Telegraph Media Group: The Newspaper Is Dead, Long Live the... (B), Editorial Change - Taking the Telegraph into the 21st Century SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Organizational Development
Strategy / MBA Resources
Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of Telegraph Media Group: The Newspaper Is Dead, Long Live the... (B), Editorial Change - Taking the Telegraph into the 21st Century
The (B) case, second in a series of five, follows the (A) case which laid out the case for change in the context of the Telegraph's 150-plus-year history and concluded with the senior management's decision to start the change process with the editorial organization and to do so with a change of location from London's Docklands to a former trading floor by Victoria station in Central London. The (B) case describes the changes that would be necessary in the Telegraph's editorial function.
Swot Analysis of "Telegraph Media Group: The Newspaper Is Dead, Long Live the... (B), Editorial Change - Taking the Telegraph into the 21st Century" written by Anirudh Dhebar includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Editorial Telegraph's facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Telegraph Media Group: The Newspaper Is Dead, Long Live the... (B), Editorial Change - Taking the Telegraph into the 21st Century case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Change management, Competition, Customers, Leadership, Technology and Organizational Development.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Telegraph Media Group: The Newspaper Is Dead, Long Live the... (B), Editorial Change - Taking the Telegraph into the 21st Century casestudy better are - – increasing energy prices, increasing transportation and logistics costs, central banks are concerned over increasing inflation, talent flight as more people leaving formal jobs, wage bills are increasing, challanges to central banks by blockchain based private currencies, geopolitical disruptions,
technology disruption, there is backlash against globalization, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Telegraph Media Group: The Newspaper Is Dead, Long Live the... (B), Editorial Change - Taking the Telegraph into the 21st Century
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Telegraph Media Group: The Newspaper Is Dead, Long Live the... (B), Editorial Change - Taking the Telegraph into the 21st Century case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Editorial Telegraph's, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Editorial Telegraph's 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 Telegraph Media Group: The Newspaper Is Dead, Long Live the... (B), Editorial Change - Taking the Telegraph into the 21st Century can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Telegraph Media Group: The Newspaper Is Dead, Long Live the... (B), Editorial Change - Taking the Telegraph into the 21st Century case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Editorial Telegraph's
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 Editorial Telegraph's
Strengths Telegraph Media Group: The Newspaper Is Dead, Long Live the... (B), Editorial Change - Taking the Telegraph into the 21st Century | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Editorial Telegraph's in Telegraph Media Group: The Newspaper Is Dead, Long Live the... (B), Editorial Change - Taking the Telegraph into the 21st Century Harvard Business Review case study are -
Analytics focus
– Editorial Telegraph's is putting a lot of focus on utilizing the power of analytics in business decision making. This has put it among the leading players in the industry. The technology infrastructure suggested by Anirudh Dhebar can also help it to harness the power of analytics for – marketing optimization, demand forecasting, customer relationship management, inventory management, information sharing across the value chain etc.
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of Editorial Telegraph's in the sector have low bargaining power. Telegraph Media Group: The Newspaper Is Dead, Long Live the... (B), Editorial Change - Taking the Telegraph into the 21st Century has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Editorial Telegraph's to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
Diverse revenue streams
– Editorial Telegraph's is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided firm in Telegraph Media Group: The Newspaper Is Dead, Long Live the... (B), Editorial Change - Taking the Telegraph into the 21st Century 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.
Training and development
– Editorial Telegraph's has one of the best training and development program in the industry. The effectiveness of the training programs can be measured in Telegraph Media Group: The Newspaper Is Dead, Long Live the... (B), Editorial Change - Taking the Telegraph into the 21st Century Harvard Business Review case study by analyzing – employees retention, in-house promotion, loyalty, new venture initiation, lack of conflict, and high level of both employees and customer engagement.
Digital Transformation in Organizational Development segment
- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For Editorial Telegraph's digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Editorial Telegraph's has successfully integrated the four key components of digital transformation – digital integration in processes, digital integration in marketing and customer relationship management, digital integration into the value chain, and using technology to explore new products and market opportunities.
Highly skilled collaborators
– Editorial Telegraph's 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 Telegraph Media Group: The Newspaper Is Dead, Long Live the... (B), Editorial Change - Taking the Telegraph into the 21st Century HBR case study have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
Operational resilience
– The operational resilience strategy in the Telegraph Media Group: The Newspaper Is Dead, Long Live the... (B), Editorial Change - Taking the Telegraph into the 21st Century 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.
