Nanxi Liu: Finding the Keys to Sales Success at Enplug SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Innovation & Entrepreneurship
Strategy / MBA Resources
Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of Nanxi Liu: Finding the Keys to Sales Success at Enplug
In 2012, Nanxi Liu and her four co-founders launched Enplug, a digital signage company that specialized in providing businesses with customizable, interactive digital displays. A few years into the venture, Enplug pivoted from an installation-based service model that relied heavily on digital advertisements for revenue to a product-focused company that built and sold a downloadable software. The case revolves around Liu's considerations of Enplug's pricing models, sales strategy, and newly launched reseller program. It also examines Enplug's startup culture and how that played a role in Liu's decision-making as Enplug's Chief Executive Officer.
Swot Analysis of "Nanxi Liu: Finding the Keys to Sales Success at Enplug" written by Paul Orlando, Megan Strawther includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Enplug Enplug's facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Nanxi Liu: Finding the Keys to Sales Success at Enplug case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Organizational structure, Pricing, Product development and Innovation & Entrepreneurship.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Nanxi Liu: Finding the Keys to Sales Success at Enplug casestudy better are - – geopolitical disruptions, there is backlash against globalization, increasing inequality as vast percentage of new income is going to the top 1%, central banks are concerned over increasing inflation, supply chains are disrupted by pandemic , wage bills are increasing, banking and financial system is disrupted by Bitcoin and other crypto currencies,
talent flight as more people leaving formal jobs, increasing household debt because of falling income levels, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Nanxi Liu: Finding the Keys to Sales Success at Enplug
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Nanxi Liu: Finding the Keys to Sales Success at Enplug case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Enplug Enplug's, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Enplug Enplug's 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 Nanxi Liu: Finding the Keys to Sales Success at Enplug can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Nanxi Liu: Finding the Keys to Sales Success at Enplug case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Enplug Enplug's
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 Enplug Enplug's
Strengths Nanxi Liu: Finding the Keys to Sales Success at Enplug | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Enplug Enplug's in Nanxi Liu: Finding the Keys to Sales Success at Enplug Harvard Business Review case study are -
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of Enplug Enplug's in the sector have low bargaining power. Nanxi Liu: Finding the Keys to Sales Success at Enplug has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Enplug Enplug's to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
Ability to lead change in Innovation & Entrepreneurship field
– Enplug Enplug's 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 Enplug Enplug's in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.
High switching costs
– The high switching costs that Enplug Enplug's 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.
Organizational Resilience of Enplug Enplug's
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing that Enplug Enplug's does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
Strong track record of project management
– Enplug Enplug's 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 Enplug Enplug's 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.
Learning organization
- Enplug Enplug's 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 Enplug Enplug's is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders in Nanxi Liu: Finding the Keys to Sales Success at Enplug Harvard Business Review case study emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
Ability to recruit top talent
– Enplug Enplug's is one of the leading recruiters in the industry. Managers in the Nanxi Liu: Finding the Keys to Sales Success at Enplug are in a position to attract the best talent available. The firm has a robust talent identification program that helps in identifying the brightest.
Training and development
– Enplug Enplug's has one of the best training and development program in the industry. The effectiveness of the training programs can be measured in Nanxi Liu: Finding the Keys to Sales Success at Enplug 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.
Successful track record of launching new products
– Enplug Enplug's has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Enplug Enplug's 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.
Analytics focus
– Enplug Enplug's 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 Paul Orlando, Megan Strawther 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.
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Innovation & Entrepreneurship industry
– Nanxi Liu: Finding the Keys to Sales Success at Enplug firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Enplug Enplug's to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Innovation & Entrepreneurship industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Enplug Enplug's to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Weaknesses Nanxi Liu: Finding the Keys to Sales Success at Enplug | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Nanxi Liu: Finding the Keys to Sales Success at Enplug are -
Compensation and incentives
– The revenue per employee as mentioned in the HBR case study Nanxi Liu: Finding the Keys to Sales Success at Enplug, is just above the industry average. Enplug Enplug's 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 bargaining power of channel partners
– Because of the regulatory requirements, Paul Orlando, Megan Strawther suggests that, Enplug Enplug's 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.
Products dominated business model
– Even though Enplug Enplug's 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 - Nanxi Liu: Finding the Keys to Sales Success at Enplug should strive to include more intangible value offerings along with its core products and services.
