Swimming in the Virtual Community Pool with PlentyofFish SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Innovation & Entrepreneurship
Strategy / MBA Resources
Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of Swimming in the Virtual Community Pool with PlentyofFish
PlentyofFish.com is the world's most profitable website on a per capita basis, the 96th most popular website in terms of page views, and the most popular online dating site in existence. Remarkably, it is managed by its owner and founder and only one other employee. It is a free dating site that generates $10 million in ad revenues per year, and a profit to the owner in excess of $9 million. The case describes PlentyofFish.com's stellar growth in the face of stringent competition, and asks students to consider whether it is sustainable. A number of possible alternatives are offered for analysis.
Authors :: Michael Parent, Wilfred Cheung, Chris Ellison, Prathena Kumar
Swot Analysis of "Swimming in the Virtual Community Pool with PlentyofFish" written by Michael Parent, Wilfred Cheung, Chris Ellison, Prathena Kumar includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Dating 96th facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Swimming in the Virtual Community Pool with PlentyofFish case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Strategic planning, Sustainability and Innovation & Entrepreneurship.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Swimming in the Virtual Community Pool with PlentyofFish casestudy better are - – increasing commodity prices, talent flight as more people leaving formal jobs, geopolitical disruptions, cloud computing is disrupting traditional business models, increasing household debt because of falling income levels, banking and financial system is disrupted by Bitcoin and other crypto currencies, challanges to central banks by blockchain based private currencies,
there is increasing trade war between United States & China, increasing inequality as vast percentage of new income is going to the top 1%, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Swimming in the Virtual Community Pool with PlentyofFish
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Swimming in the Virtual Community Pool with PlentyofFish case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Dating 96th, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Dating 96th 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 Swimming in the Virtual Community Pool with PlentyofFish can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Swimming in the Virtual Community Pool with PlentyofFish case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Dating 96th
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 Dating 96th
Strengths Swimming in the Virtual Community Pool with PlentyofFish | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Dating 96th in Swimming in the Virtual Community Pool with PlentyofFish Harvard Business Review case study are -
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Innovation & Entrepreneurship industry
– Swimming in the Virtual Community Pool with PlentyofFish firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Dating 96th to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Innovation & Entrepreneurship industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Dating 96th to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Learning organization
- Dating 96th 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 Dating 96th is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders in Swimming in the Virtual Community Pool with PlentyofFish Harvard Business Review case study emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of Dating 96th in the sector have low bargaining power. Swimming in the Virtual Community Pool with PlentyofFish has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Dating 96th 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 Dating 96th digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Dating 96th 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.
Successful track record of launching new products
– Dating 96th has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Dating 96th 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.
Cross disciplinary teams
– Horizontal connected teams at the Dating 96th 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.
High switching costs
– The high switching costs that Dating 96th 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.
Analytics focus
– Dating 96th 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 Michael Parent, Wilfred Cheung, Chris Ellison, Prathena Kumar 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.
Superior customer experience
– The customer experience strategy of Dating 96th in the segment is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.
Ability to recruit top talent
– Dating 96th is one of the leading recruiters in the industry. Managers in the Swimming in the Virtual Community Pool with PlentyofFish are in a position to attract the best talent available. The firm has a robust talent identification program that helps in identifying the brightest.
Effective Research and Development (R&D)
– Dating 96th 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 Swimming in the Virtual Community Pool with PlentyofFish - staying ahead in the industry in terms of – new product launches, superior customer experience, highly competitive pricing strategies, and great returns to the shareholders.
Innovation driven organization
– Dating 96th is one of the most innovative firm in sector. Manager in Swimming in the Virtual Community Pool with PlentyofFish Harvard Business Review case study can use Clayton Christensen Disruptive Innovation strategies to further increase the scale of innovtions in the organization.
Weaknesses Swimming in the Virtual Community Pool with PlentyofFish | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Swimming in the Virtual Community Pool with PlentyofFish are -
Products dominated business model
– Even though Dating 96th 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 - Swimming in the Virtual Community Pool with PlentyofFish should strive to include more intangible value offerings along with its core products and services.
