Case Study Description of Boost M6700 (A): Buyer Seller Negotiation - Confidential Instructions for John Payne
This is a 1-on-1 first interaction negotiation between John, a senior sales manager of high-end, state-of-the-art laptops (Boost computers), and Cindy, a procurement manager of a business consulting firm. Cindy has invited John to discuss his proposal to sell 50 of the latest technology computers.
Swot Analysis of "Boost M6700 (A): Buyer Seller Negotiation - Confidential Instructions for John Payne" written by Horacio Falcao, Kriti Jain, Heather Grover includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Cindy John facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Boost M6700 (A): Buyer Seller Negotiation - Confidential Instructions for John Payne case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Growth strategy, IT, Negotiations, Pricing and Innovation & Entrepreneurship.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Boost M6700 (A): Buyer Seller Negotiation - Confidential Instructions for John Payne casestudy better are - – increasing household debt because of falling income levels, increasing energy prices, cloud computing is disrupting traditional business models, increasing government debt because of Covid-19 spendings, banking and financial system is disrupted by Bitcoin and other crypto currencies, geopolitical disruptions, digital marketing is dominated by two big players Facebook and Google,
increasing commodity prices, competitive advantages are harder to sustain because of technology dispersion, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Boost M6700 (A): Buyer Seller Negotiation - Confidential Instructions for John Payne
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Boost M6700 (A): Buyer Seller Negotiation - Confidential Instructions for John Payne case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Cindy John, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Cindy John 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 Boost M6700 (A): Buyer Seller Negotiation - Confidential Instructions for John Payne can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Boost M6700 (A): Buyer Seller Negotiation - Confidential Instructions for John Payne case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Cindy John
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 Cindy John
Strengths Boost M6700 (A): Buyer Seller Negotiation - Confidential Instructions for John Payne | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Cindy John in Boost M6700 (A): Buyer Seller Negotiation - Confidential Instructions for John Payne Harvard Business Review case study are -
Organizational Resilience of Cindy John
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing that Cindy John does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
Analytics focus
– Cindy John 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 Horacio Falcao, Kriti Jain, Heather Grover 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.
Ability to recruit top talent
– Cindy John is one of the leading recruiters in the industry. Managers in the Boost M6700 (A): Buyer Seller Negotiation - Confidential Instructions for John Payne 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 Cindy John 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
- Cindy John 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 Cindy John is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders in Boost M6700 (A): Buyer Seller Negotiation - Confidential Instructions for John Payne Harvard Business Review case study emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
Diverse revenue streams
– Cindy John is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided firm in Boost M6700 (A): Buyer Seller Negotiation - Confidential Instructions for John Payne 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.
Digital Transformation in Innovation & Entrepreneurship segment
- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For Cindy John digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Cindy John 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.
Superior customer experience
– The customer experience strategy of Cindy John in the segment is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.
Innovation driven organization
– Cindy John is one of the most innovative firm in sector. Manager in Boost M6700 (A): Buyer Seller Negotiation - Confidential Instructions for John Payne Harvard Business Review case study can use Clayton Christensen Disruptive Innovation strategies to further increase the scale of innovtions in the organization.
Successful track record of launching new products
– Cindy John has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Cindy John 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.
Ability to lead change in Innovation & Entrepreneurship field
– Cindy John 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 Cindy John in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Innovation & Entrepreneurship industry
– Boost M6700 (A): Buyer Seller Negotiation - Confidential Instructions for John Payne firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Cindy John to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Innovation & Entrepreneurship industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Cindy John to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Weaknesses Boost M6700 (A): Buyer Seller Negotiation - Confidential Instructions for John Payne | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Boost M6700 (A): Buyer Seller Negotiation - Confidential Instructions for John Payne are -
No frontier risks strategy
– After analyzing the HBR case study Boost M6700 (A): Buyer Seller Negotiation - Confidential Instructions for John Payne, 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.
Ability to respond to the competition
– As the decision making is very deliberative, highlighted in the case study Boost M6700 (A): Buyer Seller Negotiation - Confidential Instructions for John Payne, in the dynamic environment Cindy John has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. Cindy John has reasonably good record with similar level competitors but it has struggled with new entrants taking away niches of its business.
