LG Electronics Canada, Inc. - The Watch Phone SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Sales & Marketing
Strategy / MBA Resources
Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of LG Electronics Canada, Inc. - The Watch Phone
A fourth year business student prepares for an interview as an assistant marketing manager with one of the world's largest electronic conglomerates. To help secure the position, he develops a marketing plan for the Canadian launch of a new product. This case serves as an introduction to marketing management at the undergraduate level. Students can properly analyze this case after having been introduced to the 4 Ps (product, placement, price, promotion) and or a marketing framework. Students are required to complete the following: 1) an industry analysis, 2) a corporate size-up, 3) a consumer analysis, 4) a competitive analysis, and 5) a marketing plan design.
Swot Analysis of "LG Electronics Canada, Inc. - The Watch Phone" written by Elizabeth M.A. Grasby, Ian Dunn includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Marketing 4 facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in LG Electronics Canada, Inc. - The Watch Phone case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Marketing and Sales & Marketing.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the LG Electronics Canada, Inc. - The Watch Phone casestudy better are - – supply chains are disrupted by pandemic , cloud computing is disrupting traditional business models, there is backlash against globalization, talent flight as more people leaving formal jobs, challanges to central banks by blockchain based private currencies, increasing household debt because of falling income levels, digital marketing is dominated by two big players Facebook and Google,
wage bills are increasing, geopolitical disruptions, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of LG Electronics Canada, Inc. - The Watch Phone
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in LG Electronics Canada, Inc. - The Watch Phone case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Marketing 4, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Marketing 4 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 LG Electronics Canada, Inc. - The Watch Phone can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in LG Electronics Canada, Inc. - The Watch Phone case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Marketing 4
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 Marketing 4
Strengths LG Electronics Canada, Inc. - The Watch Phone | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Marketing 4 in LG Electronics Canada, Inc. - The Watch Phone Harvard Business Review case study are -
Digital Transformation in Sales & Marketing segment
- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For Marketing 4 digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Marketing 4 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.
Superior customer experience
– The customer experience strategy of Marketing 4 in the segment is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.
Cross disciplinary teams
– Horizontal connected teams at the Marketing 4 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.
Diverse revenue streams
– Marketing 4 is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided firm in LG Electronics Canada, Inc. - The Watch Phone 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.
Ability to recruit top talent
– Marketing 4 is one of the leading recruiters in the industry. Managers in the LG Electronics Canada, Inc. - The Watch Phone are in a position to attract the best talent available. The firm has a robust talent identification program that helps in identifying the brightest.
Strong track record of project management
– Marketing 4 is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.
Analytics focus
– Marketing 4 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 Elizabeth M.A. Grasby, Ian Dunn 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.
Successful track record of launching new products
– Marketing 4 has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Marketing 4 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.
Ability to lead change in Sales & Marketing field
– Marketing 4 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 Marketing 4 in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.
High brand equity
– Marketing 4 has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Marketing 4 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
– LG Electronics Canada, Inc. - The Watch Phone firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Marketing 4 to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Sales & Marketing industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Marketing 4 to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Highly skilled collaborators
– Marketing 4 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 LG Electronics Canada, Inc. - The Watch Phone HBR case study have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
Weaknesses LG Electronics Canada, Inc. - The Watch Phone | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of LG Electronics Canada, Inc. - The Watch Phone are -
Compensation and incentives
– The revenue per employee as mentioned in the HBR case study LG Electronics Canada, Inc. - The Watch Phone, is just above the industry average. Marketing 4 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.
Lack of clear differentiation of Marketing 4 products
– To increase the profitability and margins on the products, Marketing 4 needs to provide more differentiated products than what it is currently offering in the marketplace.
Workers concerns about automation
– As automation is fast increasing in the segment, Marketing 4 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.
Products dominated business model
– Even though Marketing 4 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 - LG Electronics Canada, Inc. - The Watch Phone 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 LG Electronics Canada, Inc. - The Watch Phone 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 Marketing 4 's lucrative customers.
Interest costs
– Compare to the competition, Marketing 4 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 LG Electronics Canada, Inc. - The Watch Phone 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 LG Electronics Canada, Inc. - The Watch Phone can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Marketing 4 is planning to shift buying processes online.
No frontier risks strategy
– After analyzing the HBR case study LG Electronics Canada, Inc. - The Watch Phone, 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, Marketing 4 is slow explore the new channels of communication. These new channels of communication mentioned in marketing section of case study LG Electronics Canada, Inc. - The Watch Phone 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 bargaining power of channel partners
– Because of the regulatory requirements, Elizabeth M.A. Grasby, Ian Dunn suggests that, Marketing 4 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.
Low market penetration in new markets
– Outside its home market of Marketing 4, firm in the HBR case study LG Electronics Canada, Inc. - The Watch Phone needs to spend more promotional, marketing, and advertising efforts to penetrate international markets.
Opportunities LG Electronics Canada, Inc. - The Watch Phone | 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 LG Electronics Canada, Inc. - The Watch Phone are -
Better consumer reach
– The expansion of the 5G network will help Marketing 4 to increase its market reach. Marketing 4 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.
Leveraging digital technologies
– Marketing 4 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.
Learning at scale
– