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Too Much Information SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis

Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution

Case Study Description of Too Much Information


A university student is working on a group project for a case-based business ethics course. Just over a week before the project deadline, one of her fellow group members reveals that he has found part (B) of the assigned case on the Internet. He has read this document, which specifies exactly what the company has done to address the challenge in the case they are working on. It is clear to the protagonist that her group cannot use this information, but she is unsure of how to handle the situation.

Authors :: Anna Hawkins, John Melnyk

Topics :: Leadership & Managing People

Tags :: , SWOT Analysis, SWOT Matrix, TOWS, Weighted SWOT Analysis

Swot Analysis of "Too Much Information" written by Anna Hawkins, John Melnyk includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Specifies Deadline facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Too Much Information case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, and Leadership & Managing People.


Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Too Much Information casestudy better are - – central banks are concerned over increasing inflation, supply chains are disrupted by pandemic , increasing household debt because of falling income levels, cloud computing is disrupting traditional business models, competitive advantages are harder to sustain because of technology dispersion, increasing commodity prices, digital marketing is dominated by two big players Facebook and Google, talent flight as more people leaving formal jobs, customer relationship management is fast transforming because of increasing concerns over data privacy, etc



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Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Too Much Information


SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Too Much Information case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Specifies Deadline, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Specifies Deadline 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 Too Much Information can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Too Much Information case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Specifies Deadline
3. Assessing feasibility of the new initiative in Leadership & Managing People field.
4. Making a Leadership & Managing People topic specific business decision
5. Set goals for the organization
6. Organizational restructuring of Specifies Deadline




Strengths Too Much Information | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis

The strengths of Specifies Deadline in Too Much Information Harvard Business Review case study are -

Operational resilience

– The operational resilience strategy in the Too Much Information Harvard Business Review case study comprises – understanding the underlying the factors in the industry, building diversified operations across different geographies so that disruption in one part of the world doesn’t impact the overall performance of the firm, and integrating the various business operations and processes through its digital transformation drive.

High switching costs

– The high switching costs that Specifies Deadline 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.

Training and development

– Specifies Deadline has one of the best training and development program in the industry. The effectiveness of the training programs can be measured in Too Much Information 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.

Superior customer experience

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

Ability to recruit top talent

– Specifies Deadline is one of the leading recruiters in the industry. Managers in the Too Much Information are in a position to attract the best talent available. The firm has a robust talent identification program that helps in identifying the brightest.

Learning organization

- Specifies Deadline 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 Specifies Deadline is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders in Too Much Information Harvard Business Review case study emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.

Digital Transformation in Leadership & Managing People segment

- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For Specifies Deadline digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Specifies Deadline 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.

Strong track record of project management

– Specifies Deadline is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.

Low bargaining power of suppliers

– Suppliers of Specifies Deadline in the sector have low bargaining power. Too Much Information has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Specifies Deadline to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.

Effective Research and Development (R&D)

– Specifies Deadline 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 Too Much Information - staying ahead in the industry in terms of – new product launches, superior customer experience, highly competitive pricing strategies, and great returns to the shareholders.

Sustainable margins compare to other players in Leadership & Managing People industry

– Too Much Information firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Specifies Deadline to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Leadership & Managing People industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Specifies Deadline to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.

Diverse revenue streams

– Specifies Deadline is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided firm in Too Much Information 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.






Weaknesses Too Much Information | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis

The weaknesses of Too Much Information are -

Workers concerns about automation

– As automation is fast increasing in the segment, Specifies Deadline 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.

Employees’ incomplete understanding of strategy

– From the instances in the HBR case study Too Much Information, it seems that the employees of Specifies Deadline 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.

Ability to respond to the competition

– As the decision making is very deliberative, highlighted in the case study Too Much Information, in the dynamic environment Specifies Deadline has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. Specifies Deadline has reasonably good record with similar level competitors but it has struggled with new entrants taking away niches of its business.

High cash cycle compare to competitors

Specifies Deadline 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.

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 Specifies Deadline supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes mentioned in the HBR case study - Too Much Information, it is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left Specifies Deadline vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.

Products dominated business model

– Even though Specifies Deadline 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 - Too Much Information should strive to include more intangible value offerings along with its core products and services.

Compensation and incentives

– The revenue per employee as mentioned in the HBR case study Too Much Information, is just above the industry average. Specifies Deadline 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.

Increasing silos among functional specialists

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

Skills based hiring

– The stress on hiring functional specialists at Specifies Deadline 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.

Lack of clear differentiation of Specifies Deadline products

– To increase the profitability and margins on the products, Specifies Deadline needs to provide more differentiated products than what it is currently offering in the marketplace.

High dependence on star products

– The top 2 products and services of the firm as mentioned in the Too Much Information 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 Specifies Deadline has relatively successful track record of launching new products.




Opportunities Too Much Information | 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 Too Much Information 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 Specifies Deadline in the consumer business. Now Specifies Deadline can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.

Better consumer reach

– The expansion of the 5G network will help Specifies Deadline to increase its market reach. Specifies Deadline 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.

Reforming the budgeting process

- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects Specifies Deadline 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

– Specifies Deadline can use the latest technology developments to improve its manufacturing and designing process in Leadership & Managing People 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.

Low interest rates

– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Specifies Deadline 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.

Learning at scale

– Online learning technologies has now opened space for Specifies Deadline 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.

Increase in government spending

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

Loyalty marketing

– Specifies Deadline 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.

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 Specifies Deadline 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.

Changes in consumer behavior post Covid-19

– Consumer behavior has changed in the Leadership & Managing People industry because of Covid-19 restrictions. Some of this behavior will stay once things get back to normal. Specifies Deadline 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. Specifies Deadline 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.

Buying journey improvements

– Specifies Deadline can improve the customer journey of consumers in the industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. Too Much Information 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.

Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities

– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Specifies Deadline to expand its talent hiring zone. According to McKinsey Global Institute, 20% of the high end workforce in fields such as finance, information technology, can continously work from remote local post Covid-19. This presents a really great opportunity for Specifies Deadline to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.

Using analytics as competitive advantage

– Specifies Deadline 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 Too Much Information - to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Specifies Deadline to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.




Threats Too Much Information External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis


The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Too Much Information are -

Trade war between China and United States

– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Specifies Deadline in the Leadership & Managing People industry. The Leadership & Managing People 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, Specifies Deadline 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 Too Much Information .

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 Specifies Deadline business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, 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.

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. Specifies Deadline needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Leadership & Managing People industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.

Barriers of entry lowering

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

Learning curve for new practices

– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, as highlighted in case study Too Much Information, Specifies Deadline may face longer learning curve for training and development of existing employees. This can open space for more nimble competitors in the field of Leadership & Managing People .

Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution

– Specifies Deadline has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Leadership & Managing People industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Specifies Deadline needs to keep up with the evolution of technology in the Leadership & Managing People sector. According to Mckinsey study top managers believe that the adoption of technology in operations, communications is 20-25 times faster than what they planned in the beginning of 2019.

Stagnating economy with rate increase

– Specifies Deadline 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.

High dependence on third party suppliers

– Specifies Deadline 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.

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 Specifies Deadline.

Regulatory challenges

– Specifies Deadline 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 Leadership & Managing People industry regulations.

Easy access to finance

– Easy access to finance in Leadership & Managing People field will also reduce the barriers to entry in the industry, thus putting downward pressure on the prices because of increasing competition. Specifies Deadline can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.




Weighted SWOT Analysis of Too Much Information 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 Too Much Information 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 Too Much Information 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 Too Much Information 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 Too Much Information 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 Specifies Deadline needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.



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