SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix for Rushnet Inc (United States)
Based on various researches at Oak Spring University , Rushnet Inc is operating in a macro-environment that has been destablized by – supply chains are disrupted by pandemic , wage bills are increasing, challanges to central banks by blockchain based private currencies, increasing household debt because of falling income levels, customer relationship management is fast transforming because of increasing concerns over data privacy, competitive advantages are harder to sustain because of technology dispersion, increasing inequality as vast percentage of new income is going to the top 1%,
geopolitical disruptions, there is backlash against globalization, etc
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University, we believe that Rushnet Inc can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Rushnet Inc, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Rushnet Inc 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 Rushnet Inc can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning of Rushnet Inc
2. Improving business portfolio management of Rushnet Inc
3. Assessing feasibility of the new initiative in United States
4. Making a Retail (Technology) sector specific business decision
5. Set goals for the organization
6. Organizational restructuring of Rushnet Inc
Strengths of Rushnet Inc | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Rushnet Inc are -
Analytics focus
– Rushnet Inc 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 Retail (Technology) industry. The technology infrastructure of United States is also helping it to harness the power of analytics for – marketing optimization, demand forecasting, customer relationship management, inventory management, information sharing across the value chain etc.
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Retail (Technology) industry
– Rushnet Inc has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Rushnet Inc to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Retail (Technology) industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Rushnet Inc to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of Rushnet Inc in the Services sector have low bargaining power. Rushnet Inc has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Rushnet Inc to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
Ability to recruit top talent
– Rushnet Inc is one of the leading players in the Retail (Technology) industry in United States. It is in a position to attract the best talent available in United States. The firm has a robust talent identification program that helps in identifying the brightest.
Highly skilled collaborators
– Rushnet Inc has highly efficient outsourcing and offshoring strategy. It has resulted in greater operational flexibility and bringing down the costs in highly price sensitive Retail (Technology) industry. Secondly the value chain collaborators of Rushnet Inc have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
Innovation driven organization
– Rushnet Inc is one of the most innovative firm in Retail (Technology) sector.
Ability to lead change in Retail (Technology)
– Rushnet Inc is one of the leading players in the Retail (Technology) industry in United States. Over the years it has not only transformed the business landscape in the Retail (Technology) industry in United States but also across the existing markets. The ability to lead change has enabled Rushnet Inc in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.
Diverse revenue streams
– Rushnet Inc is present in almost all the verticals within the Retail (Technology) industry. This has provided Rushnet Inc 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.
Successful track record of launching new products
– Rushnet Inc has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Rushnet Inc 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.
Strong track record of project management in the Retail (Technology) industry
– Rushnet Inc is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.
Superior customer experience
– The customer experience strategy of Rushnet Inc in Retail (Technology) industry is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.
Learning organization
- Rushnet Inc 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 Rushnet Inc is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders at Rushnet Inc emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
Weaknesses of Rushnet Inc | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Rushnet Inc are -
Products dominated business model
– Even though Rushnet Inc has some of the most successful models in the Retail (Technology) industry, this business model has made each new product launch extremely critical for continuous financial growth of the organization. Rushnet Inc should strive to include more intangible value offerings along with its core products and services.
High dependence on Rushnet Inc ‘s star products
– The top 2 products and services of Rushnet Inc still accounts for major business revenue. This dependence on star products in Retail (Technology) industry has resulted into insufficient focus on developing new products, even though Rushnet Inc has relatively successful track record of launching new products.
Slow to harness new channels of communication
– Even though competitors are using new communication channels such as Instagram, Tiktok, and Snap, Rushnet Inc is slow explore the new channels of communication. These new channels of communication can help Rushnet Inc to provide better information regarding Retail (Technology) products and services. It can also build an online community to further reach out to potential customers.
Ability to respond to the competition
– As the decision making is very deliberative at Rushnet Inc, in the dynamic environment of Retail (Technology) industry it has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. Rushnet Inc has reasonably good record with similar level competitors but it has struggled with new entrants taking away niches of its business.
Need for greater diversity
– Rushnet Inc 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.
Employees’ less understanding of Rushnet Inc strategy
– From the outside it seems that the employees of Rushnet Inc don’t have comprehensive understanding of the firm’s strategy. This is reflected in number of promotional campaigns over the last few years that had mixed messaging and competing priorities. Some of the strategic activities and services promoted in the promotional campaigns were not consistent with the organization’s strategy.
