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New Technologies, New Markets: The Launch of Hongkong Telecom's Video-on-Demand SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis

Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution

Case Study Description of New Technologies, New Markets: The Launch of Hongkong Telecom's Video-on-Demand


In March 1998, Hongkong Telecom's Interactive Multimedia Services (IMS) unit launched the world's first commercial Video-on-Demand (VOD) system. Worldwide interest resulted from the implementation of the world's first commercial VOD system--an expensive high-technology service for which consumer demand had yet to be proven--and from the launching of the first generation of interactive television (iTV) systems. In taking the new technology to market, how was IMS to go about generating demand for the service, and how could they forecast technological adoption rates in the market? What was the role of the government in regulating the new business environment? And what issues were associated with such large and long-term capital investments?

Authors :: Peter Lovelock

Topics :: Sales & Marketing

Tags :: Government, Marketing, SWOT Analysis, SWOT Matrix, TOWS, Weighted SWOT Analysis

Swot Analysis of "New Technologies, New Markets: The Launch of Hongkong Telecom's Video-on-Demand" written by Peter Lovelock includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Ims Hongkong facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in New Technologies, New Markets: The Launch of Hongkong Telecom's Video-on-Demand case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Government, Marketing and Sales & Marketing.


Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the New Technologies, New Markets: The Launch of Hongkong Telecom's Video-on-Demand casestudy better are - – supply chains are disrupted by pandemic , increasing commodity prices, geopolitical disruptions, central banks are concerned over increasing inflation, there is increasing trade war between United States & China, increasing energy prices, there is backlash against globalization, digital marketing is dominated by two big players Facebook and Google, cloud computing is disrupting traditional business models, etc



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Introduction to SWOT Analysis of New Technologies, New Markets: The Launch of Hongkong Telecom's Video-on-Demand


SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in New Technologies, New Markets: The Launch of Hongkong Telecom's Video-on-Demand case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Ims Hongkong, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Ims Hongkong 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 New Technologies, New Markets: The Launch of Hongkong Telecom's Video-on-Demand can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in New Technologies, New Markets: The Launch of Hongkong Telecom's Video-on-Demand case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Ims Hongkong
3. Assessing feasibility of the new initiative in Sales & Marketing field.
4. Making a Sales & Marketing topic specific business decision
5. Set goals for the organization
6. Organizational restructuring of Ims Hongkong




Strengths New Technologies, New Markets: The Launch of Hongkong Telecom's Video-on-Demand | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis

The strengths of Ims Hongkong in New Technologies, New Markets: The Launch of Hongkong Telecom's Video-on-Demand Harvard Business Review case study are -

Successful track record of launching new products

– Ims Hongkong has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Ims Hongkong has effective processes in place that helps in exploring new product needs, doing quick pilot testing, and then launching the products quickly using its extensive distribution network.

High brand equity

– Ims Hongkong has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Ims Hongkong to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.

Sustainable margins compare to other players in Sales & Marketing industry

– New Technologies, New Markets: The Launch of Hongkong Telecom's Video-on-Demand firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Ims Hongkong to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Sales & Marketing industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Ims Hongkong to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.

Training and development

– Ims Hongkong has one of the best training and development program in the industry. The effectiveness of the training programs can be measured in New Technologies, New Markets: The Launch of Hongkong Telecom's Video-on-Demand 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.

Superior customer experience

– The customer experience strategy of Ims Hongkong in the segment is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.

Highly skilled collaborators

– Ims Hongkong 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 New Technologies, New Markets: The Launch of Hongkong Telecom's Video-on-Demand HBR case study have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.

Learning organization

- Ims Hongkong 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 Ims Hongkong is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders in New Technologies, New Markets: The Launch of Hongkong Telecom's Video-on-Demand Harvard Business Review case study emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.

Strong track record of project management

– Ims Hongkong is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.

Diverse revenue streams

– Ims Hongkong is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided firm in New Technologies, New Markets: The Launch of Hongkong Telecom's Video-on-Demand 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 Ims Hongkong

– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing that Ims Hongkong does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.

Operational resilience

– The operational resilience strategy in the New Technologies, New Markets: The Launch of Hongkong Telecom's Video-on-Demand 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.

Ability to lead change in Sales & Marketing field

– Ims Hongkong 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 Ims Hongkong in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.



02468Radiohead: Music at Your Own Price (A), Spanish Version WFNX-107.7 FM and Boston's Radio Wars YouTube: Time to Charge Users? Reverend Musical Instruments: Playing a Different Tune (A) State-Record Newspaper: The CyberState Edition (A) New Technologies, New Markets: The Launch of Hongkong Telecom's Video-on-Demand
Net Promoter Score



Weaknesses New Technologies, New Markets: The Launch of Hongkong Telecom's Video-on-Demand | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis

The weaknesses of New Technologies, New Markets: The Launch of Hongkong Telecom's Video-on-Demand are -

Compensation and incentives

– The revenue per employee as mentioned in the HBR case study New Technologies, New Markets: The Launch of Hongkong Telecom's Video-on-Demand, is just above the industry average. Ims Hongkong 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.

