Case Study Description of Siebel Systems: Partnering to Scale
Describes the founding and rapid growth of Siebel Systems. Focuses on how Siebel's alliance program enabled rapid growth. Explores the challenges CEO Tom Siebel faces in serving smaller customers.
Swot Analysis of "Siebel Systems: Partnering to Scale" written by Donald N. Sull includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Siebel Rapid facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Siebel Systems: Partnering to Scale case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Joint ventures and Innovation & Entrepreneurship.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Siebel Systems: Partnering to Scale casestudy better are - – banking and financial system is disrupted by Bitcoin and other crypto currencies, competitive advantages are harder to sustain because of technology dispersion, there is backlash against globalization, wage bills are increasing, increasing transportation and logistics costs, supply chains are disrupted by pandemic , central banks are concerned over increasing inflation,
geopolitical disruptions, increasing government debt because of Covid-19 spendings, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Siebel Systems: Partnering to Scale
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Siebel Systems: Partnering to Scale case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Siebel Rapid, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Siebel Rapid 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 Siebel Systems: Partnering to Scale can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Siebel Systems: Partnering to Scale case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Siebel Rapid
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 Siebel Rapid
Strengths Siebel Systems: Partnering to Scale | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Siebel Rapid in Siebel Systems: Partnering to Scale Harvard Business Review case study are -
Strong track record of project management
– Siebel Rapid is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.
Organizational Resilience of Siebel Rapid
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing that Siebel Rapid does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Innovation & Entrepreneurship industry
– Siebel Systems: Partnering to Scale firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Siebel Rapid to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Innovation & Entrepreneurship industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Siebel Rapid to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Operational resilience
– The operational resilience strategy in the Siebel Systems: Partnering to Scale 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)
– Siebel Rapid 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 Siebel Systems: Partnering to Scale - staying ahead in the industry in terms of – new product launches, superior customer experience, highly competitive pricing strategies, and great returns to the shareholders.
Ability to recruit top talent
– Siebel Rapid is one of the leading recruiters in the industry. Managers in the Siebel Systems: Partnering to Scale are in a position to attract the best talent available. The firm has a robust talent identification program that helps in identifying the brightest.
Cross disciplinary teams
– Horizontal connected teams at the Siebel Rapid 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.
Superior customer experience
– The customer experience strategy of Siebel Rapid in the segment is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.
Digital Transformation in Innovation & Entrepreneurship segment
- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For Siebel Rapid digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Siebel Rapid 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.
Learning organization
- Siebel Rapid 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 Siebel Rapid is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders in Siebel Systems: Partnering to Scale Harvard Business Review case study emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
Training and development
– Siebel Rapid has one of the best training and development program in the industry. The effectiveness of the training programs can be measured in Siebel Systems: Partnering to Scale 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.
Highly skilled collaborators
– Siebel Rapid 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 Siebel Systems: Partnering to Scale HBR case study have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
Weaknesses Siebel Systems: Partnering to Scale | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Siebel Systems: Partnering to Scale are -
Employees’ incomplete understanding of strategy
– From the instances in the HBR case study Siebel Systems: Partnering to Scale, it seems that the employees of Siebel Rapid 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.
Capital Spending Reduction
– Even during the low interest decade, Siebel Rapid 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.
Aligning sales with marketing
– It come across in the case study Siebel Systems: Partnering to Scale 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 Siebel Systems: Partnering to Scale can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Siebel Rapid is planning to shift buying processes online.
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 Siebel Rapid supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes mentioned in the HBR case study - Siebel Systems: Partnering to Scale, it is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left Siebel Rapid vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.
Skills based hiring
– The stress on hiring functional specialists at Siebel Rapid 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.
Low market penetration in new markets
– Outside its home market of Siebel Rapid, firm in the HBR case study Siebel Systems: Partnering to Scale needs to spend more promotional, marketing, and advertising efforts to penetrate international markets.
