KP Media (A): Building a Media Empire in Ukraine SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Sales & Marketing
Strategy / MBA Resources
Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of KP Media (A): Building a Media Empire in Ukraine
In the 1990s, following the fall of the Soviet empire, a wave of English-language newspaper emerged in Eastern Europe. Among the most significant was the Kyiv Post, which by the end of the decade had established a reputation as the leading independent news source in Ukraine. From its shoestring beginnings, by 2006 it had become a $US55 million enterprise. However, the newspaper's independence and survival was severely tested in the wake of the global financial crisis.
Swot Analysis of "KP Media (A): Building a Media Empire in Ukraine" written by Luk N. Van Wassenhove, Mark Hunter includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Ukraine Empire facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in KP Media (A): Building a Media Empire in Ukraine case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, and Sales & Marketing.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the KP Media (A): Building a Media Empire in Ukraine casestudy better are - – competitive advantages are harder to sustain because of technology dispersion, increasing household debt because of falling income levels, there is backlash against globalization, supply chains are disrupted by pandemic , increasing government debt because of Covid-19 spendings, increasing inequality as vast percentage of new income is going to the top 1%, central banks are concerned over increasing inflation,
digital marketing is dominated by two big players Facebook and Google, there is increasing trade war between United States & China, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of KP Media (A): Building a Media Empire in Ukraine
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in KP Media (A): Building a Media Empire in Ukraine case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Ukraine Empire, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Ukraine Empire 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 KP Media (A): Building a Media Empire in Ukraine can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in KP Media (A): Building a Media Empire in Ukraine case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Ukraine Empire
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 Ukraine Empire
Strengths KP Media (A): Building a Media Empire in Ukraine | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Ukraine Empire in KP Media (A): Building a Media Empire in Ukraine Harvard Business Review case study are -
Ability to recruit top talent
– Ukraine Empire is one of the leading recruiters in the industry. Managers in the KP Media (A): Building a Media Empire in Ukraine are in a position to attract the best talent available. The firm has a robust talent identification program that helps in identifying the brightest.
Effective Research and Development (R&D)
– Ukraine Empire 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 KP Media (A): Building a Media Empire in Ukraine - 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
- Ukraine Empire 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 Ukraine Empire is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders in KP Media (A): Building a Media Empire in Ukraine Harvard Business Review case study emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
Organizational Resilience of Ukraine Empire
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing that Ukraine Empire does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
Ability to lead change in Sales & Marketing field
– Ukraine Empire 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 Ukraine Empire in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Sales & Marketing industry
– KP Media (A): Building a Media Empire in Ukraine firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Ukraine Empire to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Sales & Marketing industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Ukraine Empire to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
High switching costs
– The high switching costs that Ukraine Empire 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.
Operational resilience
– The operational resilience strategy in the KP Media (A): Building a Media Empire in Ukraine 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.
Training and development
– Ukraine Empire has one of the best training and development program in the industry. The effectiveness of the training programs can be measured in KP Media (A): Building a Media Empire in Ukraine 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 brand equity
– Ukraine Empire has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Ukraine Empire to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Innovation driven organization
– Ukraine Empire is one of the most innovative firm in sector. Manager in KP Media (A): Building a Media Empire in Ukraine Harvard Business Review case study can use Clayton Christensen Disruptive Innovation strategies to further increase the scale of innovtions in the organization.
Strong track record of project management
– Ukraine Empire is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.
Weaknesses KP Media (A): Building a Media Empire in Ukraine | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of KP Media (A): Building a Media Empire in Ukraine are -
Slow to strategic competitive environment developments
– As KP Media (A): Building a Media Empire in Ukraine HBR case study mentions - Ukraine Empire 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.
Capital Spending Reduction
– Even during the low interest decade, Ukraine Empire 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.
Slow to harness new channels of communication
– Even though competitors are using new communication channels such as Instagram, Tiktok, and Snap, Ukraine Empire is slow explore the new channels of communication. These new channels of communication mentioned in marketing section of case study KP Media (A): Building a Media Empire in Ukraine can help to provide better information regarding products and services. It can also build an online community to further reach out to potential customers.
High dependence on star products
– The top 2 products and services of the firm as mentioned in the KP Media (A): Building a Media Empire in Ukraine HBR case study still accounts for major business revenue. This dependence on star products in has resulted into insufficient focus on developing new products, even though Ukraine Empire has relatively successful track record of launching new products.
