Online Portals Case Solution

The Harvard Business Review published a case study that primarily focuses on Online Portals. The following case solution has been designed to give the reader an overview about the business world along with a clear understanding of its growth dynamics. Recently, Online Portals has been subjected to strategic as well as managerial problems that require immediate attention so that they can be resolved to allow future growth, expansion, and competitive edge within the marketplace. This case study solution is being written to provide a strategic solution to Online Portals using various appropriate tools and frameworks. Harvard Business Review’s case studies involve a central problem that is faced by a particular company. The problem identified involves strategic and managerial implications for the company. Therefore, it is important for readers to critically identify the problem Online Portals faces. Moreover, it is also essential to highlight the key stakeholders that are impacted and influenced by the problem identified.

External Environmental Analysis

The external environment holds significant importance for Online Portals to ensure that the company is able to respond to all the changes in the macro-environment. This is because Online Portals cannot control the factors and thus can directly influence the company's operations (Indris & Primiana, 2015). The external environment of Online Portals will be assessed using PESTLE Analysis.

Political

• A stable political environment provides a favorable market growth trend for Online Portals.

• It is important for Online Portals to analyze the pressure groups, and social environment activists. The company can make close collaborations with these groups to achieve company goals (Wang, Wang, & Shi, 2022).

• High restrictions on trade and high levels of taxes can contribute to the complex business environment for Online Portals by impacting imports and exports.

Economic

• Online Portals can benefit from wide-range opportunities in business growth by operating in developing economies (Munro, 2017).

• High GDP can determine the long-term growth strategies of Online Portals, signaling the ability of consumers to spend on more products.

• Higher rates of interests can provide Online Portals with more investment opportunities.

• The flexibility in the labor market allows Online Portals to take advantage of higher workforce productivity.

Social

• The selection of appropriate demographic segments has allowed Online Portals to select the right segments of the market that have high growth potential.

• The research on gender roles has helped Online Portals to develop and align communication as well as marketing strategies accordingly.

• Online Portals has been successful in understanding the norms and cultures of different countries by developing local teams and partnerships (Hueske, Endrikat, & Guenther, 2015).

Technological

• The adoption of innovative marketing techniques that involves communication technologies has allowed Online Portals to collaborate successfully with consumers.

• The company has stayed ahead in the market, and can significantly increase its market share by placing its major focus on emerging technologies (Akpoviroro & Owotutu, 2018).

• Online Portals should maximize its profits by investing in disruptive technologies.

Environmental

• It is crucial for Online Portals to adopt effective waste management practices to reduce environmental pollution (J. K, W. J, & D., 2016).

• Online Portals should adopt eco-friendly products to establish better relationships with the stakeholders.

• Online Portals can take advantage of subsidies offered in renewable technologies to achieve the long-term goal of sustainability.

Legal

• Online Portals should follow proper laws concerning employee health and safety, and anti-discrimination laws to effectively develop HRM.

• Consumer protection laws are also important for Online Portals as it involves the consumer protection from fraudulent marketing (S. Samusenko, S. Plaskova, & A. Prodanova, 2020).

• Online Portals can gain a competitive advantage, and can position itself strongly in the market by protecting intellectual property laws.

Porter’s Five Forces Analysis

Threat of New Entrants

• It is difficult to achieve economies of scale in Online Portals’s industry, making it a weaker force for new entrants.

• There are high capital requirements in the industry. This makes it difficult for new businesses to set up their companies, and compete against Online Portals.

• The industry has a strong product differentiation, and heavy investment is needed for customer acquisition. Thus, Online Portals can focus on innovation to differentiate itself from its competitors (H. Th. Bruijl, 2018).

• There are strict legal requirements to join the industry in which Online Portals operates, making it difficult for new entrants to enter the market.

Bargaining Power of Suppliers

• The bargaining power of suppliers in the industry is weak.

• Online Portals operates in an industry with a higher number of suppliers. This means that suppliers do not have much control over their prices.

• Standardized products that have low switching costs are provided by suppliers allowing buyers like Online Portals to easily switch their suppliers (Fabbri & F.Klapper, 2016).

• Raw materials can be purchased at lower prices by Online Portals. The company can also switch suppliers for more reasonable pricing.

