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Officenet (B): After the Merger SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis

Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution

Case Study Description of Officenet (B): After the Merger


Describes the execution of a new economy merger. Officenet, a bricks-and-clicks retailer of office supplies, is sold to an Internet pure-play, Submarino.com. Officenet's founders are in Brazil, where the company recently expanded its operations, and must consider several questions about the company's growth plans and financial position.

Authors :: Walter Kuemmerle, Meredith Collura

Topics :: Innovation & Entrepreneurship

Tags :: Internet, Market research, Mergers & acquisitions, SWOT Analysis, SWOT Matrix, TOWS, Weighted SWOT Analysis

Swot Analysis of "Officenet (B): After the Merger" written by Walter Kuemmerle, Meredith Collura includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Officenet Officenet's facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Officenet (B): After the Merger case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Internet, Market research, Mergers & acquisitions and Innovation & Entrepreneurship.


Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Officenet (B): After the Merger casestudy better are - – increasing transportation and logistics costs, competitive advantages are harder to sustain because of technology dispersion, there is backlash against globalization, central banks are concerned over increasing inflation, increasing energy prices, increasing household debt because of falling income levels, customer relationship management is fast transforming because of increasing concerns over data privacy, increasing government debt because of Covid-19 spendings, there is increasing trade war between United States & China, etc



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Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Officenet (B): After the Merger


SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Officenet (B): After the Merger case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Officenet Officenet's, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Officenet Officenet'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 Officenet (B): After the Merger can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Officenet (B): After the Merger case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Officenet Officenet'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 Officenet Officenet's




Strengths Officenet (B): After the Merger | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis

The strengths of Officenet Officenet's in Officenet (B): After the Merger Harvard Business Review case study are -

High brand equity

– Officenet Officenet's has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Officenet Officenet's to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.

Training and development

– Officenet Officenet's has one of the best training and development program in the industry. The effectiveness of the training programs can be measured in Officenet (B): After the Merger 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.

High switching costs

– The high switching costs that Officenet Officenet'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.

Ability to lead change in Innovation & Entrepreneurship field

– Officenet Officenet'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 Officenet Officenet's in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.

Analytics focus

– Officenet Officenet'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 Walter Kuemmerle, Meredith Collura 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.

Cross disciplinary teams

– Horizontal connected teams at the Officenet Officenet'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.

Organizational Resilience of Officenet Officenet's

– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing that Officenet Officenet's does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.

Learning organization

- Officenet Officenet'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 Officenet Officenet's is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders in Officenet (B): After the Merger Harvard Business Review case study emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.

Ability to recruit top talent

– Officenet Officenet's is one of the leading recruiters in the industry. Managers in the Officenet (B): After the Merger are in a position to attract the best talent available. The firm has a robust talent identification program that helps in identifying the brightest.

Successful track record of launching new products

– Officenet Officenet's has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Officenet Officenet'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.

Superior customer experience

– The customer experience strategy of Officenet Officenet's in the segment is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.

Strong track record of project management

– Officenet Officenet'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.






Weaknesses Officenet (B): After the Merger | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis

The weaknesses of Officenet (B): After the Merger are -

High cash cycle compare to competitors

Officenet Officenet's 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.

Ability to respond to the competition

– As the decision making is very deliberative, highlighted in the case study Officenet (B): After the Merger, in the dynamic environment Officenet Officenet's has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. Officenet Officenet's has reasonably good record with similar level competitors but it has struggled with new entrants taking away niches of its business.

Products dominated business model

– Even though Officenet Officenet'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 - Officenet (B): After the Merger should strive to include more intangible value offerings along with its core products and services.

No frontier risks strategy

– After analyzing the HBR case study Officenet (B): After the Merger, 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.

Compensation and incentives

– The revenue per employee as mentioned in the HBR case study Officenet (B): After the Merger, is just above the industry average. Officenet Officenet'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.

Interest costs

– Compare to the competition, Officenet Officenet's 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.

Need for greater diversity

– Officenet Officenet's has taken concrete steps on diversity, equity, and inclusion. But the efforts so far has resulted in limited success. It needs to expand the recruitment and selection process to hire more people from the minorities and underprivileged background.

Increasing silos among functional specialists

– The organizational structure of Officenet Officenet's is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Innovation & Entrepreneurship segment. Officenet Officenet's needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Officenet Officenet's to focus more on services rather than just following the product oriented approach.

Skills based hiring

– The stress on hiring functional specialists at Officenet Officenet'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.

Aligning sales with marketing

– It come across in the case study Officenet (B): After the Merger 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 Officenet (B): After the Merger can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Officenet Officenet's is planning to shift buying processes online.

Workers concerns about automation

– As automation is fast increasing in the segment, Officenet Officenet's 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.




Opportunities Officenet (B): After the Merger | 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 Officenet (B): After the Merger are -

Leveraging digital technologies

– Officenet Officenet'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.

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. Officenet Officenet'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. Officenet Officenet'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.

Building a culture of innovation

– managers at Officenet Officenet's 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. Officenet Officenet's can tie-up with other value chain partners to explore new opportunities regarding meeting customer demands and building a rewarding and engaging relationship.

Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains

– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Officenet Officenet'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, Officenet (B): After the Merger, to buy more products closer to the markets, and it can leverage its size and influence to get better deal from the local markets.

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 Officenet Officenet'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.

Better consumer reach

– The expansion of the 5G network will help Officenet Officenet's to increase its market reach. Officenet Officenet's 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.

Learning at scale

– Online learning technologies has now opened space for Officenet Officenet'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.

Manufacturing automation

– Officenet Officenet's can use the latest technology developments to improve its manufacturing and designing process in Innovation & Entrepreneurship segment. It can use CAD and 3D printing to build a quick prototype and pilot testing products. It can leverage automation using machine learning and artificial intelligence to do faster production at lowers costs, and it can leverage the growth in satellite and tracking technologies to improve inventory management, transportation, and shipping.

Increase in government spending

– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Officenet Officenet's can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Officenet Officenet's operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Innovation & Entrepreneurship sector.

Developing new processes and practices

– Officenet Officenet's 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.

Reforming the budgeting process

- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects Officenet Officenet's can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.

Using analytics as competitive advantage

– Officenet Officenet'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 Officenet (B): After the Merger - to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Officenet Officenet's to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.




Threats Officenet (B): After the Merger External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis


The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Officenet (B): After the Merger are -

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.

Shortening product life cycle

– it is one of the major threat that Officenet Officenet's is facing in Innovation & Entrepreneurship sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.

Environmental challenges

– Officenet Officenet'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. Officenet Officenet's can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Innovation & Entrepreneurship industry.

Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution

– Officenet Officenet's has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Innovation & Entrepreneurship industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Officenet Officenet'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.

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. Officenet Officenet's can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.

Barriers of entry lowering

– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry in the industry are lowering. It can presents Officenet Officenet's with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the sector.

Regulatory challenges

– Officenet Officenet's 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.

High dependence on third party suppliers

– Officenet Officenet's 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.

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 Officenet Officenet's business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.

Learning curve for new practices

– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, as highlighted in case study Officenet (B): After the Merger, Officenet Officenet'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 .

Consumer confidence and its impact on Officenet Officenet'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.

Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins

– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Officenet Officenet's 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 Officenet (B): After the Merger .

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 Officenet Officenet's in the Innovation & Entrepreneurship sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.




Weighted SWOT Analysis of Officenet (B): After the Merger 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 Officenet (B): After the Merger 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 Officenet (B): After the Merger 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 Officenet (B): After the Merger 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 Officenet (B): After the Merger 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 Officenet Officenet's needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.



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