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.
CAD/CAM software applications are T&F's products, and T&F's primary customers are architectural firms, engineering consultants, operating plants, and transportation engineering firms. Even though the most recently developed software packages have been welcomed by the customers, the customers would be saturated after purchasing two or three different products. It may be years before they are ready to purchase again. What is the best way for T&F to remain actively involved with its customers, even when those customers are not ready to make major purchases? The CEO believes that T&F should remain actively involved with its customers to keep them, especially in the current global e-commerce paradigm. Do you agree? Why or why not?
Please include references.