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Fitbit SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis

Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution

Case Study Description of Fitbit


In 2016, Fitbit remained the world's leading producer of activity trackers-an increasingly crowded space-with over 21 million units sold that year. Fitbit's suite of products allowed users to track the number of steps taken, calories burned, and heart rate activity. Fitbit devices were marketed to individual consumers as well as corporate wellness programs and employers. Though Fitbit was primarily focused on wellness, should management consider evolving into a chronic disease management company?

Authors :: Regina E. Herzlinger, Christine Snively, Sarah Mehta

Topics :: Leadership & Managing People

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

Swot Analysis of "Fitbit" written by Regina E. Herzlinger, Christine Snively, Sarah Mehta includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Fitbit Wellness facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Fitbit case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, and Leadership & Managing People.


Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Fitbit casestudy better are - – increasing energy prices, increasing household debt because of falling income levels, technology disruption, geopolitical disruptions, digital marketing is dominated by two big players Facebook and Google, supply chains are disrupted by pandemic , challanges to central banks by blockchain based private currencies, talent flight as more people leaving formal jobs, central banks are concerned over increasing inflation, etc



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Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Fitbit


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




Strengths Fitbit | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis

The strengths of Fitbit Wellness in Fitbit Harvard Business Review case study are -

Innovation driven organization

– Fitbit Wellness is one of the most innovative firm in sector. Manager in Fitbit Harvard Business Review case study can use Clayton Christensen Disruptive Innovation strategies to further increase the scale of innovtions in the organization.

High brand equity

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

Digital Transformation in Leadership & Managing People segment

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

– Fitbit Wellness has one of the best training and development program in the industry. The effectiveness of the training programs can be measured in Fitbit 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.

Ability to lead change in Leadership & Managing People field

– Fitbit Wellness 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 Fitbit Wellness in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.

Successful track record of launching new products

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

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

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

Cross disciplinary teams

– Horizontal connected teams at the Fitbit Wellness 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.

Low bargaining power of suppliers

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

Effective Research and Development (R&D)

– Fitbit Wellness 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 Fitbit - staying ahead in the industry in terms of – new product launches, superior customer experience, highly competitive pricing strategies, and great returns to the shareholders.

Superior customer experience

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

Organizational Resilience of Fitbit Wellness

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






Weaknesses Fitbit | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis

The weaknesses of Fitbit are -

Low market penetration in new markets

– Outside its home market of Fitbit Wellness, firm in the HBR case study Fitbit needs to spend more promotional, marketing, and advertising efforts to penetrate international markets.

No frontier risks strategy

– After analyzing the HBR case study Fitbit, it seems that company is thinking about the frontier risks that can impact Leadership & Managing People 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.

Slow decision making process

– As mentioned earlier in the report, Fitbit Wellness 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. Fitbit Wellness 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.

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

Products dominated business model

– Even though Fitbit Wellness 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 - Fitbit should strive to include more intangible value offerings along with its core products and services.

Capital Spending Reduction

– Even during the low interest decade, Fitbit Wellness 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.

Workers concerns about automation

– As automation is fast increasing in the segment, Fitbit Wellness 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.

Skills based hiring

– The stress on hiring functional specialists at Fitbit Wellness 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 operating costs

– Compare to the competitors, firm in the HBR case study Fitbit 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 Fitbit Wellness 's lucrative customers.

Interest costs

– Compare to the competition, Fitbit Wellness 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.

Increasing silos among functional specialists

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




Opportunities Fitbit | 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 Fitbit are -

Loyalty marketing

– Fitbit Wellness 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. Fitbit Wellness can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.

Finding new ways to collaborate

– Covid-19 has not only transformed business models of companies in Leadership & Managing People industry, but it has also influenced the consumer preferences. Fitbit Wellness can tie-up with other value chain partners to explore new opportunities regarding meeting customer demands and building a rewarding and engaging relationship.

Lowering marketing communication costs

– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Fitbit Wellness in the field of marketing communication. It will bring down the cost of doing business, provide technology platform to build new products in the Leadership & Managing People segment, and it will provide faster access to the consumers.

Redefining models of collaboration and team work

– As explained in the weaknesses section, Fitbit Wellness is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. Fitbit 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.

Leveraging digital technologies

– Fitbit Wellness 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.

Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains

– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Fitbit Wellness 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, Fitbit, 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

– Fitbit Wellness can improve the customer journey of consumers in the industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. Fitbit 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.

Developing new processes and practices

– Fitbit Wellness can develop new processes and procedures in Leadership & Managing People 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.

Increase in government spending

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

Learning at scale

– Online learning technologies has now opened space for Fitbit Wellness 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.

Using analytics as competitive advantage

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

Building a culture of innovation

– managers at Fitbit Wellness 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 Leadership & Managing People segment.




Threats Fitbit External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis


The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Fitbit are -

Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins

– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Fitbit Wellness 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 Fitbit .

Barriers of entry lowering

– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry in the industry are lowering. It can presents Fitbit Wellness 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.

Trade war between China and United States

– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Fitbit Wellness 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 wage structure of Fitbit Wellness

– 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 Fitbit Wellness.

Shortening product life cycle

– it is one of the major threat that Fitbit Wellness is facing in Leadership & Managing People sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.

Stagnating economy with rate increase

– Fitbit Wellness 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.

Learning curve for new practices

– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, as highlighted in case study Fitbit, Fitbit Wellness 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 .

New competition

– After the dotcom bust of 2001, financial crisis of 2008-09, the business formation in US economy had declined. But in 2020 alone, there are more than 1.5 million new business applications in United States. This can lead to greater competition for Fitbit Wellness in the Leadership & Managing People sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.

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. Fitbit Wellness 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 Fitbit Wellness 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.

Regulatory challenges

– Fitbit Wellness 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.

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 Fitbit Wellness.




Weighted SWOT Analysis of Fitbit 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 Fitbit 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 Fitbit 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 Fitbit 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 Fitbit 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 Fitbit Wellness needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.



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