• Online Portals can benefit from a variety of suppliers as it can have multiple suppliers for its various geographical areas (Cho, Ke, & Han, 2019).

Bargaining Power of Buyers

• The bargaining power of buyers in the Online Portals industry is weak.

• There is a high product differentiation in the industry, making it difficult for buyers to switch to alternative firms.

• Online Portals can come with differentiated and innovative products to attract more buyers of the industry (Zhao, Zuo, & Wu, 2016).

• Buyers of this industry has low incomes. This means they prefer to purchase items at lower prices, making them more price sensitive. Organizations like Online Portals can offer lower prices to attract customers.

Threat of Substitute Products or Services

• There are few substitute products available in the industry in which Online Portals operates.

• Expensive substitutes are available in the industry of Online Portals, making it difficult for buyers to switch to those substitutes (Aithal, 2016).

Rivalry Among Existing Firms

• The rivalry among existing firms is moderate to weak.

• There are few competitors in the industry in which Online Portals operates.

• A large market share is enjoyed by fewer firms in the industry. This means that more competitive actions will be made to become leaders in the market (Seema, 2016).

• The industry in which Online Portals operates has highly differentiated products, making it difficult for companies to win each other customers.

• Online Portals can focus on making more differentiated products to gain a strong competitive edge in the market (Zhao, Zuo, & Wu, 2016).

Internal Environmental Analysis

Online Portals can use internal environmental analysis to identify and evaluate the competitive positioning of a company in the business environment. This involves conducting a SWOT Analysis that can help Online Portals to identify the company’s internal strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats (Halmaghi, Iancue, & Băcilă, 2017).

SWOT Analysis

Strengths

• Online Portals has a strong distribution network that has allowed it to make its products available to large customers within the given timeframe.

• A strong presence on social media platforms has allowed Online Portals to have a high level of customer engagement (Rizaldi, 2015).

• Online Portals has been successful in building a large product portfolio, so unique and distinctive products can be offered to consumers.

• Online Portals has a strong brand image in the market.

• A low-cost structure of Online Portals has allowed it to manufacture products at lower costs, so they become affordable for consumers to purchase.

• The financial position of Online Portals is strong as the company has generated higher profits over the past years (Phadermrod, M.Crowder, & B.Wills, 2019).

• Online Portals has invested in the training and development of its employees to keep them motivates, leading to higher efficiency and productivity.

Weaknesses

• The expenditure of Online Portals on its research and development is comparatively less to other competitors of the market.

• Online Portals uses a centralized decision-making process that takes time and reduces operational efficiency (Ahmadi, Dileepan, & K. Wheatley, 2016).

• There are high rental costs because Online Portals operates on more of the rental properties rather than purchasing them.

• There is no workforce diversification in Online Portals. This makes it difficult for the employees to adjust with the different workers who belong to different backgrounds.

Opportunities

• Since the online shopping has increased significantly, Online Portals can take it as an opportunity to expand its online presence.

• Online Portals can make use of social media platforms to market its products, with more customers interactions.

• Due to more technological developments, Online Portals can make its operations more automated so that overall company costs can be reduced (Ahmadi, Dileepan, & K. Wheatley, 2016).

• Globalization provides an opportunity to Online Portals to expand its operations in multiple countries.

• Online Portals can enter in a niche market and sell distinctive products to gain a competitive advantage.

• The increase in the demand of environmentally friendly goods, Online Portals, can place its major focus on making such products (E.Quezada, A.Reinao, & I.Palominos, 2019).

Threats

• In recent times, there has been an increase in the bargaining power of suppliers, making it difficult for Online Portals to buy raw materials at lower costs.

• Numerous players are entering the industry, posing a major threat to Online Portals.

• There has been constant pressure on Online Portals to conduct frequent research to understand the changing customer tastes and preferences (Kolbina, 2015).

• Technological advancements require workforce training. This adds to the costs of Online Portals.

VRIO Analysis

Online Portals uses VRIO Analysis to assess and evaluate the company resources to determine the competitiveness, and strategic advantage.

Valuable

• Online Portals has a strong brand image and engages in corporate social responsibility.

