Product Statement
Wolverine software Inc. is a mid-sized corporation in the first year of its being with a new ownership and administrative team. It’s currently operating a private entity. The company is currently producing workforce management software that is used for specifically tracking projects and employees, with almost 1000 clients in every organization imaginable. The business is not stable and it keeps on fluctuating due to decline and growth of the economy since one of the major profit margins for the company is a SaaS i.e. Software as a service design in providing the software.
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Contextual Analysis
The SaaS is put on the company’s sever and clients are charged on monthly basis depending with the number of employees accessing the system. A major challenge experienced by the company is how to increase stand-alone installations to help avoid fluctuations in cash flow, which could be attained through selling the software outright to clients and charging a license fee for the number of employees registered in the system. To improve the strategic analysis and marketing plan for the company, a comprehensive SWOT analysis was conducted. This detailed plan will basically focus on a strategy to enhance the company and find means to advance relationships with present clients, upgrade the software version to further better manage the needs of the target market and benefit from the newer technology opportunity.
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Environment Analysis
From an environmental analysis, an entrepreneur software programmer that had a good idea to bring it to life invented Wolverine Software in the year 1996. He decided to move to something else after sixteen years elapsing and sold the business to the current leadership. The software possess distinct status in the market place as one of the first to offer a SaaS model for clients that may have the required infrastructure to support installed software in their environments. The program in particular tracks employees by use of time clock software, collects and calculates hours based on the complex business rules specific to every client and also possess direct exporting functions so that the data gathered and calculated can be used to process paychecks for the employees.
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Customer Analysis
To know how better to reach out to new clients, and to better understand their motivating factors in the search for new time and attendance software, Wolverine needs to conduct current customer surveys and market research to establish benchmarks, that will help find their strengths as perceived by clients (Eisenberg&Eisenberg, 2006). The focus should be on customers and their continued satisfaction and loyalty and to do that the company needs to stay abreast of the needs of current and future clients (Mittal&Frennea, 2010).
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Competitor Analysis
The marketing environment involves competitive forces that comes from other companies venturing in the same businesses activity. Competition in the workforce management software industry is highly intense across the United States and Canada. The requirement and application need particular software is increasing around the globe and as worldwide markets commence to depend entirely on standardized compliances, Wolverine is positioned to take advantage of these new markets.
The competition is stiff in the software industry and specifically the workforce management segment. Currently, time and attendance software is domineering the market with close to 35% share while the HRIS i.e. Human Resource Information Systems software, is closely second with 24%; and yet hardware components and mobile technologies are developing and providing access to former through Android and iPhone mobile hardware. The time and attendance software is developing very fast of all the software on the market and Wolverine software specializes in the paramount labor tracking options for all capacities of the industry. There are quite a number of companies developing this type of software and competing for the market share and percentage share is divided fairly equally among the players in the market arena, yet Wolverine has 27% of the market and it’s the main company that complete integration with the client only want to enter employee demographic data in one software systems they possess and will be instantly relocated into the T&A software.
Economic and technological situation analysis.
The cost of elevation has turned intoan increasing burden on businesses across the country and therefore, many budgets have been cut down to contain a more targeted (Kotler&Keller, 2012). We can deduce that the cuts in marketing campaigns have originated from print media and from higher cost promotion like television (Erdogan, 2002). As their budget is decreasing, many software companies are transferring a high percentage of their budgets to sales promotion and advertisement. This is for real a trend that is anticipated to be more and more prevalent while the economy struggles. Most companies today are obliged to exploit their marketing dollar and social media creates an opportunity to be particular in scope and to regulate the related costs.
Technological forces. This field is where Wolverine is required to be top of the game. As technological surrounding software –programming change, the effect can be incredible if the wrong tools are applied. Writing an application in unappropriated language that is no longer or rarely used can deter sales and can lead to redesigning the program to fit modern technology which will be a damn expensive undertaking. Not including the popularity of the mobile technologies when designing for the future may prevent prospective marketing plans from accessing social networking and even remote access to labor tracking functions. Therefore keeping upto date trends in the technological forces is very significant.