Interest costs
– Compare to the competition, Dating 96th 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.
No frontier risks strategy
– After analyzing the HBR case study Swimming in the Virtual Community Pool with PlentyofFish, 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 cash cycle compare to competitors
Dating 96th 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.
Employees’ incomplete understanding of strategy
– From the instances in the HBR case study Swimming in the Virtual Community Pool with PlentyofFish, it seems that the employees of Dating 96th 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.
Increasing silos among functional specialists
– The organizational structure of Dating 96th is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Innovation & Entrepreneurship segment. Dating 96th needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Dating 96th to focus more on services rather than just following the product oriented approach.
Low market penetration in new markets
– Outside its home market of Dating 96th, firm in the HBR case study Swimming in the Virtual Community Pool with PlentyofFish needs to spend more promotional, marketing, and advertising efforts to penetrate international markets.
High dependence on star products
– The top 2 products and services of the firm as mentioned in the Swimming in the Virtual Community Pool with PlentyofFish 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 Dating 96th has relatively successful track record of launching new products.
Skills based hiring
– The stress on hiring functional specialists at Dating 96th 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 Dating 96th supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes mentioned in the HBR case study - Swimming in the Virtual Community Pool with PlentyofFish, it is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left Dating 96th vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.
Slow decision making process
– As mentioned earlier in the report, Dating 96th has a very deliberative decision making approach. This approach has resulted in prudent decisions, but it has also resulted in missing opportunities in the industry over the last five years. Dating 96th even though has strong showing on digital transformation primary two stages, it has struggled to capitalize the power of digital transformation in marketing efforts and new venture efforts.
Opportunities Swimming in the Virtual Community Pool with PlentyofFish | 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 Swimming in the Virtual Community Pool with PlentyofFish are -
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. Dating 96th can tie-up with other value chain partners to explore new opportunities regarding meeting customer demands and building a rewarding and engaging relationship.
Loyalty marketing
– Dating 96th 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.
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. Dating 96th can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.
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. Dating 96th 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. Dating 96th 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.
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 Dating 96th 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.
Reforming the budgeting process
- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects Dating 96th can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.
Building a culture of innovation
– managers at Dating 96th 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.
Learning at scale
– Online learning technologies has now opened space for Dating 96th 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.
Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains
– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Dating 96th 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, Swimming in the Virtual Community Pool with PlentyofFish, to buy more products closer to the markets, and it can leverage its size and influence to get better deal from the local markets.
Increase in government spending
– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Dating 96th can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Dating 96th operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Innovation & Entrepreneurship sector.
Lowering marketing communication costs
– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Dating 96th 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.
Redefining models of collaboration and team work
– As explained in the weaknesses section, Dating 96th is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. Swimming in the Virtual Community Pool with PlentyofFish case study suggests that firm can utilize new technology to build more coordinated teams and streamline operations and communications using tools such as CAD, Zoom, etc.
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– Dating 96th 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 Swimming in the Virtual Community Pool with PlentyofFish - to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Dating 96th to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
Threats Swimming in the Virtual Community Pool with PlentyofFish External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Swimming in the Virtual Community Pool with PlentyofFish are -
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.
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Dating 96th is facing in Innovation & Entrepreneurship sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.
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 Dating 96th business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Dating 96th 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.
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. Dating 96th can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Dating 96th has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Innovation & Entrepreneurship industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Dating 96th 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.
Consumer confidence and its impact on Dating 96th 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.
Environmental challenges
– Dating 96th 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. Dating 96th can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Innovation & Entrepreneurship industry.
High dependence on third party suppliers
– Dating 96th 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.
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Dating 96th 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.
Regulatory challenges
– Dating 96th 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 international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Dating 96th 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 Swimming in the Virtual Community Pool with PlentyofFish .
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 Dating 96th.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Swimming in the Virtual Community Pool with PlentyofFish 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 Swimming in the Virtual Community Pool with PlentyofFish 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 Swimming in the Virtual Community Pool with PlentyofFish 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 Swimming in the Virtual Community Pool with PlentyofFish 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 Swimming in the Virtual Community Pool with PlentyofFish 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 Dating 96th needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.
