Housing.com: Disrupting the House Search Process in India SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Innovation & Entrepreneurship
Strategy / MBA Resources
Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of Housing.com: Disrupting the House Search Process in India
In July 2014, the head of Data Sciences Lab, the technical division of Housing.com, an online realty company based in Mumbai, India, is wondering whether the company has truly revolutionized the housing search process. The Indian real estate market is extremely unorganized, fragmented and suffering from lack of clear information. Any facts about properties for sale or rent primarily rest with brokers, who not only often charge exorbitant fees from the buyer as well as the seller but also commonly misrepresent the location and condition of the property in question, making finding a place to live a very frustrating experience. Founded in 2012, Housing.com is a relatively new entrant to this market and is using a data-driven approach to attract customers by providing accurate intelligence, using photographs and a map-based user interface to display all its listings on the Internet. Recently, the company started scaling up its operations by leveraging the power of quality, technology, innovation and speed, with impressive results. Will this strategy help Housing.com capture an even bigger portion of the market? Will competitors in the online property space be able to imitate its business innovations easily? More importantly, what future products should Housing.com offer? Deepa Ray is affiliated with SVKM's Narsee Monjee Institute of Management Studies.
Swot Analysis of "Housing.com: Disrupting the House Search Process in India" written by Deepa Ray, Nitin Sangwan includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Housing.com Search facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Housing.com: Disrupting the House Search Process in India case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Technology and Innovation & Entrepreneurship.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Housing.com: Disrupting the House Search Process in India casestudy better are - – increasing government debt because of Covid-19 spendings, central banks are concerned over increasing inflation, wage bills are increasing, increasing inequality as vast percentage of new income is going to the top 1%, customer relationship management is fast transforming because of increasing concerns over data privacy, there is backlash against globalization, increasing household debt because of falling income levels,
increasing commodity prices, digital marketing is dominated by two big players Facebook and Google, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Housing.com: Disrupting the House Search Process in India
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Housing.com: Disrupting the House Search Process in India case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Housing.com Search, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Housing.com Search 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 Housing.com: Disrupting the House Search Process in India can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Housing.com: Disrupting the House Search Process in India case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Housing.com Search
3. Assessing feasibility of the new initiative in Innovation & Entrepreneurship field.
4. Making a Innovation & Entrepreneurship topic specific business decision
5. Set goals for the organization
6. Organizational restructuring of Housing.com Search
Strengths Housing.com: Disrupting the House Search Process in India | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Housing.com Search in Housing.com: Disrupting the House Search Process in India Harvard Business Review case study are -
Innovation driven organization
– Housing.com Search is one of the most innovative firm in sector. Manager in Housing.com: Disrupting the House Search Process in India Harvard Business Review case study can use Clayton Christensen Disruptive Innovation strategies to further increase the scale of innovtions in the organization.
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Innovation & Entrepreneurship industry
– Housing.com: Disrupting the House Search Process in India firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Housing.com Search to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Innovation & Entrepreneurship industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Housing.com Search to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Cross disciplinary teams
– Horizontal connected teams at the Housing.com Search 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.
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of Housing.com Search in the sector have low bargaining power. Housing.com: Disrupting the House Search Process in India has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Housing.com Search to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
High switching costs
– The high switching costs that Housing.com Search 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.
Operational resilience
– The operational resilience strategy in the Housing.com: Disrupting the House Search Process in India 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.
Effective Research and Development (R&D)
– Housing.com Search 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 Housing.com: Disrupting the House Search Process in India - staying ahead in the industry in terms of – new product launches, superior customer experience, highly competitive pricing strategies, and great returns to the shareholders.
Diverse revenue streams
– Housing.com Search is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided firm in Housing.com: Disrupting the House Search Process in India 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.
Analytics focus
– Housing.com Search 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 Deepa Ray, Nitin Sangwan 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.
Organizational Resilience of Housing.com Search
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing that Housing.com Search does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
Superior customer experience
– The customer experience strategy of Housing.com Search in the segment is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.
Ability to recruit top talent
– Housing.com Search is one of the leading recruiters in the industry. Managers in the Housing.com: Disrupting the House Search Process in India are in a position to attract the best talent available. The firm has a robust talent identification program that helps in identifying the brightest.
Weaknesses Housing.com: Disrupting the House Search Process in India | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Housing.com: Disrupting the House Search Process in India are -
High bargaining power of channel partners
– Because of the regulatory requirements, Deepa Ray, Nitin Sangwan suggests that, Housing.com Search 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 operating costs
– Compare to the competitors, firm in the HBR case study Housing.com: Disrupting the House Search Process in India 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 Housing.com Search 's lucrative customers.
Need for greater diversity
– Housing.com Search 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.
Skills based hiring
– The stress on hiring functional specialists at Housing.com Search 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.
