Bayt.com: How Bayt.com Derived a "Place Surplus" in Dubai, U.A.E. SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Innovation & Entrepreneurship
Strategy / MBA Resources
Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of Bayt.com: How Bayt.com Derived a "Place Surplus" in Dubai, U.A.E.
The case examines the factors that influenced the founders' decision to establish Bayt.com in Dubai, and how the online job site transformed recruitment practices in the Middle East by facilitating access to skill and talent throughout the MENA region. Among the locational drawbacks the company had to overcome were low internet penetration rates, cultural barriers, and diverse legal and regulatory systems.
Swot Analysis of "Bayt.com: How Bayt.com Derived a "Place Surplus" in Dubai, U.A.E." written by Sami Mahroum, Elizabeth Scott includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Bayt.com Dubai facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Bayt.com: How Bayt.com Derived a "Place Surplus" in Dubai, U.A.E. case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Entrepreneurship, Influence, Innovation, Internet, Talent management and Innovation & Entrepreneurship.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Bayt.com: How Bayt.com Derived a "Place Surplus" in Dubai, U.A.E. casestudy better are - – increasing government debt because of Covid-19 spendings, increasing household debt because of falling income levels, central banks are concerned over increasing inflation, increasing inequality as vast percentage of new income is going to the top 1%, challanges to central banks by blockchain based private currencies, digital marketing is dominated by two big players Facebook and Google, increasing commodity prices,
increasing transportation and logistics costs, banking and financial system is disrupted by Bitcoin and other crypto currencies, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Bayt.com: How Bayt.com Derived a "Place Surplus" in Dubai, U.A.E.
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Bayt.com: How Bayt.com Derived a "Place Surplus" in Dubai, U.A.E. case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Bayt.com Dubai, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Bayt.com Dubai 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 Bayt.com: How Bayt.com Derived a "Place Surplus" in Dubai, U.A.E. can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Bayt.com: How Bayt.com Derived a "Place Surplus" in Dubai, U.A.E. case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Bayt.com Dubai
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 Bayt.com Dubai
Strengths Bayt.com: How Bayt.com Derived a "Place Surplus" in Dubai, U.A.E. | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Bayt.com Dubai in Bayt.com: How Bayt.com Derived a "Place Surplus" in Dubai, U.A.E. Harvard Business Review case study are -
Ability to lead change in Innovation & Entrepreneurship field
– Bayt.com Dubai 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 Bayt.com Dubai in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.
Effective Research and Development (R&D)
– Bayt.com Dubai has innovation driven culture where significant part of the revenues are spent on the research and development activities. This has resulted in, as mentioned in case study Bayt.com: How Bayt.com Derived a "Place Surplus" in Dubai, U.A.E. - staying ahead in the industry in terms of – new product launches, superior customer experience, highly competitive pricing strategies, and great returns to the shareholders.
Digital Transformation in Innovation & Entrepreneurship segment
- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For Bayt.com Dubai digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Bayt.com Dubai 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.
Training and development
– Bayt.com Dubai has one of the best training and development program in the industry. The effectiveness of the training programs can be measured in Bayt.com: How Bayt.com Derived a "Place Surplus" in Dubai, U.A.E. 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.
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Innovation & Entrepreneurship industry
– Bayt.com: How Bayt.com Derived a "Place Surplus" in Dubai, U.A.E. firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Bayt.com Dubai to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Innovation & Entrepreneurship industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Bayt.com Dubai to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Organizational Resilience of Bayt.com Dubai
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing that Bayt.com Dubai does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
Diverse revenue streams
– Bayt.com Dubai is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided firm in Bayt.com: How Bayt.com Derived a "Place Surplus" in Dubai, U.A.E. 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.
High brand equity
– Bayt.com Dubai has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Bayt.com Dubai to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Ability to recruit top talent
– Bayt.com Dubai is one of the leading recruiters in the industry. Managers in the Bayt.com: How Bayt.com Derived a "Place Surplus" in Dubai, U.A.E. 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
– Bayt.com Dubai has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Bayt.com Dubai 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.
High switching costs
– The high switching costs that Bayt.com Dubai 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.
Strong track record of project management
– Bayt.com Dubai 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 Bayt.com: How Bayt.com Derived a "Place Surplus" in Dubai, U.A.E. | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Bayt.com: How Bayt.com Derived a "Place Surplus" in Dubai, U.A.E. are -
Aligning sales with marketing
– It come across in the case study Bayt.com: How Bayt.com Derived a "Place Surplus" in Dubai, U.A.E. 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 Bayt.com: How Bayt.com Derived a "Place Surplus" in Dubai, U.A.E. can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Bayt.com Dubai is planning to shift buying processes online.
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 Bayt.com Dubai supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes mentioned in the HBR case study - Bayt.com: How Bayt.com Derived a "Place Surplus" in Dubai, U.A.E., it is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left Bayt.com Dubai vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.
