Case Study Description of Mastering the Market Intelligence Challenge
This is an MIT Sloan Management Review Article. Multinational companies have invested heavily in emerging economies - over $3 trillion since 1998, by one estimate. Many of these companies, however, have not adapted their products and operations sufficiently to succeed in these markets, and returns have often been mediocre. Even when managers think they are performing well in emerging markets, they often are not because they have set low expectations. Adapting products and operations requires obtaining and using good market intelligence, which is difficult in emerging markets due to the paucity and unreliability of information. Another factor is the wide heterogeneity of emerging markets compared to developed markets. A third common problem is a lack of shared responsibility for market intelligence between headquarters and country managers, so market intelligence that is collected either is dismissed as not credible or is not updated often enough to keep pace with the rate of change in emerging markets. The authors argue that companies can overcome these difficulties by (1) treating market intelligence as a strategic asset; (2) organizing differently for market intelligence in emerging markets; and (3) using a wide range of sources and methods for market intelligence in emerging markets. They also recommend that market intelligence be organized as a shared responsibility between the corporate office and emerging-market business executives, with shared decision rights and shared resources. The article includes examples illustrating how companies such as Wrigley, Unilever, and Procter & Gamble obtain market intelligence in emerging markets.
Swot Analysis of "Mastering the Market Intelligence Challenge" written by Murali D.R. Chari, Kimberlee Luce, Inder Thukral includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Intelligence Emerging facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Mastering the Market Intelligence Challenge case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Strategy and Leadership & Managing People.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Mastering the Market Intelligence Challenge casestudy better are - – there is backlash against globalization, challanges to central banks by blockchain based private currencies, geopolitical disruptions, cloud computing is disrupting traditional business models, increasing inequality as vast percentage of new income is going to the top 1%, talent flight as more people leaving formal jobs, increasing household debt because of falling income levels,
customer relationship management is fast transforming because of increasing concerns over data privacy, there is increasing trade war between United States & China, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Mastering the Market Intelligence Challenge
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Mastering the Market Intelligence Challenge case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Intelligence Emerging, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Intelligence Emerging 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 Mastering the Market Intelligence Challenge can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Mastering the Market Intelligence Challenge case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Intelligence Emerging
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 Intelligence Emerging
Strengths Mastering the Market Intelligence Challenge | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Intelligence Emerging in Mastering the Market Intelligence Challenge Harvard Business Review case study are -
Effective Research and Development (R&D)
– Intelligence Emerging 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 Mastering the Market Intelligence Challenge - staying ahead in the industry in terms of – new product launches, superior customer experience, highly competitive pricing strategies, and great returns to the shareholders.
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of Intelligence Emerging in the sector have low bargaining power. Mastering the Market Intelligence Challenge has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Intelligence Emerging to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
Ability to recruit top talent
– Intelligence Emerging is one of the leading recruiters in the industry. Managers in the Mastering the Market Intelligence Challenge are in a position to attract the best talent available. The firm has a robust talent identification program that helps in identifying the brightest.
Operational resilience
– The operational resilience strategy in the Mastering the Market Intelligence Challenge 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.
Diverse revenue streams
– Intelligence Emerging is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided firm in Mastering the Market Intelligence Challenge 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 switching costs
– The high switching costs that Intelligence Emerging 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.
High brand equity
– Intelligence Emerging has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Intelligence Emerging to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Analytics focus
– Intelligence Emerging 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 Murali D.R. Chari, Kimberlee Luce, Inder Thukral 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.
Innovation driven organization
– Intelligence Emerging is one of the most innovative firm in sector. Manager in Mastering the Market Intelligence Challenge Harvard Business Review case study can use Clayton Christensen Disruptive Innovation strategies to further increase the scale of innovtions in the organization.
Superior customer experience
– The customer experience strategy of Intelligence Emerging in the segment is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.
Highly skilled collaborators
– Intelligence Emerging has highly efficient outsourcing and offshoring strategy. It has resulted in greater operational flexibility and bringing down the costs in highly price sensitive segment. Secondly the value chain collaborators of the firm in Mastering the Market Intelligence Challenge HBR case study have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
Organizational Resilience of Intelligence Emerging
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing that Intelligence Emerging does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
Weaknesses Mastering the Market Intelligence Challenge | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Mastering the Market Intelligence Challenge are -
High operating costs
– Compare to the competitors, firm in the HBR case study Mastering the Market Intelligence Challenge 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 Intelligence Emerging 's lucrative customers.
