TruckitNow.com Business Plan SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Innovation & Entrepreneurship
Strategy / MBA Resources
Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of TruckitNow.com Business Plan
Presents an original business plan. Students are challenged to develop assumptions and create financial projections and statements based on business plan text.
Swot Analysis of "TruckitNow.com Business Plan" written by Myra M. Hart, Judith Dror includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Truckitnow.com Plan facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in TruckitNow.com Business Plan case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Financial analysis, Financial management, Strategic planning and Innovation & Entrepreneurship.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the TruckitNow.com Business Plan casestudy better are - – supply chains are disrupted by pandemic , increasing commodity prices, increasing household debt because of falling income levels, central banks are concerned over increasing inflation, there is increasing trade war between United States & China, increasing energy prices, there is backlash against globalization,
challanges to central banks by blockchain based private currencies, increasing transportation and logistics costs, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of TruckitNow.com Business Plan
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in TruckitNow.com Business Plan case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Truckitnow.com Plan, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Truckitnow.com Plan 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 TruckitNow.com Business Plan can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in TruckitNow.com Business Plan case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Truckitnow.com Plan
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 Truckitnow.com Plan
Strengths TruckitNow.com Business Plan | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Truckitnow.com Plan in TruckitNow.com Business Plan Harvard Business Review case study are -
High brand equity
– Truckitnow.com Plan has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Truckitnow.com Plan to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Strong track record of project management
– Truckitnow.com Plan 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 Truckitnow.com Plan in the sector have low bargaining power. TruckitNow.com Business Plan has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Truckitnow.com Plan to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
Superior customer experience
– The customer experience strategy of Truckitnow.com Plan in the segment is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.
High switching costs
– The high switching costs that Truckitnow.com Plan 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.
Digital Transformation in Innovation & Entrepreneurship segment
- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For Truckitnow.com Plan digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Truckitnow.com Plan 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.
Organizational Resilience of Truckitnow.com Plan
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing that Truckitnow.com Plan does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
Operational resilience
– The operational resilience strategy in the TruckitNow.com Business Plan 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.
Ability to recruit top talent
– Truckitnow.com Plan is one of the leading recruiters in the industry. Managers in the TruckitNow.com Business Plan are in a position to attract the best talent available. The firm has a robust talent identification program that helps in identifying the brightest.
Diverse revenue streams
– Truckitnow.com Plan is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided firm in TruckitNow.com Business Plan 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.
Ability to lead change in Innovation & Entrepreneurship field
– Truckitnow.com Plan 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 Truckitnow.com Plan in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.
Effective Research and Development (R&D)
– Truckitnow.com Plan 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 TruckitNow.com Business Plan - 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 TruckitNow.com Business Plan | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of TruckitNow.com Business Plan are -
High dependence on star products
– The top 2 products and services of the firm as mentioned in the TruckitNow.com Business Plan 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 Truckitnow.com Plan has relatively successful track record of launching new products.
Interest costs
– Compare to the competition, Truckitnow.com Plan 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.
Employees’ incomplete understanding of strategy
– From the instances in the HBR case study TruckitNow.com Business Plan, it seems that the employees of Truckitnow.com Plan 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.
Compensation and incentives
– The revenue per employee as mentioned in the HBR case study TruckitNow.com Business Plan, is just above the industry average. Truckitnow.com Plan 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 Truckitnow.com Plan supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes mentioned in the HBR case study - TruckitNow.com Business Plan, it is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left Truckitnow.com Plan vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.
Slow to harness new channels of communication
– Even though competitors are using new communication channels such as Instagram, Tiktok, and Snap, Truckitnow.com Plan is slow explore the new channels of communication. These new channels of communication mentioned in marketing section of case study TruckitNow.com Business Plan can help to provide better information regarding products and services. It can also build an online community to further reach out to potential customers.
Lack of clear differentiation of Truckitnow.com Plan products
– To increase the profitability and margins on the products, Truckitnow.com Plan needs to provide more differentiated products than what it is currently offering in the marketplace.
Slow decision making process
– As mentioned earlier in the report, Truckitnow.com Plan 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. Truckitnow.com Plan 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.
High cash cycle compare to competitors
Truckitnow.com Plan 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.
Aligning sales with marketing
– It come across in the case study TruckitNow.com Business Plan 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 TruckitNow.com Business Plan can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Truckitnow.com Plan is planning to shift buying processes online.
Products dominated business model
– Even though Truckitnow.com Plan 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 - TruckitNow.com Business Plan should strive to include more intangible value offerings along with its core products and services.
Opportunities TruckitNow.com Business Plan | 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 TruckitNow.com Business Plan are -
Buying journey improvements
– Truckitnow.com Plan can improve the customer journey of consumers in the industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. TruckitNow.com Business Plan 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.
Lowering marketing communication costs
– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Truckitnow.com Plan 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.
Learning at scale
– Online learning technologies has now opened space for Truckitnow.com Plan to conduct training and development for its employees across the world. This will result in not only reducing the cost of training but also help employees in different part of the world to integrate with the headquarter work culture, ethos, and standards.
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 Truckitnow.com Plan 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.
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. Truckitnow.com Plan can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.
Developing new processes and practices
– Truckitnow.com Plan 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.
Redefining models of collaboration and team work
– As explained in the weaknesses section, Truckitnow.com Plan is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. TruckitNow.com Business Plan 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.
Loyalty marketing
– Truckitnow.com Plan 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, Truckitnow.com Plan 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.
Building a culture of innovation
– managers at Truckitnow.com Plan 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.
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. Truckitnow.com Plan can tie-up with other value chain partners to explore new opportunities regarding meeting customer demands and building a rewarding and engaging relationship.
Increase in government spending
– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Truckitnow.com Plan can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Truckitnow.com Plan operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Innovation & Entrepreneurship sector.
Leveraging digital technologies
– Truckitnow.com Plan 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.
Threats TruckitNow.com Business Plan External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study TruckitNow.com Business Plan are -
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. Truckitnow.com Plan can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Truckitnow.com Plan 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 TruckitNow.com Business Plan .
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry in the industry are lowering. It can presents Truckitnow.com Plan with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the sector.
High dependence on third party suppliers
– Truckitnow.com Plan 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.
Increasing wage structure of Truckitnow.com Plan
– 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 Truckitnow.com Plan.
Backlash against dominant players
– US Congress and other legislative arms of the government are getting tough on big business especially technology companies. The digital arm of Truckitnow.com Plan business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
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 Truckitnow.com Plan.
Regulatory challenges
– Truckitnow.com Plan 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 Innovation & Entrepreneurship industry regulations.
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, as highlighted in case study TruckitNow.com Business Plan, Truckitnow.com Plan 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
– Truckitnow.com Plan has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Innovation & Entrepreneurship industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Truckitnow.com Plan 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.
Environmental challenges
– Truckitnow.com Plan 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. Truckitnow.com Plan can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Innovation & Entrepreneurship industry.
Consumer confidence and its impact on Truckitnow.com Plan 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.
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 Truckitnow.com Plan in the Innovation & Entrepreneurship sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of TruckitNow.com Business Plan 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 TruckitNow.com Business Plan 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 TruckitNow.com Business Plan 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 TruckitNow.com Business Plan 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 TruckitNow.com Business Plan 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 Truckitnow.com Plan needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.
