Ericsson Hewlett-Packard: Telecommunications (B): Early Joint Venture Operations SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Organizational Development
Strategy / MBA Resources
Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of Ericsson Hewlett-Packard: Telecommunications (B): Early Joint Venture Operations
Ericsson Hewlett Packard Telecommunications (EHPT) cases (A), (B) and (C) depict the life cycle of one joint venture through a blend of text, cartoons and an EHPT corporate video. The three-part structure provides for discussion at each stage of the joint venture's development. The cases progress with the joint venture and highlight the unique strategic and management issues that exist in a joint venture environment.
Swot Analysis of "Ericsson Hewlett-Packard: Telecommunications (B): Early Joint Venture Operations" written by Bettina Buechel, Kimberly Ferro includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Joint Ehpt facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Ericsson Hewlett-Packard: Telecommunications (B): Early Joint Venture Operations case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, and Organizational Development.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Ericsson Hewlett-Packard: Telecommunications (B): Early Joint Venture Operations casestudy better are - – increasing commodity prices, digital marketing is dominated by two big players Facebook and Google, increasing transportation and logistics costs, increasing energy prices, wage bills are increasing, there is increasing trade war between United States & China, cloud computing is disrupting traditional business models,
banking and financial system is disrupted by Bitcoin and other crypto currencies, central banks are concerned over increasing inflation, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Ericsson Hewlett-Packard: Telecommunications (B): Early Joint Venture Operations
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Ericsson Hewlett-Packard: Telecommunications (B): Early Joint Venture Operations case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Joint Ehpt, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Joint Ehpt operates in.
According to Harvard Business Review, 75% of the managers use SWOT analysis for various purposes such as – evaluating current scenario, strategic planning, new venture feasibility, personal growth goals, new market entry, Go To market strategies, portfolio management and strategic trade-off assessment, organizational restructuring, etc.
SWOT Objectives / Importance of SWOT Analysis and SWOT Matrix
SWOT analysis of Ericsson Hewlett-Packard: Telecommunications (B): Early Joint Venture Operations can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Ericsson Hewlett-Packard: Telecommunications (B): Early Joint Venture Operations case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Joint Ehpt
3. Assessing feasibility of the new initiative in Organizational Development field.
4. Making a Organizational Development topic specific business decision
5. Set goals for the organization
6. Organizational restructuring of Joint Ehpt
Strengths Ericsson Hewlett-Packard: Telecommunications (B): Early Joint Venture Operations | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Joint Ehpt in Ericsson Hewlett-Packard: Telecommunications (B): Early Joint Venture Operations Harvard Business Review case study are -
High brand equity
– Joint Ehpt has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Joint Ehpt to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Ability to lead change in Organizational Development field
– Joint Ehpt is one of the leading players in its industry. Over the years it has not only transformed the business landscape in its segment but also across the whole industry. The ability to lead change has enabled Joint Ehpt in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.
Cross disciplinary teams
– Horizontal connected teams at the Joint Ehpt are driving operational speed, building greater agility, and keeping the organization nimble to compete with new competitors. It helps are organization to ideate new ideas, and execute them swiftly in the marketplace.
High switching costs
– The high switching costs that Joint Ehpt has built up over years in its products and services combo offer has resulted in high retention of customers, lower marketing costs, and greater ability of the firm to focus on its customers.
Diverse revenue streams
– Joint Ehpt is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided firm in Ericsson Hewlett-Packard: Telecommunications (B): Early Joint Venture Operations case study a diverse revenue stream that has helped it to survive disruptions such as global pandemic in Covid-19, financial disruption of 2008, and supply chain disruption of 2021.
Organizational Resilience of Joint Ehpt
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing that Joint Ehpt does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
Highly skilled collaborators
– Joint Ehpt has highly efficient outsourcing and offshoring strategy. It has resulted in greater operational flexibility and bringing down the costs in highly price sensitive segment. Secondly the value chain collaborators of the firm in Ericsson Hewlett-Packard: Telecommunications (B): Early Joint Venture Operations HBR case study have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
Innovation driven organization
– Joint Ehpt is one of the most innovative firm in sector. Manager in Ericsson Hewlett-Packard: Telecommunications (B): Early Joint Venture Operations Harvard Business Review case study can use Clayton Christensen Disruptive Innovation strategies to further increase the scale of innovtions in the organization.