Cultural, political and legal Analysis
It’s very vital to be aware of the societal trends since keeping labor and workforce management actually difficult in the use of the software in more than simply traditional ways is vigorous growth. Consumers are short on time in a busy society and if the software may fail to save on time, or in case it may be hard to use, the product may be ignored on the market (Goldstein&Lee, 2005). Workforce management software links up well with other software that will aid manage a diverse labor pool like the payroll software.
The most vital element for the success of Wolverine Software Company is to entirely center on the values of the organization, which are providing a quality product and exceptional service (Kotler & Kevin, 2009). Through abiding by the values, the company has been able to implement diverse strategies in a very multifarious marketplace. Irrespective of new entries into the market, Wolverine continue to gain profits annually. Its target market includes; hospitals, mid-sized companies and municipalities like schools and public works among others.
The creation and manufacturing segments are rewarding and remain a strong center for Wolverine due to its ability to track mobile workforces and manage job costing through the software. The government is a sector of strength and power since keeping in compliance with regulation is equal for any other agency.
Wolverine has been able to reach out to sales leads that come in from the internet by using a simple demonstration link that a prospect can click on to view the products performance. When a sale goes through an entire process, Wolverine database establishes the client business rule through a comprehensive consultation practice, running of a pilot period for implementation and closure. There are very few political forces affecting the Wolverine Software Company.
SWOT ANALYSIS
Strength
The cash in hand of the Wolverine Software Company is a sign of strength since loans are not needed in most cases. The money from monthly billing has alleviated operating costs for the company. Many sales come directly from trade shows associated with the payroll and human resource industry. Wolverine’s market segmentation strategy is a great strength; the company knows what its software is good at, for whom it is a perfect fit and this approach saves money in advertising.
Weaknesses
The company is directed by only a few people at the top and this highly centralized management hierarchy and lack of managerial backup may impede the company’s growth. The hardware associated with keeping the software online is always at risk to be damaged. The servers are constantly monitored for any signs of trouble, yet with technological upkeep there are not only those risks of failure directly, but also the impact a disaster would have on monthly cash flow. When servers are not accessible to the SaaS clients, Wolverine could lose revenue. Additional suppliers would help the company, but with only one, if that vendor has any delivery issues,some financial crisis that forces it out of business, then Wolverine is not only without a supplier, but unable to fill orders. Since the company depends on monthly revenue, a bad month could cripple operations. A small staff can be a problem not just when it comes to public or client perception, but can actually damage support and implementation metrics if the staff becomes overloaded and falls behind irreparably.
Opportunities
With a struggling economy upon us, companies are looking for ways to save money and managing the workforce through the use of Wolverine’s software options can do exactly that. Capitalizing on the need to tighten up on workforce management, new leads can be easier to pitch and can turn directly into revenue (Samuelson, 1947). Through an aggressive social media marketing effort, using Twitter and Facebook to buy targeted ads and tweets, many new leads are possible in the new media market. Customer loyalty programs are extremely popular in the current economy (Dev & Don, 2005).
Currently the company does not offer much to mobile users, but as workforces become more remote and telecommuting is earning favor in the corporate world, if Wolverine would provide a tool for this evolving market, the revenue potential could boost net income greatly.
Threats
The potential for the software to require reengineering is a tremendous threat. If particular web technologies pass Wolverine by, then the product must be rewritten in order to bring the existing product current. Software piracy has always been a threat to the company. If code is accessed and stolen, the company could potentially face an international threat and lose sales to an offshore imposter. As new competitors emerge, the threat is great that existing clients could be enticed away to find a better price. While this threat may be slim, the loss of any client takes a bite out of monthly revenue.
Converting Weaknesses and Threats
With the monthly revenue that regularly comes in, the company should begin aggressively marketing in social media.
The segment strategy is specific and should possibly be expanded as the economy struggles and companies try to save money by managing their workforces.
With the company operating only in the United States and Canada, new plans to market offshore should be undertaken to expand the market for Wolverine, instead of watching others do so. In summary, the SWOT Analysis has exposed several areas that can be improved upon and applying good management to the company to turn negatives into positives will generate new sales and strengthen the company position not only in North America, but the potential of global application looms brightly.
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