finance & Accounting segment

- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For Ithmar Targeting digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Ithmar Targeting has successfully integrated the four key components of digital transformation – digital integration in processes, digital integration in marketing and customer relationship management, digital integration into the value chain, and using technology to explore new products and market opportunities.

Highly skilled collaborators

– Ithmar Targeting 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 Ithmar Capital HBR case study have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.

Superior customer experience

– The customer experience strategy of Ithmar Targeting in the segment is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.

Diverse revenue streams

– Ithmar Targeting is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided firm in Ithmar Capital 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.

Strong track record of project management

– Ithmar Targeting is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.

Cross disciplinary teams

– Horizontal connected teams at the Ithmar Targeting 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.

Successful track record of launching new products

– Ithmar Targeting has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Ithmar Targeting 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.

Effective Research and Development (R&D)

– Ithmar Targeting 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 Ithmar Capital - staying ahead in the industry in terms of – new product launches, superior customer experience, highly competitive pricing strategies, and great returns to the shareholders.






Weaknesses Ithmar Capital | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis

The weaknesses of Ithmar Capital are -

Capital Spending Reduction

– Even during the low interest decade, Ithmar Targeting has not been able to do capital spending to the tune of the competition. This has resulted into fewer innovations and company facing stiff competition from both existing competitors and new entrants who are disrupting the industry using digital technology.

High dependence on star products

– The top 2 products and services of the firm as mentioned in the Ithmar Capital 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 Ithmar Targeting has relatively successful track record of launching new products.

Need for greater diversity

– Ithmar Targeting has taken concrete steps on diversity, equity, and inclusion. But the efforts so far has resulted in limited success. It needs to expand the recruitment and selection process to hire more people from the minorities and underprivileged background.

Lack of clear differentiation of Ithmar Targeting products

– To increase the profitability and margins on the products, Ithmar Targeting needs to provide more differentiated products than what it is currently offering in the marketplace.

High cash cycle compare to competitors

Ithmar Targeting 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.

No frontier risks strategy

– After analyzing the HBR case study Ithmar Capital, it seems that company is thinking about the frontier risks that can impact Finance & Accounting 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.

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 Ithmar Targeting supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes mentioned in the HBR case study - Ithmar Capital, it is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left Ithmar Targeting vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.

Increasing silos among functional specialists

– The organizational structure of Ithmar Targeting is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Finance & Accounting segment. Ithmar Targeting needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Ithmar Targeting to focus more on services rather than just following the product oriented approach.

Slow to harness new channels of communication

– Even though competitors are using new communication channels such as Instagram, Tiktok, and Snap, Ithmar Targeting is slow explore the new channels of communication. These new channels of communication mentioned in marketing section of case study Ithmar Capital can help to provide better information regarding products and services. It can also build an online community to further reach out to potential customers.

Slow to strategic competitive environment developments

– As Ithmar Capital HBR case study mentions - Ithmar Targeting 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.

Slow decision making process

– As mentioned earlier in the report, Ithmar Targeting 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. Ithmar Targeting 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 Ithmar Capital | 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 Ithmar Capital are -

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. Ithmar Targeting can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.

Leveraging digital technologies

– Ithmar Targeting 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.

Redefining models of collaboration and team work

– As explained in the weaknesses section, Ithmar Targeting is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. Ithmar Capital 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.

Building a culture of innovation

– managers at Ithmar Targeting 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.

Increase in government spending

– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Ithmar Targeting can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Ithmar Targeting operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Finance & Accounting sector.

Better consumer reach

– The expansion of the 5G network will help Ithmar Targeting to increase its market reach. Ithmar Targeting will be able to reach out to new customers. Secondly 5G will also provide technology framework to build new tools and products that can help more immersive consumer experience and faster consumer journey.

Reforming the budgeting process

- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects Ithmar Targeting can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.

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. Ithmar Targeting 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. Ithmar Targeting 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

– Ithmar Targeting 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.

Use of Bitcoin and other crypto currencies for transactions

– The popularity of Bitcoin and other crypto currencies as asset class and medium of transaction has opened new opportunities for Ithmar Targeting in the consumer business. Now Ithmar Targeting can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.

Manufacturing automation

– Ithmar Targeting 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.

Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains

– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Ithmar Targeting 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, Ithmar Capital, to buy more products closer to the markets, and it can leverage its size and influence to get better deal from the local markets.

Using analytics as competitive advantage

– Ithmar Targeting 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 Ithmar Capital - to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Ithmar Targeting to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.




Threats Ithmar Capital External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis


The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Ithmar Capital are -

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 Ithmar Targeting.

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. Ithmar Targeting can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.

Stagnating economy with rate increase

– Ithmar Targeting 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, Ithmar Targeting 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 Ithmar Capital .

Regulatory challenges

– Ithmar Targeting 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.

Barriers of entry lowering

– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry in the industry are lowering. It can presents Ithmar Targeting 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 Ithmar Targeting 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 Ithmar Targeting is facing in Finance & Accounting sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.

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.

Learning curve for new practices

– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, as highlighted in case study Ithmar Capital, Ithmar Targeting may face longer learning curve for training and development of existing employees. This can open space for more nimble competitors in the field of Finance & Accounting .

Environmental challenges

– Ithmar Targeting 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. Ithmar Targeting can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Finance & Accounting industry.

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. Ithmar Targeting 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 Ithmar Targeting 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.




Weighted SWOT Analysis of Ithmar Capital 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 Ithmar Capital 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 Ithmar Capital 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 Ithmar Capital 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 Ithmar Capital 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 Ithmar Targeting needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.



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