Compensation and incentives
– The revenue per employee as mentioned in the HBR case study Siebel Systems: Partnering to Scale, is just above the industry average. Siebel Rapid 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.
Interest costs
– Compare to the competition, Siebel Rapid has borrowed money from the capital market at higher rates. It needs to restructure the interest payment and costs so that it can compete better and improve profitability.
Increasing silos among functional specialists
– The organizational structure of Siebel Rapid is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Innovation & Entrepreneurship segment. Siebel Rapid needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Siebel Rapid to focus more on services rather than just following the product oriented approach.
High dependence on star products
– The top 2 products and services of the firm as mentioned in the Siebel Systems: Partnering to Scale 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 Siebel Rapid has relatively successful track record of launching new products.
Slow to harness new channels of communication
– Even though competitors are using new communication channels such as Instagram, Tiktok, and Snap, Siebel Rapid is slow explore the new channels of communication. These new channels of communication mentioned in marketing section of case study Siebel Systems: Partnering to Scale can help to provide better information regarding products and services. It can also build an online community to further reach out to potential customers.
Opportunities Siebel Systems: Partnering to Scale | 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 Siebel Systems: Partnering to Scale are -
Developing new processes and practices
– Siebel Rapid 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.
Lowering marketing communication costs
– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Siebel Rapid 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.
Redefining models of collaboration and team work
– As explained in the weaknesses section, Siebel Rapid is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. Siebel Systems: Partnering to Scale 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.
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Siebel Rapid has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Siebel Rapid to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the Siebel Systems: Partnering to Scale case study. Siebel Rapid can build new products and services such as - data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
Buying journey improvements
– Siebel Rapid can improve the customer journey of consumers in the industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. Siebel Systems: Partnering to Scale 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.
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 Siebel Rapid in the consumer business. Now Siebel Rapid can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– Siebel Rapid 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 Siebel Systems: Partnering to Scale - to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Siebel Rapid to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
Reforming the budgeting process
- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects Siebel Rapid can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.
Loyalty marketing
– Siebel Rapid 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.
Low interest rates
– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Siebel Rapid 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.
Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains
– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Siebel Rapid 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, Siebel Systems: Partnering to Scale, to buy more products closer to the markets, and it can leverage its size and influence to get better deal from the local markets.
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. Siebel Rapid can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.
Better consumer reach
– The expansion of the 5G network will help Siebel Rapid to increase its market reach. Siebel Rapid 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.
Threats Siebel Systems: Partnering to Scale External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Siebel Systems: Partnering to Scale 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 Siebel Systems: Partnering to Scale, Siebel Rapid may face longer learning curve for training and development of existing employees. This can open space for more nimble competitors in the field of Innovation & Entrepreneurship .
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Siebel Rapid has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Innovation & Entrepreneurship industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Siebel Rapid 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.
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Siebel Rapid 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 wage structure of Siebel Rapid
– 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 Siebel Rapid.
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. Siebel Rapid needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Innovation & Entrepreneurship industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
High dependence on third party suppliers
– Siebel Rapid high dependence on third party suppliers can disrupt its processes and delivery mechanism. For example -the current troubles of car makers because of chip shortage is because the chip companies started producing chips for electronic companies rather than car manufacturers.
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry in the industry are lowering. It can presents Siebel Rapid with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the sector.
Easy access to finance
– Easy access to finance in Innovation & Entrepreneurship field will also reduce the barriers to entry in the industry, thus putting downward pressure on the prices because of increasing competition. Siebel Rapid can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
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 Siebel Rapid in the Innovation & Entrepreneurship sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
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.
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Siebel Rapid 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.
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 Siebel Rapid.
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Siebel Rapid is facing in Innovation & Entrepreneurship sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Siebel Systems: Partnering to Scale 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 Siebel Systems: Partnering to Scale 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 Siebel Systems: Partnering to Scale 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 Siebel Systems: Partnering to Scale 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 Siebel Systems: Partnering to Scale 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 Siebel Rapid needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.