Effective Research and Development (R&D)
– Editorial Telegraph's 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 Telegraph Media Group: The Newspaper Is Dead, Long Live the... (B), Editorial Change - Taking the Telegraph into the 21st Century - staying ahead in the industry in terms of – new product launches, superior customer experience, highly competitive pricing strategies, and great returns to the shareholders.
Ability to lead change in Organizational Development field
– Editorial Telegraph's 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 Editorial Telegraph's in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.
Learning organization
- Editorial Telegraph's is a learning organization. It has inculcated three key characters of learning organization in its processes and operations – exploration, creativity, and expansiveness. The work place at Editorial Telegraph's is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders in Telegraph Media Group: The Newspaper Is Dead, Long Live the... (B), Editorial Change - Taking the Telegraph into the 21st Century Harvard Business Review case study emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
High switching costs
– The high switching costs that Editorial Telegraph's 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.
High brand equity
– Editorial Telegraph's has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Editorial Telegraph's to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Weaknesses Telegraph Media Group: The Newspaper Is Dead, Long Live the... (B), Editorial Change - Taking the Telegraph into the 21st Century | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Telegraph Media Group: The Newspaper Is Dead, Long Live the... (B), Editorial Change - Taking the Telegraph into the 21st Century are -
Employees’ incomplete understanding of strategy
– From the instances in the HBR case study Telegraph Media Group: The Newspaper Is Dead, Long Live the... (B), Editorial Change - Taking the Telegraph into the 21st Century, it seems that the employees of Editorial Telegraph's 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 Editorial Telegraph's products
– To increase the profitability and margins on the products, Editorial Telegraph's needs to provide more differentiated products than what it is currently offering in the marketplace.
Interest costs
– Compare to the competition, Editorial Telegraph's 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.
Need for greater diversity
– Editorial Telegraph's 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.
Workers concerns about automation
– As automation is fast increasing in the segment, Editorial Telegraph's 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.
Low market penetration in new markets
– Outside its home market of Editorial Telegraph's, firm in the HBR case study Telegraph Media Group: The Newspaper Is Dead, Long Live the... (B), Editorial Change - Taking the Telegraph into the 21st Century needs to spend more promotional, marketing, and advertising efforts to penetrate international markets.
Slow decision making process
– As mentioned earlier in the report, Editorial Telegraph's 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. Editorial Telegraph's 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.
High bargaining power of channel partners
– Because of the regulatory requirements, Anirudh Dhebar suggests that, Editorial Telegraph's 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.
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 Editorial Telegraph's supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes mentioned in the HBR case study - Telegraph Media Group: The Newspaper Is Dead, Long Live the... (B), Editorial Change - Taking the Telegraph into the 21st Century, it is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left Editorial Telegraph's vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.
Ability to respond to the competition
– As the decision making is very deliberative, highlighted in the case study Telegraph Media Group: The Newspaper Is Dead, Long Live the... (B), Editorial Change - Taking the Telegraph into the 21st Century, in the dynamic environment Editorial Telegraph's has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. Editorial Telegraph's has reasonably good record with similar level competitors but it has struggled with new entrants taking away niches of its business.
Compensation and incentives
– The revenue per employee as mentioned in the HBR case study Telegraph Media Group: The Newspaper Is Dead, Long Live the... (B), Editorial Change - Taking the Telegraph into the 21st Century, is just above the industry average. Editorial Telegraph's needs to redesign the compensation structure and incentives to increase the revenue per employees. Some of the steps that it can take are – hiring more specialists on project basis, etc.
Opportunities Telegraph Media Group: The Newspaper Is Dead, Long Live the... (B), Editorial Change - Taking the Telegraph into the 21st Century | 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 Telegraph Media Group: The Newspaper Is Dead, Long Live the... (B), Editorial Change - Taking the Telegraph into the 21st Century are -
Changes in consumer behavior post Covid-19
– Consumer behavior has changed in the Organizational Development industry because of Covid-19 restrictions. Some of this behavior will stay once things get back to normal. Editorial Telegraph's can take advantage of these changes in consumer behavior to build a far more efficient business model. For example consumer regular ordering of products can reduce both last mile delivery costs and market penetration costs. Editorial Telegraph's can further use this consumer data to build better customer loyalty, provide better products and service collection, and improve the value proposition in inflationary times.
Loyalty marketing
– Editorial Telegraph's has focused on building a highly responsive customer relationship management platform. This platform is built on in-house data and driven by analytics and artificial intelligence. The customer analytics can help the organization to fine tune its loyalty marketing efforts, increase the wallet share of the organization, reduce wastage on mainstream advertising spending, build better pricing strategies using personalization, etc.