• Online Portals has a high brand recognition because of the quality of products it offers to its customers (Ariyani & Daryanto, 2018).

• The distribution system of Online Portals is valued all round the world. The company has been able to successfully establish strong relationships with its suppliers.

• Online Portals focuses on continuous innovation in its business. The company has expanded this innovation in its multiple functional areas.

• There are potential growth opportunities in the market, and Online Portals has been able to penetrate the market through its ability to raise large funds.

Rare

• Online Portals operates globally. This global presence has allowed the company to increase its customer base (Miethlich & G. Oldenburg, 2019).

• Online Portals has an organizational culture that promotes more teamwork, innovation, and creativity among its employees, that leads to a competitive advantage.

• Since Online Portals has a global presence, it allows the company to easily adapt to different cultures, norms and values.

• The risk-taking ability of Online Portals is strong. This provides more opportunities to the company to penetrate different markets.

Inimitable

• The inimitable resource for Online Portals is its high-quality products. These products have allowed consumers to make repeat purchases.

• Online Portals operates through multiple locations of stores in different companies, allowing easy access to products.

• Strong marketing communications have been used by Online Portals to attract more customers.

• Online Portals has been using integrated technology that has allowed it to offer competitive pricing to its customers (Ariwibowo, Saputro, & Haryanto, 2021).

• Online Portals maintains an excellent customer service that has enabled it to have a high brand engagement.

Organization

• Strong financial position has allowed Online Portals to explore more product development opportunities.

• Online Portals is successfully maintaining the efficiency and effectiveness of its business operations with the help of more integrated and advanced technology.

• Employees are given both in-house and off-the-job training opportunities by Online Portals that allow more skills development (Adnan, Abdulhamid, & Sohail, 2018).

• The strong value chain and distribution network has enabled Online Portals to increase its revenue through the sale of its products.

Marketing Mix

Marketing Mix is needed by Online Portals to formulate effective strategies to achieve the company objectives.

Product

• Online Portals has five product categories. Each of these categories has a product line that involves more variety of products (Išoraitė, 2016).

• Highly differentiated products are offered by Online Portals to its customers. These distinctive products are not easily available at competitors.

• The products of Online Portals are of higher quality, and thus, customers pay more prices for these products.

• Online Portals designs products with traditional designs giving customers more product variety.

• Online Portals offers multiple sizes for its every product to make it easy for its customers to select the right product.

• Warranty and same-day delivery option if also provided by Online Portals to its customers.

Price

• Online Portals follows a competitive pricing strategy.

• To attract more customers, bundle pricing has also been used by the company.

• Little higher prices are charged for products that are sold online because of the delivery costs (Thabit & Raewf, 2018).

• Optional product pricing strategy is also adopted by Online Portals for some of its products, such as a base product is offered for a certain price, and there are separate prices for its accessories.

• Regular promotional prices are also offered by Online Portals to its customers.

Place

• Online Portals uses two channels for its product distribution. This includes online selling and through own stores.

• There are more than multiple stores owned by Online Portals globally. This ensures easy product availability to customers (Pogorelova, Yakhneeva, & Agafonova, 2016).

• Online Portals has partnered with delivery service companies to distribute its products effectively to consumers.

• Online Portals has also adopted an omni-channel distribution system.

Promotion

• Online Portals uses a traditional promotional strategy that involves TV advertisements (Fan, Y.K.Lau, & Zhao, 2015).

• Social media advertisements are also adopted by Online Portals to increase brand awareness.

• Online Portals takes part in various events and exhibitions as a way of promoting its products.

• Large sales force is used to provide the customers with a more personal experience.

• Online Portals also makes use of influencer marketing to increase the demand for its products.

• Regular content and deals are posted on the social media pages of Online Portals to attract and retain customers.

Value Chain Analysis

Online Portals can use Value Chain Analysis to identify and assess inter-relationships as well as interdependencies.

Primary Activities

• Online Portals’s primary activities involves the production and selling of products to the final consumers (Mintz, J.Gilbride, & Lenk, 2021).

• Online Portals has a strong relationship with the suppliers. This ensures that the product is received, stored, and distributed in a timely manner.

• Operational activities of Online Portals are effectively aligned.