No frontier risks strategy
– After analyzing the HBR case study Housing.com: Disrupting the House Search Process in India, it seems that company is thinking about the frontier risks that can impact Innovation & Entrepreneurship 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.
Capital Spending Reduction
– Even during the low interest decade, Housing.com Search 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.
Compensation and incentives
– The revenue per employee as mentioned in the HBR case study Housing.com: Disrupting the House Search Process in India, is just above the industry average. Housing.com Search 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.
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 Housing.com Search supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes mentioned in the HBR case study - Housing.com: Disrupting the House Search Process in India, it is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left Housing.com Search vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.
Lack of clear differentiation of Housing.com Search products
– To increase the profitability and margins on the products, Housing.com Search needs to provide more differentiated products than what it is currently offering in the marketplace.
Workers concerns about automation
– As automation is fast increasing in the segment, Housing.com Search 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.
Increasing silos among functional specialists
– The organizational structure of Housing.com Search is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Innovation & Entrepreneurship segment. Housing.com Search needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Housing.com Search to focus more on services rather than just following the product oriented approach.
Opportunities Housing.com: Disrupting the House Search Process in India | 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 Housing.com: Disrupting the House Search Process in India are -
Reforming the budgeting process
- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects Housing.com Search can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.
Manufacturing automation
– Housing.com Search can use the latest technology developments to improve its manufacturing and designing process in Innovation & Entrepreneurship 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.
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 Housing.com Search in the consumer business. Now Housing.com Search can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– Housing.com Search 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 Housing.com: Disrupting the House Search Process in India - to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Housing.com Search to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
Developing new processes and practices
– Housing.com Search can develop new processes and procedures in Innovation & Entrepreneurship 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.
Finding new ways to collaborate
– Covid-19 has not only transformed business models of companies in Innovation & Entrepreneurship industry, but it has also influenced the consumer preferences. Housing.com Search can tie-up with other value chain partners to explore new opportunities regarding meeting customer demands and building a rewarding and engaging relationship.
Lowering marketing communication costs
– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Housing.com Search in the field of marketing communication. It will bring down the cost of doing business, provide technology platform to build new products in the Innovation & Entrepreneurship segment, and it will provide faster access to the consumers.
Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities
– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Housing.com Search 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 Housing.com Search to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
Building a culture of innovation
– managers at Housing.com Search 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 Innovation & Entrepreneurship segment.
Buying journey improvements
– Housing.com Search can improve the customer journey of consumers in the industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. Housing.com: Disrupting the House Search Process in India 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.
Better consumer reach
– The expansion of the 5G network will help Housing.com Search to increase its market reach. Housing.com Search 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.
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. Housing.com Search can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.
Increase in government spending
– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Housing.com Search can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Housing.com Search operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Innovation & Entrepreneurship sector.
Threats Housing.com: Disrupting the House Search Process in India External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Housing.com: Disrupting the House Search Process in India are -
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Housing.com Search 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.
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry in the industry are lowering. It can presents Housing.com Search with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the sector.
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Housing.com Search 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 Housing.com: Disrupting the House Search Process in India .
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Housing.com Search has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Innovation & Entrepreneurship industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Housing.com Search needs to keep up with the evolution of technology in the Innovation & Entrepreneurship 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 Housing.com Search demand
– There is a high probability of declining consumer confidence, given – high inflammation rate, rise of gig economy, lower job stability, increasing cost of living, higher interest rates, and aging demography. All the factors contribute to people saving higher rate of their income, resulting in lower consumer demand in the industry and other sectors.
Environmental challenges
– Housing.com Search 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. Housing.com Search can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Innovation & Entrepreneurship industry.
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 Housing.com Search.
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Housing.com Search is facing in Innovation & Entrepreneurship 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 Housing.com Search in the Innovation & Entrepreneurship industry. The Innovation & Entrepreneurship 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.
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 Housing.com Search in the Innovation & Entrepreneurship sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
Technology disruption because of hacks, piracy etc
– The colonial pipeline illustrated, how vulnerable modern organization are to international hackers, miscreants, and disruptors. The cyber security interruption, data leaks, etc can seriously jeopardize the future growth of the organization.
Increasing wage structure of Housing.com Search
– Post Covid-19 there is a sharp increase in the wages especially in the jobs that require interaction with people. The increasing wages can put downward pressure on the margins of Housing.com Search.
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. Housing.com Search needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Innovation & Entrepreneurship industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Housing.com: Disrupting the House Search Process in India 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 Housing.com: Disrupting the House Search Process in India 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 Housing.com: Disrupting the House Search Process in India 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 Housing.com: Disrupting the House Search Process in India 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 Housing.com: Disrupting the House Search Process in India 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 Housing.com Search needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.
