Case Study Description of CVWarehouse (B): Breaking the Deadlock
This case B cannot be taught as a stand-alone case, but is a direct continuation of the FocusCase "CVWarehouse (A): Offline- and Online-Adventures in the Recruitment Industry". This second part illustrated the decisions the entrepreneur took during crisis and how she resolved the deadlock of her companies by the current investors. The case illustrates how she is trying (and eventually succeeding) to sell one of her business in order to buy out the investors from her other company on which she wants to focus in the future. But the whole process is very complex as the buyer of the company is trying to pull out in the last minute and our case protagonist has to go through a nerve-wracking process with high personal risk in order to secure the deal and be able to continue with one business that she fully owns.
Authors :: Julia Prats Moreno, Marc Sosna, Dave Darsch
Swot Analysis of "CVWarehouse (B): Breaking the Deadlock" written by Julia Prats Moreno, Marc Sosna, Dave Darsch includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Cvwarehouse Deadlock facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in CVWarehouse (B): Breaking the Deadlock case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Crisis management, Growth strategy, Human resource management, Internet and Innovation & Entrepreneurship.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the CVWarehouse (B): Breaking the Deadlock casestudy better are - – increasing government debt because of Covid-19 spendings, increasing energy prices, geopolitical disruptions, customer relationship management is fast transforming because of increasing concerns over data privacy, wage bills are increasing, increasing inequality as vast percentage of new income is going to the top 1%, there is backlash against globalization,
challanges to central banks by blockchain based private currencies, banking and financial system is disrupted by Bitcoin and other crypto currencies, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of CVWarehouse (B): Breaking the Deadlock
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in CVWarehouse (B): Breaking the Deadlock case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Cvwarehouse Deadlock, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Cvwarehouse Deadlock 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 CVWarehouse (B): Breaking the Deadlock can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in CVWarehouse (B): Breaking the Deadlock case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Cvwarehouse Deadlock
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 Cvwarehouse Deadlock
Strengths CVWarehouse (B): Breaking the Deadlock | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Cvwarehouse Deadlock in CVWarehouse (B): Breaking the Deadlock Harvard Business Review case study are -
Highly skilled collaborators
– Cvwarehouse Deadlock has highly efficient outsourcing and offshoring strategy. It has resulted in greater operational flexibility and bringing down the costs in highly price sensitive segment. Secondly the value chain collaborators of the firm in CVWarehouse (B): Breaking the Deadlock HBR case study have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
Analytics focus
– Cvwarehouse Deadlock 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 Julia Prats Moreno, Marc Sosna, Dave Darsch 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.
Organizational Resilience of Cvwarehouse Deadlock
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing that Cvwarehouse Deadlock does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
Strong track record of project management
– Cvwarehouse Deadlock is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.
Superior customer experience
– The customer experience strategy of Cvwarehouse Deadlock in the segment is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.
Innovation driven organization
– Cvwarehouse Deadlock is one of the most innovative firm in sector. Manager in CVWarehouse (B): Breaking the Deadlock Harvard Business Review case study can use Clayton Christensen Disruptive Innovation strategies to further increase the scale of innovtions in the organization.
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of Cvwarehouse Deadlock in the sector have low bargaining power. CVWarehouse (B): Breaking the Deadlock has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Cvwarehouse Deadlock to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
Digital Transformation in Innovation & Entrepreneurship segment
- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For Cvwarehouse Deadlock digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Cvwarehouse Deadlock has successfully integrated the four key components of digital transformation – digital integration in processes, digital integration in marketing and customer relationship management, digital integration into the value chain, and using technology to explore new products and market opportunities.
Learning organization
- Cvwarehouse Deadlock 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 Cvwarehouse Deadlock is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders in CVWarehouse (B): Breaking the Deadlock Harvard Business Review case study emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
Diverse revenue streams
– Cvwarehouse Deadlock is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided firm in CVWarehouse (B): Breaking the Deadlock 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.
Cross disciplinary teams
– Horizontal connected teams at the Cvwarehouse Deadlock 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.
Ability to lead change in Innovation & Entrepreneurship field
– Cvwarehouse Deadlock 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 Cvwarehouse Deadlock in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.
Weaknesses CVWarehouse (B): Breaking the Deadlock | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of CVWarehouse (B): Breaking the Deadlock are -
Slow to harness new channels of communication
– Even though competitors are using new communication channels such as Instagram, Tiktok, and Snap, Cvwarehouse Deadlock is slow explore the new channels of communication. These new channels of communication mentioned in marketing section of case study CVWarehouse (B): Breaking the Deadlock can help to provide better information regarding products and services. It can also build an online community to further reach out to potential customers.
Slow to strategic competitive environment developments
– As CVWarehouse (B): Breaking the Deadlock HBR case study mentions - Cvwarehouse Deadlock 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.