Products dominated business model
– Even though Ukraine Empire 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 - KP Media (A): Building a Media Empire in Ukraine should strive to include more intangible value offerings along with its core products and services.
Low market penetration in new markets
– Outside its home market of Ukraine Empire, firm in the HBR case study KP Media (A): Building a Media Empire in Ukraine needs to spend more promotional, marketing, and advertising efforts to penetrate international markets.
Ability to respond to the competition
– As the decision making is very deliberative, highlighted in the case study KP Media (A): Building a Media Empire in Ukraine, in the dynamic environment Ukraine Empire has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. Ukraine Empire has reasonably good record with similar level competitors but it has struggled with new entrants taking away niches of its business.
Employees’ incomplete understanding of strategy
– From the instances in the HBR case study KP Media (A): Building a Media Empire in Ukraine, it seems that the employees of Ukraine Empire 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.
Need for greater diversity
– Ukraine Empire has taken concrete steps on diversity, equity, and inclusion. But the efforts so far has resulted in limited success. It needs to expand the recruitment and selection process to hire more people from the minorities and underprivileged background.
High operating costs
– Compare to the competitors, firm in the HBR case study KP Media (A): Building a Media Empire in Ukraine 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 Ukraine Empire 's lucrative customers.
Skills based hiring
– The stress on hiring functional specialists at Ukraine Empire 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.
Opportunities KP Media (A): Building a Media Empire in Ukraine | 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 KP Media (A): Building a Media Empire in Ukraine are -
Increase in government spending
– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Ukraine Empire can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Ukraine Empire operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Sales & Marketing sector.
Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities
– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Ukraine Empire 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 Ukraine Empire to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Ukraine Empire has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Ukraine Empire to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the KP Media (A): Building a Media Empire in Ukraine case study. Ukraine Empire can build new products and services such as - data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
Buying journey improvements
– Ukraine Empire can improve the customer journey of consumers in the industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. KP Media (A): Building a Media Empire in Ukraine 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.
Changes in consumer behavior post Covid-19
– Consumer behavior has changed in the Sales & Marketing industry because of Covid-19 restrictions. Some of this behavior will stay once things get back to normal. Ukraine Empire 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. Ukraine Empire 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.
Redefining models of collaboration and team work
– As explained in the weaknesses section, Ukraine Empire is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. KP Media (A): Building a Media Empire in Ukraine 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.
Low interest rates
– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Ukraine Empire 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.
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 Ukraine Empire in the consumer business. Now Ukraine Empire 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 Ukraine Empire 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.
Lowering marketing communication costs
– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Ukraine Empire 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.
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. Ukraine Empire can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.
Loyalty marketing
– Ukraine Empire 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.
Developing new processes and practices
– Ukraine Empire 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.
Threats KP Media (A): Building a Media Empire in Ukraine External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study KP Media (A): Building a Media Empire in Ukraine are -
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 Ukraine Empire in the Sales & Marketing sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
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.
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Ukraine Empire 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.
Consumer confidence and its impact on Ukraine Empire 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, Ukraine Empire 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 KP Media (A): Building a Media Empire in Ukraine .
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. Ukraine Empire can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
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. Ukraine Empire 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.
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 Ukraine Empire business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Ukraine Empire has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Sales & Marketing industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Ukraine Empire 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.
Increasing wage structure of Ukraine Empire
– 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 Ukraine Empire.
Regulatory challenges
– Ukraine Empire 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.
High level of anxiety and lack of motivation
– the Great Resignation in United States is the sign of broader dissatisfaction among the workforce in United States. Ukraine Empire needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Sales & Marketing industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
Technology disruption because of hacks, piracy etc
– The colonial pipeline illustrated, how vulnerable modern organization are to international hackers, miscreants, and disruptors. The cyber security interruption, data leaks, etc can seriously jeopardize the future growth of the organization.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of KP Media (A): Building a Media Empire in Ukraine 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 KP Media (A): Building a Media Empire in Ukraine 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 KP Media (A): Building a Media Empire in Ukraine 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 KP Media (A): Building a Media Empire in Ukraine 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 KP Media (A): Building a Media Empire in Ukraine 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 Ukraine Empire needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.