Effective Research and Development (R&D)
– Joint Ehpt has innovation driven culture where significant part of the revenues are spent on the research and development activities. This has resulted in, as mentioned in case study Ericsson Hewlett-Packard: Telecommunications (B): Early Joint Venture Operations - staying ahead in the industry in terms of – new product launches, superior customer experience, highly competitive pricing strategies, and great returns to the shareholders.
Operational resilience
– The operational resilience strategy in the Ericsson Hewlett-Packard: Telecommunications (B): Early Joint Venture Operations Harvard Business Review case study comprises – understanding the underlying the factors in the industry, building diversified operations across different geographies so that disruption in one part of the world doesn’t impact the overall performance of the firm, and integrating the various business operations and processes through its digital transformation drive.
Strong track record of project management
– Joint Ehpt is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of Joint Ehpt in the sector have low bargaining power. Ericsson Hewlett-Packard: Telecommunications (B): Early Joint Venture Operations has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Joint Ehpt to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
Weaknesses Ericsson Hewlett-Packard: Telecommunications (B): Early Joint Venture Operations | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Ericsson Hewlett-Packard: Telecommunications (B): Early Joint Venture Operations are -
High dependence on star products
– The top 2 products and services of the firm as mentioned in the Ericsson Hewlett-Packard: Telecommunications (B): Early Joint Venture Operations HBR case study still accounts for major business revenue. This dependence on star products in has resulted into insufficient focus on developing new products, even though Joint Ehpt has relatively successful track record of launching new products.
Employees’ incomplete understanding of strategy
– From the instances in the HBR case study Ericsson Hewlett-Packard: Telecommunications (B): Early Joint Venture Operations, it seems that the employees of Joint Ehpt don’t have comprehensive understanding of the firm’s strategy. This is reflected in number of promotional campaigns over the last few years that had mixed messaging and competing priorities. Some of the strategic activities and services promoted in the promotional campaigns were not consistent with the organization’s strategy.
Lack of clear differentiation of Joint Ehpt products
– To increase the profitability and margins on the products, Joint Ehpt needs to provide more differentiated products than what it is currently offering in the marketplace.
Workers concerns about automation
– As automation is fast increasing in the segment, Joint Ehpt needs to come up with a strategy to reduce the workers concern regarding automation. Without a clear strategy, it could lead to disruption and uncertainty within the organization.
Slow decision making process
– As mentioned earlier in the report, Joint Ehpt has a very deliberative decision making approach. This approach has resulted in prudent decisions, but it has also resulted in missing opportunities in the industry over the last five years. Joint Ehpt even though has strong showing on digital transformation primary two stages, it has struggled to capitalize the power of digital transformation in marketing efforts and new venture efforts.
Interest costs
– Compare to the competition, Joint Ehpt has borrowed money from the capital market at higher rates. It needs to restructure the interest payment and costs so that it can compete better and improve profitability.
High dependence on existing supply chain
– The disruption in the global supply chains because of the Covid-19 pandemic and blockage of the Suez Canal illustrated the fragile nature of Joint Ehpt supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes mentioned in the HBR case study - Ericsson Hewlett-Packard: Telecommunications (B): Early Joint Venture Operations, it is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left Joint Ehpt vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.
Aligning sales with marketing
– It come across in the case study Ericsson Hewlett-Packard: Telecommunications (B): Early Joint Venture Operations that the firm needs to have more collaboration between its sales team and marketing team. Sales professionals in the industry have deep experience in developing customer relationships. Marketing department in the case Ericsson Hewlett-Packard: Telecommunications (B): Early Joint Venture Operations can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Joint Ehpt is planning to shift buying processes online.
High bargaining power of channel partners
– Because of the regulatory requirements, Bettina Buechel, Kimberly Ferro suggests that, Joint Ehpt is facing high bargaining power of the channel partners. So far it has not able to streamline the operations to reduce the bargaining power of the value chain partners in the industry.
Need for greater diversity
– Joint Ehpt has taken concrete steps on diversity, equity, and inclusion. But the efforts so far has resulted in limited success. It needs to expand the recruitment and selection process to hire more people from the minorities and underprivileged background.
High cash cycle compare to competitors
Joint Ehpt has a high cash cycle compare to other players in the industry. It needs to shorten the cash cycle by 12% to be more competitive in the marketplace, reduce inventory costs, and be more profitable.
