Strategic planning paper

Strategic Plan Part II: SWOTT Analysis

Deon Davis

Bus/475

Richard Taylor

December 4, 2017

SWOTT Analysis

Out of all the mentioned trends, the following seven are most likely to influence Uber’s operations with the introduction of its new product

1. Legal and regulatory forces: the legal and regulatory force greatly influences a business operations as well as success realized. The government imposes taxes as well as several other regulatory measures with the aim of cushioning customers from exploitation as well as promoting economic growth. It is important for Uber to understand the implications of regulatory tax measures in different potential areas of operations to its success. Understanding the two will help the business adjust its practices to adapt to the business environment as well as account for the regional economic analysis. Tax codes vary from nation to nation and can either support or restrict some business operations. Increase in tax will affect this new product negatively while the opposite applies. Taxes may come in the form of fiscal balance tax, gross receipt tax, corporate income tax, or individual tax, it is important to understand all these for the Uber to run its operations profitably and smoothly.

2. Technological innovation: rapid technological innovation calls for quick reaction of businesses to remain relevant in the industry. Keeping tabs of new trends and technological innovation that competitors will offer is a winning point for Uber’s parcel delivery service. Therefore, business practices needs to integrate modern technology based on its goals and objectives. Being an app, security from data breaching as well as cyber-crime possibilities should be a priority for the company. If information security is not guaranteed, parcel delivery is not likely to realize its goals.

3. Economic Factors: economic factors highly dictate a business strategies and operational activities. To begin with, customer’s optimism in this new service will highly dictate its success in the industry. Their willingness to spend money on the new product will determine how receptive it will be in the market. Market demand and supply of technologically advanced parcel delivery system and the bargaining power of the consumers are some of the economic factors that will dictate the success of this new product. The inflation rate as well as inflation perspective also affects the success of Uber’s parcel delivery innovative idea in the market. If the inflation rates are high, consumers will spend less on the product and vice-versa.

4. Goals: the delivery parcel aims at overcoming the challenges that exists with traditional parcel delivery system. Among these are quality concerns, security and duration of delivery. Uber’s Parcel delivery aims at securing the process of parcel delivery, making timely deliver at an affordable price. These goals will dictate every strategy the company invests in as they are the backbones of the entire innovation.

5. Intellectual properties: these are highlights that Uber needs to be aware of to guarantee protection of its innovation, maximization of its competitive position and avoid infringing the IP rights of other businesses as well as people (Gluck, Kaufman, Walleck, McLeod, and Stuckey, 2016). IP falls into two main categories: registered and unregistered rights. The registered rights are monopoly rights that stop other businesses form using Uber’s parcel delivery idea without their permission. They include: registered designs, trademarks and patents. The unregistered rights come about automatically and guarantee protection using the right as well as against copying. They include: confidential information, unregistered designs, unregistered trademarks and copy rights.

6. Leadership: the type of leadership exercised at Uber will dictate how the employees will perform, interact with the customers and the organization’s culture. With a new innovation that is new in the market, the management is important in guaranteeing its successful launch and dominance in the industry. Leadership creates a sense of unity and direction in an organization, therefore, Uber should utilize this factor and implement leadership styles that will see the employees perform exceptionally and realize a successful breakthrough in the market. Planning, leading, organizing and controlling operational activities is crucial for the success of this new product.

7. Trends: technological innovation has seen all sectors of the business industry go digital; this is an aspect that Uber intends to introduce in the parcel delivery industry (Trevino and Nelson, 2014). Being a trend setter is important bust it has to be backed with the other six factors that affects product launch success. Secondly, trends tend to change with an introduction of a new concept or development of a new demand. Uber needs to have a research team that addresses all these aspect of their new innovation for it to remain relevant and compete effectively in the parcel delivery industry.

Critique how well the organization adapts to change.

Having successfully ventured in the taxi industry at a global level, Uber is exposed to what it takes to meet consumers’ needs and compete in international markets. When it comes to the legal and regulatory forces, the same measures it has in place with all its other services will be applicable in the case of parcel delivery. Years of experience is an added advantage for Uber as it is familiar with regulations of different countries and how to maneuver its operations to realize profits even when these factors fail to favor its operational and financial success.

Secondly, the move to embrace in this venture is a response to an emerging trend and application of technological innovation (Gluck, Kaufman, Walleck, McLeod, and Stuckey, 2016). The taxi business works based on an online platform, the same will be applicable for the parcel, as stated before, experience and compatibility in operational activities will be a winning point for the company. Economic factors call for proper planning and forecasting of a business environment. Some predictions may not be accurate primarily why business needs to have alternative options in the face of an economic crisis. Uber may be ready to handle economic factors that affect the new product but being a new project, it may need to invest into more research on the same. Goals may be subject to change with changes in trends and technological innovations. Based on past success in its other products Uber is ready to launch this new product and may use its brand and consumer base to guarantee successful penetration in the market.