Slow to harness new channels of communication
– Even though competitors are using new communication channels such as Instagram, Tiktok, and Snap, Enplug Enplug's is slow explore the new channels of communication. These new channels of communication mentioned in marketing section of case study Nanxi Liu: Finding the Keys to Sales Success at Enplug can help to provide better information regarding products and services. It can also build an online community to further reach out to potential customers.
Ability to respond to the competition
– As the decision making is very deliberative, highlighted in the case study Nanxi Liu: Finding the Keys to Sales Success at Enplug, in the dynamic environment Enplug Enplug's has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. Enplug Enplug's has reasonably good record with similar level competitors but it has struggled with new entrants taking away niches of its business.
Slow to strategic competitive environment developments
– As Nanxi Liu: Finding the Keys to Sales Success at Enplug HBR case study mentions - Enplug Enplug's 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.
No frontier risks strategy
– After analyzing the HBR case study Nanxi Liu: Finding the Keys to Sales Success at Enplug, 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.
Lack of clear differentiation of Enplug Enplug's products
– To increase the profitability and margins on the products, Enplug Enplug's needs to provide more differentiated products than what it is currently offering in the marketplace.
Skills based hiring
– The stress on hiring functional specialists at Enplug Enplug's 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.
Increasing silos among functional specialists
– The organizational structure of Enplug Enplug's is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Innovation & Entrepreneurship segment. Enplug Enplug's needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Enplug Enplug's to focus more on services rather than just following the product oriented approach.
Aligning sales with marketing
– It come across in the case study Nanxi Liu: Finding the Keys to Sales Success at Enplug 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 Nanxi Liu: Finding the Keys to Sales Success at Enplug can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Enplug Enplug's is planning to shift buying processes online.
Opportunities Nanxi Liu: Finding the Keys to Sales Success at Enplug | 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 Nanxi Liu: Finding the Keys to Sales Success at Enplug are -
Leveraging digital technologies
– Enplug Enplug's 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.
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. Enplug Enplug's can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.
Loyalty marketing
– Enplug Enplug's 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.
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. Enplug Enplug's can tie-up with other value chain partners to explore new opportunities regarding meeting customer demands and building a rewarding and engaging relationship.
Redefining models of collaboration and team work
– As explained in the weaknesses section, Enplug Enplug's is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. Nanxi Liu: Finding the Keys to Sales Success at Enplug 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.
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– Enplug Enplug's 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 Nanxi Liu: Finding the Keys to Sales Success at Enplug - to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Enplug Enplug's to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
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 Enplug Enplug's 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.
Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains
– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Enplug Enplug's 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, Nanxi Liu: Finding the Keys to Sales Success at Enplug, to buy more products closer to the markets, and it can leverage its size and influence to get better deal from the local markets.
Increase in government spending
– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Enplug Enplug's can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Enplug Enplug's operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Innovation & Entrepreneurship sector.
Learning at scale
– Online learning technologies has now opened space for Enplug Enplug's 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.
Lowering marketing communication costs
– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Enplug Enplug's 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.
Changes in consumer behavior post Covid-19
– Consumer behavior has changed in the Innovation & Entrepreneurship industry because of Covid-19 restrictions. Some of this behavior will stay once things get back to normal. Enplug Enplug's 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. Enplug Enplug's 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.
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 Enplug Enplug's in the consumer business. Now Enplug Enplug's can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.
Threats Nanxi Liu: Finding the Keys to Sales Success at Enplug External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Nanxi Liu: Finding the Keys to Sales Success at Enplug are -
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Enplug Enplug's 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.
Environmental challenges
– Enplug Enplug's 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. Enplug Enplug's can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Innovation & Entrepreneurship industry.
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. Enplug Enplug's needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Innovation & Entrepreneurship industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
Consumer confidence and its impact on Enplug Enplug's 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.
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 Enplug Enplug's.
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Enplug Enplug's has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Innovation & Entrepreneurship industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Enplug Enplug's 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.
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 Enplug Enplug's 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.
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, as highlighted in case study Nanxi Liu: Finding the Keys to Sales Success at Enplug, Enplug Enplug's 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 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.
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 Enplug Enplug's business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry in the industry are lowering. It can presents Enplug Enplug's with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the sector.
Increasing wage structure of Enplug Enplug's
– 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 Enplug Enplug's.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Nanxi Liu: Finding the Keys to Sales Success at Enplug 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 Nanxi Liu: Finding the Keys to Sales Success at Enplug 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 Nanxi Liu: Finding the Keys to Sales Success at Enplug 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 Nanxi Liu: Finding the Keys to Sales Success at Enplug 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 Nanxi Liu: Finding the Keys to Sales Success at Enplug 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 Enplug Enplug's needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.