Capital Spending Reduction

– Even during the low interest decade, Ims Hongkong 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.

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 Ims Hongkong supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes mentioned in the HBR case study - New Technologies, New Markets: The Launch of Hongkong Telecom's Video-on-Demand, it is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left Ims Hongkong vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.

No frontier risks strategy

– After analyzing the HBR case study New Technologies, New Markets: The Launch of Hongkong Telecom's Video-on-Demand, it seems that company is thinking about the frontier risks that can impact Sales & Marketing 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.

Skills based hiring

– The stress on hiring functional specialists at Ims Hongkong 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.

Slow to strategic competitive environment developments

– As New Technologies, New Markets: The Launch of Hongkong Telecom's Video-on-Demand HBR case study mentions - Ims Hongkong takes time to assess the upcoming competitions. This has led to missing out on atleast 2-3 big opportunities in the industry in last five years.

Increasing silos among functional specialists

– The organizational structure of Ims Hongkong is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Sales & Marketing segment. Ims Hongkong needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Ims Hongkong to focus more on services rather than just following the product oriented approach.

Interest costs

– Compare to the competition, Ims Hongkong 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.

Aligning sales with marketing

– It come across in the case study New Technologies, New Markets: The Launch of Hongkong Telecom's Video-on-Demand 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 New Technologies, New Markets: The Launch of Hongkong Telecom's Video-on-Demand can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Ims Hongkong is planning to shift buying processes online.

Slow decision making process

– As mentioned earlier in the report, Ims Hongkong 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. Ims Hongkong 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, Peter Lovelock suggests that, Ims Hongkong 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.




Opportunities New Technologies, New Markets: The Launch of Hongkong Telecom's Video-on-Demand | 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 New Technologies, New Markets: The Launch of Hongkong Telecom's Video-on-Demand are -

Manufacturing automation

– Ims Hongkong can use the latest technology developments to improve its manufacturing and designing process in Sales & Marketing 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.

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. Ims Hongkong can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.

Redefining models of collaboration and team work

– As explained in the weaknesses section, Ims Hongkong is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. New Technologies, New Markets: The Launch of Hongkong Telecom's Video-on-Demand 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.

Increase in government spending

– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Ims Hongkong can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Ims Hongkong operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Sales & Marketing sector.

Low interest rates

– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Ims Hongkong 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.

Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities

– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Ims Hongkong 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 Ims Hongkong to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.

Loyalty marketing

– Ims Hongkong 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

– Ims Hongkong 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.

Building a culture of innovation

– managers at Ims Hongkong 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 Sales & Marketing segment.

Finding new ways to collaborate

– Covid-19 has not only transformed business models of companies in Sales & Marketing industry, but it has also influenced the consumer preferences. Ims Hongkong can tie-up with other value chain partners to explore new opportunities regarding meeting customer demands and building a rewarding and engaging relationship.

Learning at scale

– Online learning technologies has now opened space for Ims Hongkong 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.

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 Ims Hongkong in the consumer business. Now Ims Hongkong can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.

Buying journey improvements

– Ims Hongkong can improve the customer journey of consumers in the industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. New Technologies, New Markets: The Launch of Hongkong Telecom's Video-on-Demand 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.




Threats New Technologies, New Markets: The Launch of Hongkong Telecom's Video-on-Demand External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis


The threats mentioned in the HBR case study New Technologies, New Markets: The Launch of Hongkong Telecom's Video-on-Demand are -

Easy access to finance

– Easy access to finance in Sales & Marketing field will also reduce the barriers to entry in the industry, thus putting downward pressure on the prices because of increasing competition. Ims Hongkong 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 Ims Hongkong with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the sector.

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 Ims Hongkong in the Sales & Marketing sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.

Environmental challenges

– Ims Hongkong 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. Ims Hongkong can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Sales & Marketing industry.

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.

Trade war between China and United States

– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Ims Hongkong in the Sales & Marketing industry. The Sales & Marketing 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.

Increasing wage structure of Ims Hongkong

– 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 Ims Hongkong.

Learning curve for new practices

– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, as highlighted in case study New Technologies, New Markets: The Launch of Hongkong Telecom's Video-on-Demand, Ims Hongkong may face longer learning curve for training and development of existing employees. This can open space for more nimble competitors in the field of Sales & Marketing .

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 Ims Hongkong 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, Ims Hongkong 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 New Technologies, New Markets: The Launch of Hongkong Telecom's Video-on-Demand .

Stagnating economy with rate increase

– Ims Hongkong 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.

Shortening product life cycle

– it is one of the major threat that Ims Hongkong is facing in Sales & Marketing sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.

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. Ims Hongkong 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.




Weighted SWOT Analysis of New Technologies, New Markets: The Launch of Hongkong Telecom's Video-on-Demand 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 New Technologies, New Markets: The Launch of Hongkong Telecom's Video-on-Demand 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 New Technologies, New Markets: The Launch of Hongkong Telecom's Video-on-Demand 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 New Technologies, New Markets: The Launch of Hongkong Telecom's Video-on-Demand 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 New Technologies, New Markets: The Launch of Hongkong Telecom's Video-on-Demand 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 Ims Hongkong needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.



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