Analyze and explain the supply chain of the new division of the existing business.

Customers’ demand for a better last mile services which keep them in control of where, when and how their parcels are delivered. Secondly, they demand for a broaden delivery location that guarantee 24*7 security as well as anonymous delivery alternatives and finally delivery timing (Wieland and Wallenburg, 2013). A supply Chain Management thus needs to support all these demand to guarantee maximized customer value as well as a sustainable competitive edge. A supply chain that covers and coordinates: information system, logistics and sourcing production need to be embraced for the case of parcel delivery. Every parcel that reaches the end user should therefore represent the cumulative effort of Uber in making it a success. Uber should embrace a supply chain system that linked information and physical flow to guarantee customer satisfaction. Physical flows include storage of the parcels and their movement; this should be the most visible piece of the supply chain to both the management and the customer. Information plan on the other hand should guarantee a coordination and control of day to day flow of the parcels down the supply chain.

Discuss the primary internal organizational considerations for the development of a strategic plan

A strategic plan should have the interest and desires of the customers at the center of any operations (Hitt, Keats, and DeMarie, 2014). This should be based on the greatest weaknesses of the traditional methods of parcel delivery which Uber intends to overcome. These include: timely delivery, delivery locations and control. For this new project to realize success it must meet the needs of the consumers therefore, the three should form the basis of any considerations the management will come up with.

Identify the major issues and/or opportunities the company faces based on your analysis.

Keeping up with upcoming trends and demands may attract additional cost. Secondly, government regulations and rules may limit Uber from executing some of its strategic goals. Economic factors such as inflation, consumer preference and demand may affect success. Being a fast mover, having a recognized and renowned brand name, Uber stands to realize success with this new product. Finally, knowledge of international markets stands to be an advantageous factor for the introduction of parcel delivery services.

Reference

Gokhan, N and Needy, N (2015). "PESTLE Analysis" Engineering Management Journal 22 (4): 20–30.

Gluck, F. W., Kaufman, S. P., Walleck, S., McLeod, K., and Stuckey, J. (2016). Thinking stragegically. Retrieved from McKinsey & Company:

Hitt, M. A., Keats, B. W., and DeMarie, S. M. (2014). “Navigating in the new competitive landscape: Building strategic flexibility and competitive advantage in the 21st century.” Academy of Management Executive, 12(4), pp. 22-42.

Trevino, k and Nelson, A. (2014) “Managing Business Ethics: Straight Talk about how to do it Right” 6TH Ed. NJ, USA: John Wiley AND Sons Inc.

Wieland, A. and Wallenburg, C (2013) “The influence of relational competencies on supply chain resilience: a relational view” International Journal of Physical Distribution & Logistics Management. Vol. 43, No. 4, pp. 300-320.

	STREGTH	WEAKNESS	OPPORTUNITY	THREAT	TREND
EXTRENAL FORCES
Industry Changes	Low fixed investment	Creates tech oriented consumers	Rising disposal income	Customer retention	Digital platforms
Global	Recognized brand	Barriers of entry	Tap growing market	Revolt from an organized market	Tapping new markets
Legal and regulatory	Low fixed investment	High cost of operation	Exploit new market	Unclear government regulations	Tax rates fluctuations
Economic	Dynamic pricing strategy	Rivalry concerns	Increased valuation	Customer retention	Inflation rates
Technological innovation	Emphasis of customer satisfaction	Easily imitated	Increased internet penetration	Increased competition	Security guarantee
Social	High standard of services	Ethical concerns	Meeting a growing demand	Customer retention	Customer satisfactions
Environmental	Well-recognized brand	Controversies on environmental conservation	Tapping growing market	Local authorities problems	Environmental conversation
Competitive analysis	Unlimited fleet of vehicles	Rivalry	Rising disposable income	Brand switching	Product differentiation
INTERNAL FORCES
Strategy	Timely delivery	High cost of operation	Tapping growing market	May be imitated	Product differentiation
Structures	Smooth operations	Are bound to fail	May be upgraded	Customer retention	Employee and customer centered
Processes and systems	Guarantees coordination	Can fail	May be updated and upgraded	Vulnerable to viruses	Need to be automated
Resources	Less cost of production	Are expensive	Price differentiation with different suppliers	May be depleted	outsourcing
Goals	Sense of guidance	Are limited to a specific concept	May be subject to change with new demands	Are imitable	Need to address consumer needs and wants
Strategic capabilities	Brand recognition	May be ineffective	May be changed with new trends	Readily imitable	Incorporate technological innovation
Culture	Guide the employees	May be outdated	Can be changed with new trends	Can be imitated	Need to promote employee satisfaction
Technologies Innovations	Digital platforms	Creates tech oriented consumers	Increased internet penetration	Increased competition	Security guarantee
Intellectual property	No imitation	New innovations	Legal protection from imitation	Law suites	originality
Leadership	Unifying factor	Poor leadership	Motivated and loyal employees	Dissatisfied employees	Employee involvement