Increasing silos among functional specialists
– The organizational structure of Intelligence Emerging is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Leadership & Managing People segment. Intelligence Emerging needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Intelligence Emerging to focus more on services rather than just following the product oriented approach.
Ability to respond to the competition
– As the decision making is very deliberative, highlighted in the case study Mastering the Market Intelligence Challenge, in the dynamic environment Intelligence Emerging has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. Intelligence Emerging has reasonably good record with similar level competitors but it has struggled with new entrants taking away niches of its business.
Products dominated business model
– Even though Intelligence Emerging 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 - Mastering the Market Intelligence Challenge should strive to include more intangible value offerings along with its core products and services.
High cash cycle compare to competitors
Intelligence Emerging 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.
Aligning sales with marketing
– It come across in the case study Mastering the Market Intelligence Challenge 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 Mastering the Market Intelligence Challenge can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Intelligence Emerging is planning to shift buying processes online.
High dependence on star products
– The top 2 products and services of the firm as mentioned in the Mastering the Market Intelligence Challenge 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 Intelligence Emerging has relatively successful track record of launching new products.
Workers concerns about automation
– As automation is fast increasing in the segment, Intelligence Emerging 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.
Compensation and incentives
– The revenue per employee as mentioned in the HBR case study Mastering the Market Intelligence Challenge, is just above the industry average. Intelligence Emerging 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.
Need for greater diversity
– Intelligence Emerging has taken concrete steps on diversity, equity, and inclusion. But the efforts so far has resulted in limited success. It needs to expand the recruitment and selection process to hire more people from the minorities and underprivileged background.
Slow to strategic competitive environment developments
– As Mastering the Market Intelligence Challenge HBR case study mentions - Intelligence Emerging 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.
Opportunities Mastering the Market Intelligence Challenge | 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 Mastering the Market Intelligence Challenge are -
Learning at scale
– Online learning technologies has now opened space for Intelligence Emerging 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
– Intelligence Emerging can improve the customer journey of consumers in the industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. Mastering the Market Intelligence Challenge 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 Intelligence Emerging 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 Intelligence Emerging to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
Better consumer reach
– The expansion of the 5G network will help Intelligence Emerging to increase its market reach. Intelligence Emerging 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 Intelligence Emerging can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.
Increase in government spending
– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Intelligence Emerging can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Intelligence Emerging operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Leadership & Managing People sector.
Low interest rates
– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Intelligence Emerging 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.
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. Intelligence Emerging can tie-up with other value chain partners to explore new opportunities regarding meeting customer demands and building a rewarding and engaging relationship.
Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains
– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Intelligence Emerging 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, Mastering the Market Intelligence Challenge, to buy more products closer to the markets, and it can leverage its size and influence to get better deal from the local markets.
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Intelligence Emerging has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Intelligence Emerging to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the Mastering the Market Intelligence Challenge case study. Intelligence Emerging can build new products and services such as - data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
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. Intelligence Emerging 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. Intelligence Emerging 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.
Leveraging digital technologies
– Intelligence Emerging 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.
Building a culture of innovation
– managers at Intelligence Emerging 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 Mastering the Market Intelligence Challenge External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Mastering the Market Intelligence Challenge are -
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Intelligence Emerging 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 wage structure of Intelligence Emerging
– 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 Intelligence Emerging.
Regulatory challenges
– Intelligence Emerging 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.
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, as highlighted in case study Mastering the Market Intelligence Challenge, Intelligence Emerging 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 .
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. Intelligence Emerging needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Leadership & Managing People industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
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 Intelligence Emerging.
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.
High dependence on third party suppliers
– Intelligence Emerging 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.
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Intelligence Emerging is facing in Leadership & Managing People sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.
Consumer confidence and its impact on Intelligence Emerging 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.
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Intelligence Emerging has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Leadership & Managing People industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Intelligence Emerging 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.
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 Intelligence Emerging business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Intelligence Emerging 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 Mastering the Market Intelligence Challenge .
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Mastering the Market Intelligence Challenge 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 Mastering the Market Intelligence Challenge 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 Mastering the Market Intelligence Challenge 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 Mastering the Market Intelligence Challenge 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 Mastering the Market Intelligence Challenge 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 Intelligence Emerging needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.
