Baggout: Growing a Social Curation Start-Up SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Leadership & Managing People
Strategy / MBA Resources
Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of Baggout: Growing a Social Curation Start-Up
The two co-founders of India's online retail aggregator Baggout needed to come up with some ideas that would create new growth for their company. Baggout's e-shopping website had been operational for two and a half years, and during that time, the start-up had enjoyed considerable success in the highly competitive and rapidly growing online retail market. The two partners wanted to establish a strategic growth plan for the upcoming year in 2016, but they knew they would first have to address some important questions if they hoped to identify ways to capture a larger share of the digital marketspace: What technical and digital capabilities would Baggout need for success in the future? What were the possible scalability issues for Baggout? What marketing strategies could the company implement to ensure increased adoption of the Baggout mobile application? Safal Batra is affiliated with Indian Institute of Management Kashipur. Sandeep Puri is affiliated with Institute of Management Technology, Ghaziabad.
Swot Analysis of "Baggout: Growing a Social Curation Start-Up" written by Safal Batra, Sandeep Puri includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Baggout Baggout's facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Baggout: Growing a Social Curation Start-Up case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, and Leadership & Managing People.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Baggout: Growing a Social Curation Start-Up casestudy better are - – technology disruption, digital marketing is dominated by two big players Facebook and Google, increasing transportation and logistics costs, there is backlash against globalization, 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,
talent flight as more people leaving formal jobs, customer relationship management is fast transforming because of increasing concerns over data privacy, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Baggout: Growing a Social Curation Start-Up
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Baggout: Growing a Social Curation Start-Up case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Baggout Baggout's, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Baggout Baggout's 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 Baggout: Growing a Social Curation Start-Up can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Baggout: Growing a Social Curation Start-Up case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Baggout Baggout's
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 Baggout Baggout's
Strengths Baggout: Growing a Social Curation Start-Up | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Baggout Baggout's in Baggout: Growing a Social Curation Start-Up Harvard Business Review case study are -
Organizational Resilience of Baggout Baggout's
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing that Baggout Baggout's does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
Ability to recruit top talent
– Baggout Baggout's is one of the leading recruiters in the industry. Managers in the Baggout: Growing a Social Curation Start-Up are in a position to attract the best talent available. The firm has a robust talent identification program that helps in identifying the brightest.
Innovation driven organization
– Baggout Baggout's is one of the most innovative firm in sector. Manager in Baggout: Growing a Social Curation Start-Up Harvard Business Review case study can use Clayton Christensen Disruptive Innovation strategies to further increase the scale of innovtions in the organization.
Diverse revenue streams
– Baggout Baggout's is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided firm in Baggout: Growing a Social Curation Start-Up 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.
Training and development
– Baggout Baggout's has one of the best training and development program in the industry. The effectiveness of the training programs can be measured in Baggout: Growing a Social Curation Start-Up 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.
High switching costs
– The high switching costs that Baggout Baggout's 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.
Effective Research and Development (R&D)
– Baggout Baggout's 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 Baggout: Growing a Social Curation Start-Up - staying ahead in the industry in terms of – new product launches, superior customer experience, highly competitive pricing strategies, and great returns to the shareholders.
Operational resilience
– The operational resilience strategy in the Baggout: Growing a Social Curation Start-Up 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.
Successful track record of launching new products
– Baggout Baggout's has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Baggout Baggout's 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.
Highly skilled collaborators
– Baggout Baggout's 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 Baggout: Growing a Social Curation Start-Up HBR case study have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
Strong track record of project management
– Baggout Baggout's 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 Baggout Baggout's in the sector have low bargaining power. Baggout: Growing a Social Curation Start-Up has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Baggout Baggout's to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
Weaknesses Baggout: Growing a Social Curation Start-Up | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Baggout: Growing a Social Curation Start-Up are -
Products dominated business model
– Even though Baggout Baggout's 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 - Baggout: Growing a Social Curation Start-Up should strive to include more intangible value offerings along with its core products and services.
Need for greater diversity
– Baggout Baggout's 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.