Opportunities Ericsson Hewlett-Packard: Telecommunications (B): Early Joint Venture Operations | External Strategic Factors
What are Opportunities in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The opportunities highlighted in the Harvard Business Review case study Ericsson Hewlett-Packard: Telecommunications (B): Early Joint Venture Operations are -
Buying journey improvements
– Joint Ehpt can improve the customer journey of consumers in the industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. Ericsson Hewlett-Packard: Telecommunications (B): Early Joint Venture Operations suggest that firm can provide automated chats to help consumers solve their own problems, provide online suggestions to get maximum out of the products and services, and help consumers to build a community where they can interact with each other to develop new features and uses.
Reforming the budgeting process
- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects Joint Ehpt can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.
Finding new ways to collaborate
– Covid-19 has not only transformed business models of companies in Organizational Development industry, but it has also influenced the consumer preferences. Joint Ehpt can tie-up with other value chain partners to explore new opportunities regarding meeting customer demands and building a rewarding and engaging relationship.
Redefining models of collaboration and team work
– As explained in the weaknesses section, Joint Ehpt is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. Ericsson Hewlett-Packard: Telecommunications (B): Early Joint Venture Operations case study suggests that firm can utilize new technology to build more coordinated teams and streamline operations and communications using tools such as CAD, Zoom, etc.
Developing new processes and practices
– Joint Ehpt can develop new processes and procedures in Organizational Development industry using technology such as automation using artificial intelligence, real time transportation and products tracking, 3D modeling for concept development and new products pilot testing etc.
Leveraging digital technologies
– Joint Ehpt can leverage digital technologies such as artificial intelligence and machine learning to automate the production process, customer analytics to get better insights into consumer behavior, realtime digital dashboards to get better sales tracking, logistics and transportation, product tracking, etc.
Reconfiguring business model
– The expansion of digital payment system, the bringing down of international transactions costs using Bitcoin and other blockchain based currencies, etc can help Joint Ehpt to reconfigure its entire business model. For example it can used blockchain based technologies to reduce piracy of its products in the big markets such as China. Secondly it can use the popularity of e-commerce in various developing markets to build a Direct to Customer business model rather than the current Channel Heavy distribution network.
Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities
– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Joint Ehpt to expand its talent hiring zone. According to McKinsey Global Institute, 20% of the high end workforce in fields such as finance, information technology, can continously work from remote local post Covid-19. This presents a really great opportunity for Joint Ehpt to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
Increase in government spending
– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Joint Ehpt can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Joint Ehpt operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Organizational Development sector.
Manufacturing automation
– Joint Ehpt can use the latest technology developments to improve its manufacturing and designing process in Organizational Development segment. It can use CAD and 3D printing to build a quick prototype and pilot testing products. It can leverage automation using machine learning and artificial intelligence to do faster production at lowers costs, and it can leverage the growth in satellite and tracking technologies to improve inventory management, transportation, and shipping.
Lowering marketing communication costs
– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Joint Ehpt in the field of marketing communication. It will bring down the cost of doing business, provide technology platform to build new products in the Organizational Development segment, and it will provide faster access to the consumers.
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Joint Ehpt has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Joint Ehpt to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the Ericsson Hewlett-Packard: Telecommunications (B): Early Joint Venture Operations case study. Joint Ehpt can build new products and services such as - data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
Use of Bitcoin and other crypto currencies for transactions
– The popularity of Bitcoin and other crypto currencies as asset class and medium of transaction has opened new opportunities for Joint Ehpt in the consumer business. Now Joint Ehpt can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.
Threats Ericsson Hewlett-Packard: Telecommunications (B): Early Joint Venture Operations External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Ericsson Hewlett-Packard: Telecommunications (B): Early Joint Venture Operations are -
High dependence on third party suppliers
– Joint Ehpt high dependence on third party suppliers can disrupt its processes and delivery mechanism. For example -the current troubles of car makers because of chip shortage is because the chip companies started producing chips for electronic companies rather than car manufacturers.
Increasing wage structure of Joint Ehpt
– Post Covid-19 there is a sharp increase in the wages especially in the jobs that require interaction with people. The increasing wages can put downward pressure on the margins of Joint Ehpt.
