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 - – challanges to central banks by blockchain based private currencies, supply chains are disrupted by pandemic , increasing commodity prices, there is increasing trade war between United States & China, customer relationship management is fast transforming because of increasing concerns over data privacy, cloud computing is disrupting traditional business models, central banks are concerned over increasing inflation,
competitive advantages are harder to sustain because of technology dispersion, digital marketing is dominated by two big players Facebook and Google, 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 -
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.
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.
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.
Superior customer experience
– The customer experience strategy of Editorial Telegraph's in the segment is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Ability to recruit top talent
– Editorial Telegraph's is one of the leading recruiters in the industry. Managers in the Telegraph Media Group: The Newspaper Is Dead, Long Live the... (B), Editorial Change - Taking the Telegraph into the 21st Century are in a position to attract the best talent available. The firm has a robust talent identification program that helps in identifying the brightest.
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.
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 -
Slow to harness new channels of communication
– Even though competitors are using new communication channels such as Instagram, Tiktok, and Snap, Editorial Telegraph's is slow explore the new channels of communication. These new channels of communication mentioned in marketing section of case study Telegraph Media Group: The Newspaper Is Dead, Long Live the... (B), Editorial Change - Taking the Telegraph into the 21st Century can help to provide better information regarding products and services. It can also build an online community to further reach out to potential customers.
Skills based hiring
– The stress on hiring functional specialists at Editorial Telegraph's has created an environment where the organization is dominated by functional specialists rather than management generalist. This has resulted into product oriented approach rather than marketing oriented approach or consumers oriented approach.
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.
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.
No frontier risks strategy
– After analyzing 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 company is thinking about the frontier risks that can impact Organizational Development strategy. But it has very little resources allocation to manage the risks emerging from events such as natural disasters, climate change, melting of permafrost, tacking the rise of artificial intelligence, opportunities and threats emerging from commercialization of space etc.
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.
Capital Spending Reduction
– Even during the low interest decade, Editorial Telegraph's has not been able to do capital spending to the tune of the competition. This has resulted into fewer innovations and company facing stiff competition from both existing competitors and new entrants who are disrupting the industry using digital technology.
Products dominated business model
– Even though Editorial Telegraph's has some of the most successful products in the industry, this business model has made each new product launch extremely critical for continuous financial growth of the organization. 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 should strive to include more intangible value offerings along with its core products and services.
High operating costs
– Compare to the competitors, 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 has high operating costs in the. This can be harder to sustain given the new emerging competition from nimble players who are using technology to attract Editorial Telegraph's 's lucrative customers.
Aligning sales with marketing
– It come across in the case study Telegraph Media Group: The Newspaper Is Dead, Long Live the... (B), Editorial Change - Taking the Telegraph into the 21st Century 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 Telegraph Media Group: The Newspaper Is Dead, Long Live the... (B), Editorial Change - Taking the Telegraph into the 21st Century can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Editorial Telegraph's is planning to shift buying processes online.
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.
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 -
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.
Reforming the budgeting process
- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects Editorial Telegraph's can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.
Redefining models of collaboration and team work
– As explained in the weaknesses section, Editorial Telegraph's is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. Telegraph Media Group: The Newspaper Is Dead, Long Live the... (B), Editorial Change - Taking the Telegraph into the 21st Century 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.
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.
Increase in government spending
– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Editorial Telegraph's can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Editorial Telegraph's operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Organizational Development sector.
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.
Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains
– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Editorial Telegraph's can build a diversified supply chain model across various countries in - South East Asia, India, and other parts of the world. This reconfiguration of global supply chain can help, as suggested in case study, Telegraph Media Group: The Newspaper Is Dead, Long Live the... (B), Editorial Change - Taking the Telegraph into the 21st Century, to buy more products closer to the markets, and it can leverage its size and influence to get better deal from the local markets.
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.
Building a culture of innovation
– managers at Editorial Telegraph's can make experimentation a productive activity and build a culture of innovation using approaches such as – mining transaction data, A/B testing of websites and selling platforms, engaging potential customers over various needs, and building on small ideas in the Organizational Development segment.
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.
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. Editorial Telegraph's can tie-up with other value chain partners to explore new opportunities regarding meeting customer demands and building a rewarding and engaging relationship.
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.
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.
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.
Aging population
– As the populations of most advanced economies are aging, it will lead to high social security costs, higher savings among population, and lower demand for goods and services in the economy. The household savings in US, France, UK, Germany, and Japan are growing faster than predicted because of uncertainty caused by pandemic.
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.
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.
Regulatory challenges
– Editorial Telegraph's 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.
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.
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Editorial Telegraph's 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.
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.
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.
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 .
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.
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.
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.
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