Aligning sales with marketing
– It come across in the case study Baggout: Growing a Social Curation Start-Up 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 Baggout: Growing a Social Curation Start-Up can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Baggout Baggout's is planning to shift buying processes online.
High dependence on existing supply chain
– The disruption in the global supply chains because of the Covid-19 pandemic and blockage of the Suez Canal illustrated the fragile nature of Baggout Baggout's supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes mentioned in the HBR case study - Baggout: Growing a Social Curation Start-Up, it is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left Baggout Baggout's vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.
Employees’ incomplete understanding of strategy
– From the instances in the HBR case study Baggout: Growing a Social Curation Start-Up, it seems that the employees of Baggout Baggout's 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.
High operating costs
– Compare to the competitors, firm in the HBR case study Baggout: Growing a Social Curation Start-Up 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 Baggout Baggout's 's lucrative customers.
Capital Spending Reduction
– Even during the low interest decade, Baggout Baggout's 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.
Interest costs
– Compare to the competition, Baggout Baggout's 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.
Ability to respond to the competition
– As the decision making is very deliberative, highlighted in the case study Baggout: Growing a Social Curation Start-Up, in the dynamic environment Baggout Baggout's has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. Baggout Baggout's has reasonably good record with similar level competitors but it has struggled with new entrants taking away niches of its business.
No frontier risks strategy
– After analyzing the HBR case study Baggout: Growing a Social Curation Start-Up, 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.
Compensation and incentives
– The revenue per employee as mentioned in the HBR case study Baggout: Growing a Social Curation Start-Up, is just above the industry average. Baggout Baggout's 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.
Opportunities Baggout: Growing a Social Curation Start-Up | 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 Baggout: Growing a Social Curation Start-Up are -
Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities
– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Baggout Baggout's 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 Baggout Baggout's to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
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. Baggout Baggout's 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
– Baggout Baggout's 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.
Increase in government spending
– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Baggout Baggout's can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Baggout Baggout's operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Leadership & Managing People sector.
Lowering marketing communication costs
– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Baggout Baggout's 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.
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. Baggout Baggout's can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.
Building a culture of innovation
– managers at Baggout Baggout's 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.
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Baggout Baggout's has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Baggout Baggout's to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the Baggout: Growing a Social Curation Start-Up case study. Baggout Baggout's can build new products and services such as - data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
Redefining models of collaboration and team work
– As explained in the weaknesses section, Baggout Baggout's is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. Baggout: Growing a Social Curation Start-Up 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.
Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains
– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Baggout Baggout's 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, Baggout: Growing a Social Curation Start-Up, to buy more products closer to the markets, and it can leverage its size and influence to get better deal from the local markets.
Leveraging digital technologies
– Baggout Baggout's 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.
Better consumer reach
– The expansion of the 5G network will help Baggout Baggout's to increase its market reach. Baggout Baggout's 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.
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 Baggout Baggout's 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.
Threats Baggout: Growing a Social Curation Start-Up External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Baggout: Growing a Social Curation Start-Up are -
High dependence on third party suppliers
– Baggout Baggout's 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 Baggout Baggout's 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.
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry in the industry are lowering. It can presents Baggout Baggout's with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the sector.
Increasing wage structure of Baggout Baggout's
– 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 Baggout Baggout's.
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.
Environmental challenges
– Baggout Baggout's 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. Baggout Baggout's can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Leadership & Managing People industry.
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. Baggout Baggout's needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Leadership & Managing People industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
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 Baggout Baggout's business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Baggout Baggout's is facing in Leadership & Managing People sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Baggout Baggout's has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Leadership & Managing People industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Baggout Baggout's 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
– Baggout Baggout's 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.
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.
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. Baggout Baggout's 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 Baggout: Growing a Social Curation Start-Up 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 Baggout: Growing a Social Curation Start-Up 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 Baggout: Growing a Social Curation Start-Up 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 Baggout: Growing a Social Curation Start-Up 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 Baggout: Growing a Social Curation Start-Up 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 Baggout Baggout's needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.