• For inbound logistics, after the arrival of raw material, the company processes it to manufacture the final product (Hasan, Nekmahmud, & Yajuan, 2019).

• In terms of outbound logistics, Online Portals has been able to set up optimal costs as well as efficient delivery processes to deliver the product on time.

• Online Portals invests in its sales and marketing activities to build relationships with customers.

• Marketing funnel approach is used by Online Portals to effectively devise and build sales and marketing activities.

• Online Portals offers both pre-sale and post-sales services to its customers.

Secondary Activities

• Online Portals has an effective infrastructure that has allowed the company to successfully optimize its value chain.

• The competitive pressure in terms of employee skill development, motivation, and commitment is reduced as Online Portals has developed a strong HRM (Linkov, Carluccio, Pritchard, & Bhreasail, 2020).

• Online Portals uses a cost minimization approach to reduce its costs by analyzing the costs associated with training and hiring the employees.

• Online Portals has been using integrated technology in its value chain activities. This includes technological customer support, research and data analytics concerning product design, and automated software.

• The procurement activities of Online Portals are effectively optimized with its inbound, outbound, and operational activities (Maheswari, Yudoko, & Adhiutama, 2019).

Market Penetration Strategies

• Online Portals can increase the capacity of its production so it can reach more of the customers in its existing market.

• Online Portals can focus on controlling the overhead costs so that it can offer competitive pricing that can attract customers of the market (Dawes, 2018).

• Investments can be made by Online Portals in marketing and sales activities to increase the chances of successful market penetration.

• Online Portals can design and develop a content that increases customer engagement within a particular marketplace.

• Online Portals can assess and identify more enhanced distribution networks (Radpour, Mondal, & Kumar, 2017).

• Improved distribution systems and supply chains can improve the product accessibility for the customers, making it easier for Online Portals to penetrate the market.

• Online Portals can adopt price cuts in its products to compete in the market. This will give a company a competitive edge over its competitors.

• Online Portals can plan strategies where it can focus on acquiring the leading players of the market. Such acquisitions will give the company an opportunity to reach more customer segments.

• Strategic partnerships and joint ventures agreements can be signed by Online Portals to mitigate the risk factors, and to gain customer groups of the market.

• Online Portals can come up with new and innovative features in its already existing product for the market (Daouda, Barth, & T. M. Ingenbleek, 2019).

Market Development Strategies

• It is important for Online Portals to invest in the research and development department so potential markets can be identified (Hilman, Bohari, & Abdullah, 2018).

• Regional expansion strategy can be used by Online Portals for growth purposes. This will also take into consideration the cultural differences.

• Online Portals should also consider to expand its business operations in the international market. This will allow access to a larger customer base.

• New customer groups and segments should be explored by Online Portals.

• Online Portals should also invest in brand-building activities as it will give an opportunity to reach more potential customers (C. Koks & M. Kilika, 2016).

• Online Portals should consider the market education in terms of its product. The company can significantly increase its sales by giving product awareness to new segments.

Product Development Strategies

• Online Portals can come up with new improvements and modifications in the existing products to attract the market.

• Online Portals should undergo the NPD process, so the company is able to assess and identify new points for its customers.

• Regular investments in the research and development will help Online Portals to develop something new and innovative that can give a competitive advantage (Kalogiannidis & Mavratzas, 2020).

• Online Portals can develop new products by getting into more strategic partnerships.

Diversification Strategies

• Online Portals can adopt vertical diversification to develop business. This can be done by adding more products to the existing portfolio (Kalogiannidis & Mavratzas, 2020).

• Horizontal integration can also be adopted by Online Portals, where the company can enter into a completely new product development phase that does not exist in the current product line.

• Online Portals can also consider to conglomerate by starting a different business.

Conclusion

Based on all the models and frameworks discussed above, it is concluded that Online Portals should focus on widening the existing product portfolio. Moreover, the psychological pricing strategy can be adopted. Online Portals should also maintain close relationships with its suppliers to benefit from lower prices. Similarly, Online Portals should develop more integrated outbound logistics for its perishable items. It is also important to continue producing quality and innovative products, so Online Portals is less affected by the new emerging competition in the industry.

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