Skills based hiring
– The stress on hiring functional specialists at Cindy John 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.
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 Cindy John supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes mentioned in the HBR case study - Boost M6700 (A): Buyer Seller Negotiation - Confidential Instructions for John Payne, it is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left Cindy John vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.
Slow to strategic competitive environment developments
– As Boost M6700 (A): Buyer Seller Negotiation - Confidential Instructions for John Payne HBR case study mentions - Cindy John 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.
Workers concerns about automation
– As automation is fast increasing in the segment, Cindy John 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.
Capital Spending Reduction
– Even during the low interest decade, Cindy John 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.
Products dominated business model
– Even though Cindy John 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 - Boost M6700 (A): Buyer Seller Negotiation - Confidential Instructions for John Payne 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, Cindy John is slow explore the new channels of communication. These new channels of communication mentioned in marketing section of case study Boost M6700 (A): Buyer Seller Negotiation - Confidential Instructions for John Payne can help to provide better information regarding products and services. It can also build an online community to further reach out to potential customers.
High operating costs
– Compare to the competitors, firm in the HBR case study Boost M6700 (A): Buyer Seller Negotiation - Confidential Instructions for John Payne 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 Cindy John 's lucrative customers.
Employees’ incomplete understanding of strategy
– From the instances in the HBR case study Boost M6700 (A): Buyer Seller Negotiation - Confidential Instructions for John Payne, it seems that the employees of Cindy John 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.
Opportunities Boost M6700 (A): Buyer Seller Negotiation - Confidential Instructions for John Payne | 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 Boost M6700 (A): Buyer Seller Negotiation - Confidential Instructions for John Payne are -
Increase in government spending
– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Cindy John can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Cindy John operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Innovation & Entrepreneurship sector.
Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities
– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Cindy John 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 Cindy John to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
Lowering marketing communication costs
– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Cindy John 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.
Buying journey improvements
– Cindy John can improve the customer journey of consumers in the industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. Boost M6700 (A): Buyer Seller Negotiation - Confidential Instructions for John Payne 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 Cindy John to increase its market reach. Cindy John 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.
Developing new processes and practices
– Cindy John 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.
Loyalty marketing
– Cindy John 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. Cindy John can tie-up with other value chain partners to explore new opportunities regarding meeting customer demands and building a rewarding and engaging relationship.
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 Cindy John in the consumer business. Now Cindy John can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.
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. Cindy John 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. Cindy John 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.
Building a culture of innovation
– managers at Cindy John 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.
Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains
– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Cindy John 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, Boost M6700 (A): Buyer Seller Negotiation - Confidential Instructions for John Payne, 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. Cindy John can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.
Threats Boost M6700 (A): Buyer Seller Negotiation - Confidential Instructions for John Payne External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Boost M6700 (A): Buyer Seller Negotiation - Confidential Instructions for John Payne are -
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Cindy John has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Innovation & Entrepreneurship industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Cindy John 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
– Cindy John 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.
Consumer confidence and its impact on Cindy John 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.
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 Cindy John business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
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. Cindy John needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Innovation & Entrepreneurship industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, as highlighted in case study Boost M6700 (A): Buyer Seller Negotiation - Confidential Instructions for John Payne, Cindy John 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 .
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. Cindy John can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
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.
Regulatory challenges
– Cindy John 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.
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 Cindy John in the Innovation & Entrepreneurship sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
Environmental challenges
– Cindy John 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. Cindy John 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 Cindy John.
Increasing wage structure of Cindy John
– 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 Cindy John.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Boost M6700 (A): Buyer Seller Negotiation - Confidential Instructions for John Payne 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 Boost M6700 (A): Buyer Seller Negotiation - Confidential Instructions for John Payne 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 Boost M6700 (A): Buyer Seller Negotiation - Confidential Instructions for John Payne 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 Boost M6700 (A): Buyer Seller Negotiation - Confidential Instructions for John Payne 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 Boost M6700 (A): Buyer Seller Negotiation - Confidential Instructions for John Payne 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 Cindy John needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.
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