Case Study Description of State-Record Newspaper: The CyberState Edition (A)
Paula Ellis, assistant to the publisher, believes an Internet edition of South Carolina's largest newspaper, The State, is critical to the future of the $90 million State-Record Co., a subsidiary of Knight-Ridder, Inc. Ellis supported the creation of an experimental electronic edition covering the Susan Smith murder trial. The experimental edition has evolved into a daily electronic edition called The CyberState. However, lack of advertiser interest and recent financial pressures from increasing newsprint costs have generated internal pressure to scale back or eliminate The CyberState. Ellis must determine the appropriate level of funding and establish various performance goals for fiscal year 1996.
Swot Analysis of "State-Record Newspaper: The CyberState Edition (A)" written by Peter Palij, Brandi Olson includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Edition Cyberstate facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in State-Record Newspaper: The CyberState Edition (A) case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Marketing, Product development and Sales & Marketing.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the State-Record Newspaper: The CyberState Edition (A) casestudy better are - – wage bills are increasing, increasing government debt because of Covid-19 spendings, competitive advantages are harder to sustain because of technology dispersion, increasing household debt because of falling income levels, banking and financial system is disrupted by Bitcoin and other crypto currencies, supply chains are disrupted by pandemic , technology disruption,
geopolitical disruptions, challanges to central banks by blockchain based private currencies, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of State-Record Newspaper: The CyberState Edition (A)
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in State-Record Newspaper: The CyberState Edition (A) case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Edition Cyberstate, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Edition Cyberstate 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 State-Record Newspaper: The CyberState Edition (A) can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in State-Record Newspaper: The CyberState Edition (A) case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Edition Cyberstate
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 Edition Cyberstate
Strengths State-Record Newspaper: The CyberState Edition (A) | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Edition Cyberstate in State-Record Newspaper: The CyberState Edition (A) Harvard Business Review case study are -
Learning organization
- Edition Cyberstate 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 Edition Cyberstate is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders in State-Record Newspaper: The CyberState Edition (A) Harvard Business Review case study emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
Cross disciplinary teams
– Horizontal connected teams at the Edition Cyberstate 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.
Innovation driven organization
– Edition Cyberstate is one of the most innovative firm in sector. Manager in State-Record Newspaper: The CyberState Edition (A) 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)
– Edition Cyberstate 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 State-Record Newspaper: The CyberState Edition (A) - staying ahead in the industry in terms of – new product launches, superior customer experience, highly competitive pricing strategies, and great returns to the shareholders.
Superior customer experience
– The customer experience strategy of Edition Cyberstate in the segment is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.
Ability to recruit top talent
– Edition Cyberstate is one of the leading recruiters in the industry. Managers in the State-Record Newspaper: The CyberState Edition (A) 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 State-Record Newspaper: The CyberState Edition (A) 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.
Successful track record of launching new products
– Edition Cyberstate has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Edition Cyberstate 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.
Digital Transformation in Sales & Marketing segment
- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For Edition Cyberstate digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Edition Cyberstate 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.
Strong track record of project management
– Edition Cyberstate is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.
High brand equity
– Edition Cyberstate has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Edition Cyberstate to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Analytics focus
– Edition Cyberstate 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 Peter Palij, Brandi Olson 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.
Weaknesses State-Record Newspaper: The CyberState Edition (A) | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of State-Record Newspaper: The CyberState Edition (A) are -
Compensation and incentives
– The revenue per employee as mentioned in the HBR case study State-Record Newspaper: The CyberState Edition (A), is just above the industry average. Edition Cyberstate 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.
Products dominated business model
– Even though Edition Cyberstate 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 - State-Record Newspaper: The CyberState Edition (A) should strive to include more intangible value offerings along with its core products and services.
Capital Spending Reduction
– Even during the low interest decade, Edition Cyberstate 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.
Workers concerns about automation
– As automation is fast increasing in the segment, Edition Cyberstate 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.
Aligning sales with marketing
– It come across in the case study State-Record Newspaper: The CyberState Edition (A) 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 State-Record Newspaper: The CyberState Edition (A) can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Edition Cyberstate is planning to shift buying processes online.