High level of anxiety and lack of motivation
– the Great Resignation in United States is the sign of broader dissatisfaction among the workforce in United States. Joint Ehpt needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Organizational Development industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
Environmental challenges
– Joint Ehpt needs to have a robust strategy against the disruptions arising from climate change and energy requirements. EU has identified it as key priority area and spending 30% of its 880 billion Euros European post Covid-19 recovery funds on green technology. Joint Ehpt can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Organizational Development industry.
Instability in the European markets
– European Union markets are facing three big challenges post Covid – expanded balance sheets, Brexit related business disruption, and aggressive Russia looking to distract the existing security mechanism. Joint Ehpt will face different problems in different parts of Europe. For example it will face inflationary pressures in UK, France, and Germany, balance sheet expansion and demand challenges in Southern European countries, and geopolitical instability in the Eastern Europe.
Easy access to finance
– Easy access to finance in Organizational Development field will also reduce the barriers to entry in the industry, thus putting downward pressure on the prices because of increasing competition. Joint Ehpt can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Joint Ehpt can face lack of demand in the market place because of Fed actions to reduce inflation. This can lead to sluggish growth in the economy, lower demands, lower investments, higher borrowing costs, and consolidation in the field.
Regulatory challenges
– Joint Ehpt needs to prepare for regulatory challenges as consumer protection groups and other pressure groups are vigorously advocating for more regulations on big business - to reduce inequality, to create a level playing field, to product data privacy and consumer privacy, to reduce the influence of big money on democratic institutions, etc. This can lead to significant changes in the Organizational Development industry regulations.
Backlash against dominant players
– US Congress and other legislative arms of the government are getting tough on big business especially technology companies. The digital arm of Joint Ehpt business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Joint Ehpt has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Organizational Development industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Joint Ehpt needs to keep up with the evolution of technology in the Organizational Development sector. According to Mckinsey study top managers believe that the adoption of technology in operations, communications is 20-25 times faster than what they planned in the beginning of 2019.
New competition
– After the dotcom bust of 2001, financial crisis of 2008-09, the business formation in US economy had declined. But in 2020 alone, there are more than 1.5 million new business applications in United States. This can lead to greater competition for Joint Ehpt in the Organizational Development sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
Consumer confidence and its impact on Joint Ehpt demand
– There is a high probability of declining consumer confidence, given – high inflammation rate, rise of gig economy, lower job stability, increasing cost of living, higher interest rates, and aging demography. All the factors contribute to people saving higher rate of their income, resulting in lower consumer demand in the industry and other sectors.
Technology disruption because of hacks, piracy etc
– The colonial pipeline illustrated, how vulnerable modern organization are to international hackers, miscreants, and disruptors. The cyber security interruption, data leaks, etc can seriously jeopardize the future growth of the organization.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Ericsson Hewlett-Packard: Telecommunications (B): Early Joint Venture Operations Template, Example
Not all factors mentioned under the Strengths, Weakness, Opportunities, and Threats quadrants in the SWOT Analysis are equal. Managers in the HBR case study Ericsson Hewlett-Packard: Telecommunications (B): Early Joint Venture Operations needs to zero down on the relative importance of each factor mentioned in the Strengths, Weakness, Opportunities, and Threats quadrants.
We can provide the relative importance to each factor by assigning relative weights. Weighted SWOT analysis process is a three stage process –
First stage for doing weighted SWOT analysis of the case study Ericsson Hewlett-Packard: Telecommunications (B): Early Joint Venture Operations is to rank the strengths and weaknesses of the organization. This will help you to assess the most important strengths and weaknesses of the firm and which one of the strengths and weaknesses mentioned in the initial lists are marginal and can be left out.
Second stage for conducting weighted SWOT analysis of the Harvard case study Ericsson Hewlett-Packard: Telecommunications (B): Early Joint Venture Operations is to give probabilities to the external strategic factors thus better understanding the opportunities and threats arising out of macro environment changes and developments.
Third stage of constructing weighted SWOT analysis of Ericsson Hewlett-Packard: Telecommunications (B): Early Joint Venture Operations is to provide strategic recommendations includes – joining likelihood of external strategic factors such as opportunities and threats to the internal strategic factors – strengths and weaknesses. You should start with external factors as they will provide the direction of the overall industry. Secondly by joining probabilities with internal strategic factors can help the company not only strategic fit but also the most probably strategic trade-off that Joint Ehpt needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.