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 Cvwarehouse Deadlock supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes mentioned in the HBR case study - CVWarehouse (B): Breaking the Deadlock, it is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left Cvwarehouse Deadlock vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.
No frontier risks strategy
– After analyzing the HBR case study CVWarehouse (B): Breaking the Deadlock, 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.
High dependence on star products
– The top 2 products and services of the firm as mentioned in the CVWarehouse (B): Breaking the Deadlock 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 Cvwarehouse Deadlock has relatively successful track record of launching new products.
Workers concerns about automation
– As automation is fast increasing in the segment, Cvwarehouse Deadlock 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.
Products dominated business model
– Even though Cvwarehouse Deadlock 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 - CVWarehouse (B): Breaking the Deadlock should strive to include more intangible value offerings along with its core products and services.
Employees’ incomplete understanding of strategy
– From the instances in the HBR case study CVWarehouse (B): Breaking the Deadlock, it seems that the employees of Cvwarehouse Deadlock 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.
Aligning sales with marketing
– It come across in the case study CVWarehouse (B): Breaking the Deadlock 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 CVWarehouse (B): Breaking the Deadlock can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Cvwarehouse Deadlock is planning to shift buying processes online.
Ability to respond to the competition
– As the decision making is very deliberative, highlighted in the case study CVWarehouse (B): Breaking the Deadlock, in the dynamic environment Cvwarehouse Deadlock has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. Cvwarehouse Deadlock has reasonably good record with similar level competitors but it has struggled with new entrants taking away niches of its business.
Interest costs
– Compare to the competition, Cvwarehouse Deadlock 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.
Opportunities CVWarehouse (B): Breaking the Deadlock | 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 CVWarehouse (B): Breaking the Deadlock are -
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 Cvwarehouse Deadlock in the consumer business. Now Cvwarehouse Deadlock can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.
Lowering marketing communication costs
– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Cvwarehouse Deadlock 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.
Loyalty marketing
– Cvwarehouse Deadlock 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.
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Cvwarehouse Deadlock has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Cvwarehouse Deadlock to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the CVWarehouse (B): Breaking the Deadlock case study. Cvwarehouse Deadlock can build new products and services such as - data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
Building a culture of innovation
– managers at Cvwarehouse Deadlock 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.
Redefining models of collaboration and team work
– As explained in the weaknesses section, Cvwarehouse Deadlock is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. CVWarehouse (B): Breaking the Deadlock 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.
Learning at scale
– Online learning technologies has now opened space for Cvwarehouse Deadlock 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.
Better consumer reach
– The expansion of the 5G network will help Cvwarehouse Deadlock to increase its market reach. Cvwarehouse Deadlock 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.
Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains
– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Cvwarehouse Deadlock 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, CVWarehouse (B): Breaking the Deadlock, to buy more products closer to the markets, and it can leverage its size and influence to get better deal from the local markets.
Buying journey improvements
– Cvwarehouse Deadlock can improve the customer journey of consumers in the industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. CVWarehouse (B): Breaking the Deadlock 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.
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. Cvwarehouse Deadlock can tie-up with other value chain partners to explore new opportunities regarding meeting customer demands and building a rewarding and engaging relationship.
Leveraging digital technologies
– Cvwarehouse Deadlock 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.
Low interest rates
– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Cvwarehouse Deadlock 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.
Threats CVWarehouse (B): Breaking the Deadlock External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study CVWarehouse (B): Breaking the Deadlock are -
Instability in the European markets
– European Union markets are facing three big challenges post Covid – expanded balance sheets, Brexit related business disruption, and aggressive Russia looking to distract the existing security mechanism. Cvwarehouse Deadlock will face different problems in different parts of Europe. For example it will face inflationary pressures in UK, France, and Germany, balance sheet expansion and demand challenges in Southern European countries, and geopolitical instability in the Eastern Europe.
Consumer confidence and its impact on Cvwarehouse Deadlock 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 Cvwarehouse Deadlock.
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. Cvwarehouse Deadlock 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 Cvwarehouse Deadlock with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the sector.
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.
High dependence on third party suppliers
– Cvwarehouse Deadlock 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 Cvwarehouse Deadlock
– 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 Cvwarehouse Deadlock.
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. Cvwarehouse Deadlock 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 CVWarehouse (B): Breaking the Deadlock, Cvwarehouse Deadlock 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 .
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 Cvwarehouse Deadlock business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Cvwarehouse Deadlock 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.
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Cvwarehouse Deadlock 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 CVWarehouse (B): Breaking the Deadlock .
Weighted SWOT Analysis of CVWarehouse (B): Breaking the Deadlock 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 CVWarehouse (B): Breaking the Deadlock 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 CVWarehouse (B): Breaking the Deadlock 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 CVWarehouse (B): Breaking the Deadlock 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 CVWarehouse (B): Breaking the Deadlock 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 Cvwarehouse Deadlock needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.