Leveraging digital technologies
– Editorial Telegraph's 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.
Low interest rates
– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Editorial Telegraph's can still utilize the low interest rates to borrow money for capital investment. Secondly it can also use the increase of government spending in infrastructure projects to get new business.
Lowering marketing communication costs
– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Editorial Telegraph's 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.
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– Editorial Telegraph's has spent a significant amount of money and effort to integrate analytics and machine learning into its operations in the sector. This continuous investment in analytics has enabled, as illustrated in the Harvard case study Telegraph Media Group: The Newspaper Is Dead, Long Live the... (B), Editorial Change - Taking the Telegraph into the 21st Century - to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Editorial Telegraph's to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
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 Editorial Telegraph's 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.
Identify volunteer opportunities
– Covid-19 has impacted working population in two ways – it has led to people soul searching about their professional choices, resulting in mass resignation. Secondly it has encouraged people to do things that they are passionate about. This has opened opportunities for businesses to build volunteer oriented socially driven projects. Editorial Telegraph's can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.
Better consumer reach
– The expansion of the 5G network will help Editorial Telegraph's to increase its market reach. Editorial Telegraph's will be able to reach out to new customers. Secondly 5G will also provide technology framework to build new tools and products that can help more immersive consumer experience and faster consumer journey.
Learning at scale
– Online learning technologies has now opened space for Editorial Telegraph's to conduct training and development for its employees across the world. This will result in not only reducing the cost of training but also help employees in different part of the world to integrate with the headquarter work culture, ethos, and standards.
Manufacturing automation
– Editorial Telegraph's 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.
Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities
– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Editorial Telegraph's 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 Editorial Telegraph's to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
Developing new processes and practices
– Editorial Telegraph's 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.
Threats Telegraph Media Group: The Newspaper Is Dead, Long Live the... (B), Editorial Change - Taking the Telegraph into the 21st Century External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Telegraph Media Group: The Newspaper Is Dead, Long Live the... (B), Editorial Change - Taking the Telegraph into the 21st Century are -
Capital market disruption
– During the Covid-19, Dow Jones has touched record high. The valuations of a number of companies are way beyond their existing business model potential. This can lead to capital market correction which can put a number of suppliers, collaborators, value chain partners in great financial difficulty. It will directly impact the business of Editorial Telegraph's.
Environmental challenges
– Editorial Telegraph's 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. Editorial Telegraph's can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Organizational Development industry.
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Editorial Telegraph's has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Organizational Development industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Editorial Telegraph's 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 Editorial Telegraph's in the Organizational Development sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
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. Editorial Telegraph's 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.
Consumer confidence and its impact on Editorial Telegraph's 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.
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Editorial Telegraph's can face downward pressure on margins from increasing competition from international players. The international players have stable revenue in their home market and can use those resources to penetrate prominent markets illustrated in HBR case study Telegraph Media Group: The Newspaper Is Dead, Long Live the... (B), Editorial Change - Taking the Telegraph into the 21st Century .
High dependence on third party suppliers
– Editorial Telegraph's 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 Editorial Telegraph's
– 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 Editorial Telegraph's.
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. Editorial Telegraph's can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry in the industry are lowering. It can presents Editorial Telegraph's with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the sector.
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Editorial Telegraph's in the Organizational Development industry. The Organizational Development industry is already at various protected from local competition in China, with the rise of trade war the protection levels may go up. This presents a clear threat of current business model in Chinese market.
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 Editorial Telegraph's business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Telegraph Media Group: The Newspaper Is Dead, Long Live the... (B), Editorial Change - Taking the Telegraph into the 21st Century 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 Telegraph Media Group: The Newspaper Is Dead, Long Live the... (B), Editorial Change - Taking the Telegraph into the 21st Century 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 Telegraph Media Group: The Newspaper Is Dead, Long Live the... (B), Editorial Change - Taking the Telegraph into the 21st Century 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 Telegraph Media Group: The Newspaper Is Dead, Long Live the... (B), Editorial Change - Taking the Telegraph into the 21st Century 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 Telegraph Media Group: The Newspaper Is Dead, Long Live the... (B), Editorial Change - Taking the Telegraph into the 21st Century 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 Editorial Telegraph's needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.
Feel free to connect with us if you need business research.
You can download Excel Template of Case Study Solution & Analysis of Telegraph Media Group: The Newspaper Is Dead, Long Live the... (B), Editorial Change - Taking the Telegraph into the 21st Century