Case Scenario:
The T&F Company sells CAD/CAM software applications to architectural and engineering firms in the United States through value-added resellers. The company has loyal customers, and is growing steadily. Recently, the growth rate has dropped. The Sales and Marketing Director believes if they don't adapt their business model into today's networked economy, their competitive edge will become weaker. T&F's goals are to increase the revenue growth rate and get into the international market. The CEO leads the steering committee, which is formed by T&F's department heads. You are the Director of the Technical Support Department. The company website consists of a company overview and listing of contact phone numbers.
In this year's meeting on strategy, the steering committee completed a SWOT analysis (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, threats). These are their findings:
Strengths
Loyal customers
Strong reseller network
Good products
Focused management/staff
Competitive product prices
Weaknesses
Has not utilized Internet technology
T&F not well-known among prospective customers
Drop in growth rate
Profit margin is too small (company needs to reduce costs)
Opportunities
To create a web site to serve customers and promote the company
To enter the international market
To establish online sales as a new distribution channel
Threats
Other larger and more well-known competitors may enter T&F's targeted market segment
Economic slowdown could reduce demand
Competitors have utilized Internet to enhance customer relationships
You see this SWOT as justification for developing and implementing an e-business strategy, but you know that the rest of the group is not as far along as you. Over the course of the next month or so, you will need to take the group's understanding of business strategy and business models, and help them integrate e-business. You also need to convey a sense of urgency, as one of the features of e-business is compression of time: research, production, and change.
Details: You arrive at work and find an urgent e-mail from the Sales and Marketing Director. She's forwarded an article from the latest architectural journal, detailing the release of "CAD/CAM Infusion", a product, similar to your CADgold, but with more advanced architectural features. The product is being released by your major competitor. Here's the e-mail:
"We've been scooped again - this is the third time this year that we have not known about these product launches! I can't operate a Marketing Department that follows up after the news. How can we prevent this from happening again?"
It's obvious that you need to do a better job regarding business intelligence. Draft a reply 3-5 page e-mail to your colleague, focusing on strategies, tools, and technologies you would recommend to build up a knowledge base and spot trends.
Please include refereneces.