Increasing silos among functional specialists
– The organizational structure of Rushnet Inc is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Retail (Technology) industry, but Rushnet Inc needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Rushnet Inc to focus more on services in the Retail (Technology) industry rather than just following the product oriented approach.
Slow decision making process
– As mentioned earlier in the report, Rushnet Inc has a very deliberative decision making approach. This approach has resulted in prudent decisions, but it has also resulted in missing opportunities in the Retail (Technology) industry over the last five years. Rushnet Inc 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 cash cycle compare to competitors
Rushnet Inc has a high cash cycle compare to other players in the Retail (Technology) industry. It needs to shorten the cash cycle by 12% to be more competitive in the marketplace, reduce inventory costs, and be more profitable.
Slow to strategic competitive environment developments
– As Rushnet Inc is one of the leading players in the Retail (Technology) industry, it takes time to assess the upcoming competitions. This has led to missing out on atleast 2-3 big opportunities in the Retail (Technology) industry in last five years.
Skills based hiring in Retail (Technology) industry
– The stress on hiring functional specialists at Rushnet Inc 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.
Rushnet Inc Opportunities | External Strategic Factors
What are Opportunities in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The opportunities of Rushnet Inc are -
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Rushnet Inc has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in Retail (Technology) industry. This can help Rushnet Inc to build a more holistic ecosystem for Rushnet Inc products in the Retail (Technology) industry by providing – 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 Retail (Technology) industry because of Covid-19 restrictions. Some of this behavior will stay once things get back to normal. Rushnet Inc 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. Rushnet Inc 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.
Reforming the budgeting process
- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects Rushnet Inc can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.
Low interest rates
– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Rushnet Inc 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.
Developing new processes and practices
– Rushnet Inc can develop new processes and procedures in Retail (Technology) 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.
Leveraging digital technologies
– Rushnet Inc 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.
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– Rushnet Inc has spent a significant amount of money and effort to integrate analytics and machine learning into its operations in Retail (Technology) sector. This continuous investment in analytics has enabled Rushnet Inc to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Rushnet Inc 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 Rushnet Inc 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 Retail (Technology) industry.
Learning at scale
– Online learning technologies has now opened space for Rushnet Inc 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.
Finding new ways to collaborate
– Covid-19 has not only transformed business models of companies in Retail (Technology) industry, but it has also influenced the consumer preferences. Rushnet Inc can tie-up with other value chain partners to explore new opportunities regarding meeting customer demands and building a rewarding and engaging relationship.
Buying journey improvements
– Rushnet Inc can improve the customer journey of consumers in the Retail (Technology) industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. It 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.
Manufacturing automation
– Rushnet Inc can use the latest technology developments to improve its manufacturing and designing process in Retail (Technology) sector. 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.
Better consumer reach
– The expansion of the 5G network will help Rushnet Inc to increase its market reach. Rushnet Inc 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.
Threats Rushnet Inc External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats of Rushnet Inc are -
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 Rushnet Inc business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
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. Rushnet Inc needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Retail (Technology) industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
Easy access to finance
– Easy access to finance in Retail (Technology) industry will also reduce the barriers to entry in the industry, thus putting downward pressure on the prices because of increasing competition. Rushnet Inc can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
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.
Increasing wage structure of Rushnet Inc
– 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 Rushnet Inc.
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 Rushnet Inc.
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 Rushnet Inc in the Retail (Technology) sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry to Retail (Technology) industry are lowering. It can presents Rushnet Inc with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the Retail (Technology) sector.
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, Rushnet Inc may face longer learning curve for training and development of existing employees. This can open space for more nimble competitors in the field of Retail (Technology) sector.
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Rushnet Inc is facing in Retail (Technology) sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Rushnet Inc in Retail (Technology) industry. The Retail (Technology) 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.
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Rushnet Inc has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Retail (Technology) industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Rushnet Inc needs to keep up with the evolution of technology in the Retail (Technology) 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.
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. Rushnet Inc 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.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Rushnet Inc Template, Example
Not all factors mentioned under the Strengths, Weakness, Opportunities, and Threats quadrants in the SWOT Analysis are equal. Managers at Rushnet Inc 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 Rushnet Inc 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 Rushnet Inc 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 Rushnet Inc 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 Rushnet Inc needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.