Slow to harness new channels of communication
– Even though competitors are using new communication channels such as Instagram, Tiktok, and Snap, Bayt.com Dubai is slow explore the new channels of communication. These new channels of communication mentioned in marketing section of case study Bayt.com: How Bayt.com Derived a "Place Surplus" in Dubai, U.A.E. can help to provide better information regarding products and services. It can also build an online community to further reach out to potential customers.
No frontier risks strategy
– After analyzing the HBR case study Bayt.com: How Bayt.com Derived a "Place Surplus" in Dubai, U.A.E., 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 Bayt.com: How Bayt.com Derived a "Place Surplus" in Dubai, U.A.E., is just above the industry average. Bayt.com Dubai 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.
Capital Spending Reduction
– Even during the low interest decade, Bayt.com Dubai 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.
Ability to respond to the competition
– As the decision making is very deliberative, highlighted in the case study Bayt.com: How Bayt.com Derived a "Place Surplus" in Dubai, U.A.E., in the dynamic environment Bayt.com Dubai has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. Bayt.com Dubai has reasonably good record with similar level competitors but it has struggled with new entrants taking away niches of its business.
High operating costs
– Compare to the competitors, firm in the HBR case study Bayt.com: How Bayt.com Derived a "Place Surplus" in Dubai, U.A.E. 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 Bayt.com Dubai 's lucrative customers.
Employees’ incomplete understanding of strategy
– From the instances in the HBR case study Bayt.com: How Bayt.com Derived a "Place Surplus" in Dubai, U.A.E., it seems that the employees of Bayt.com Dubai 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.
Slow to strategic competitive environment developments
– As Bayt.com: How Bayt.com Derived a "Place Surplus" in Dubai, U.A.E. HBR case study mentions - Bayt.com Dubai 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.
Low market penetration in new markets
– Outside its home market of Bayt.com Dubai, firm in the HBR case study Bayt.com: How Bayt.com Derived a "Place Surplus" in Dubai, U.A.E. needs to spend more promotional, marketing, and advertising efforts to penetrate international markets.
Opportunities Bayt.com: How Bayt.com Derived a "Place Surplus" in Dubai, U.A.E. | 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 Bayt.com: How Bayt.com Derived a "Place Surplus" in Dubai, U.A.E. are -
Lowering marketing communication costs
– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Bayt.com Dubai 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.
Reforming the budgeting process
- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects Bayt.com Dubai can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.
Manufacturing automation
– Bayt.com Dubai 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.
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. Bayt.com Dubai 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
– Bayt.com Dubai 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.
Increase in government spending
– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Bayt.com Dubai can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Bayt.com Dubai operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Innovation & Entrepreneurship sector.
Developing new processes and practices
– Bayt.com Dubai 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.
Learning at scale
– Online learning technologies has now opened space for Bayt.com Dubai 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.
Buying journey improvements
– Bayt.com Dubai can improve the customer journey of consumers in the industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. Bayt.com: How Bayt.com Derived a "Place Surplus" in Dubai, U.A.E. 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.
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. Bayt.com Dubai 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. Bayt.com Dubai 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.
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. Bayt.com Dubai can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.
Redefining models of collaboration and team work
– As explained in the weaknesses section, Bayt.com Dubai is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. Bayt.com: How Bayt.com Derived a "Place Surplus" in Dubai, U.A.E. 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.
Better consumer reach
– The expansion of the 5G network will help Bayt.com Dubai to increase its market reach. Bayt.com Dubai 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.
Threats Bayt.com: How Bayt.com Derived a "Place Surplus" in Dubai, U.A.E. External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Bayt.com: How Bayt.com Derived a "Place Surplus" in Dubai, U.A.E. are -
Easy access to finance
– Easy access to finance in Innovation & Entrepreneurship field will also reduce the barriers to entry in the industry, thus putting downward pressure on the prices because of increasing competition. Bayt.com Dubai can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
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 Bayt.com Dubai business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Bayt.com Dubai 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.
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Bayt.com Dubai 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 Bayt.com: How Bayt.com Derived a "Place Surplus" in Dubai, U.A.E. .
Consumer confidence and its impact on Bayt.com Dubai 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.
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Bayt.com Dubai 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.
High dependence on third party suppliers
– Bayt.com Dubai 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.
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
– Bayt.com Dubai 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.
Increasing wage structure of Bayt.com Dubai
– 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 Bayt.com Dubai.
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Bayt.com Dubai is facing in Innovation & Entrepreneurship sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.
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.
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry in the industry are lowering. It can presents Bayt.com Dubai with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the sector.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Bayt.com: How Bayt.com Derived a "Place Surplus" in Dubai, U.A.E. 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 Bayt.com: How Bayt.com Derived a "Place Surplus" in Dubai, U.A.E. 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 Bayt.com: How Bayt.com Derived a "Place Surplus" in Dubai, U.A.E. 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 Bayt.com: How Bayt.com Derived a "Place Surplus" in Dubai, U.A.E. 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 Bayt.com: How Bayt.com Derived a "Place Surplus" in Dubai, U.A.E. 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 Bayt.com Dubai needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.