Lack of clear differentiation of Edition Cyberstate products
– To increase the profitability and margins on the products, Edition Cyberstate needs to provide more differentiated products than what it is currently offering in the marketplace.
Interest costs
– Compare to the competition, Edition Cyberstate 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.
No frontier risks strategy
– After analyzing the HBR case study State-Record Newspaper: The CyberState Edition (A), 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.
Slow to harness new channels of communication
– Even though competitors are using new communication channels such as Instagram, Tiktok, and Snap, Edition Cyberstate is slow explore the new channels of communication. These new channels of communication mentioned in marketing section of case study State-Record Newspaper: The CyberState Edition (A) can help to provide better information regarding products and services. It can also build an online community to further reach out to potential customers.
Increasing silos among functional specialists
– The organizational structure of Edition Cyberstate is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Sales & Marketing segment. Edition Cyberstate needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Edition Cyberstate to focus more on services rather than just following the product oriented approach.
Need for greater diversity
– Edition Cyberstate 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.
Opportunities State-Record Newspaper: The CyberState Edition (A) | 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 State-Record Newspaper: The CyberState Edition (A) are -
Loyalty marketing
– Edition Cyberstate 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.
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. Edition Cyberstate can tie-up with other value chain partners to explore new opportunities regarding meeting customer demands and building a rewarding and engaging relationship.
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Edition Cyberstate has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Edition Cyberstate to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the State-Record Newspaper: The CyberState Edition (A) case study. Edition Cyberstate can build new products and services such as - data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
Low interest rates
– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Edition Cyberstate 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.
Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains
– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Edition Cyberstate 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, State-Record Newspaper: The CyberState Edition (A), to buy more products closer to the markets, and it can leverage its size and influence to get better deal from the local markets.
Lowering marketing communication costs
– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Edition Cyberstate in the field of marketing communication. It will bring down the cost of doing business, provide technology platform to build new products in the Sales & Marketing segment, and it will provide faster access to the consumers.
Increase in government spending
– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Edition Cyberstate can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Edition Cyberstate operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Sales & Marketing sector.
Better consumer reach
– The expansion of the 5G network will help Edition Cyberstate to increase its market reach. Edition Cyberstate 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.
Developing new processes and practices
– Edition Cyberstate can develop new processes and procedures in Sales & Marketing 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.
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 Edition Cyberstate in the consumer business. Now Edition Cyberstate can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.
Learning at scale
– Online learning technologies has now opened space for Edition Cyberstate 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.
Leveraging digital technologies
– Edition Cyberstate 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.
Buying journey improvements
– Edition Cyberstate can improve the customer journey of consumers in the industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. State-Record Newspaper: The CyberState Edition (A) 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 State-Record Newspaper: The CyberState Edition (A) External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study State-Record Newspaper: The CyberState Edition (A) are -
Regulatory challenges
– Edition Cyberstate 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 Sales & Marketing industry regulations.
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 Edition Cyberstate.
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Edition Cyberstate has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Sales & Marketing industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Edition Cyberstate needs to keep up with the evolution of technology in the Sales & Marketing 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.
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Edition Cyberstate 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.
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. Edition Cyberstate can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Edition Cyberstate 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 State-Record Newspaper: The CyberState Edition (A) .
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. Edition Cyberstate 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.
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.
Increasing wage structure of Edition Cyberstate
– 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 Edition Cyberstate.
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.
Consumer confidence and its impact on Edition Cyberstate 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.
High dependence on third party suppliers
– Edition Cyberstate 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.
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry in the industry are lowering. It can presents Edition Cyberstate with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the sector.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of State-Record Newspaper: The CyberState Edition (A) 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 State-Record Newspaper: The CyberState Edition (A) 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 State-Record Newspaper: The CyberState Edition (A) 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 State-Record Newspaper: The CyberState Edition (A) 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 State-Record Newspaper: The CyberState Edition (A) 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 Edition Cyberstate needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.
