Qualtrics and SAP Combine Forces
Companies not able to engage with and track the employee experience are doomed.
This is where Qualtrics and SAP join forces. Qualtrics makes experience software that allows companies to capture experience data of employees and SAP services many of the world’s employees. One of the biggest challenges companies face is knowing how their employees are responding to something like a new HR program or a redesigned website. What did they like about it and what didn’t they like?
This is not as simple as sending a survey out. Qualtrics provides a platform for companies to collect data easily, report and analyze the data in real time, and then publish the data to managers so they can immediately act on the information. By combining Qualtrics’ platform for understanding employee experiences with SAP’s operational platform that helps track a company’s success factors, Qualtrics and SAP can now start offering a solution for the employee experience immediately. As stated by Ryan Smith, CEO of Qualtrics:
“Our mission is to help organizations deliver the experiences that turn their customers into fanatics, employees into ambassadors, products into obsessions and brands into religions. Supported by a global team of over 95,000, SAP will help us scale faster and achieve our mission on a broader stage. This will put the XM Platform everywhere overnight.”
And as Bill McDermott, CEO of SAP, stated:
“SAP already touches 77 percent of the world’s transactions. When you combine our operational data with Qualtrics’ experience data, we will accelerate the XM category with an end-to-end solution with immediate global scale. For Qualtrics, this introduces a dynamic new partner with the belief, passion and scale to bring experience management to millions of customers around the world.”
Going Forward With the new global platform that SAP provides, Qualtrics has some big decisions to make going forward. What type of strategy should it adopt as it expands globally? Right now, Qualtrics does not offer many opportunities for product localization. Apart from adjusting the language and minor functionalities, the Qualtrics product looks the same most anywhere. In light of this, Ryan is worried. How can Qualtrics maintain its strong common platform while customizing the product to different countries and customers?
Case Discussion Questions
Which parts of Qualtrics’ value chain need to adapt to the different local environments? Which parts should stay standardized? Explain why in detail.
Which international strategy, multidomestic strategy, or transnational strategy do you suggest for Qualtrics going forward? Explain why in detail.
Based on your answer above, how important was culture and interdependence played a part on your decision? Please discuss this in detail utilizing terms and concepts learned from the textbook this semester. Explain why in detail.
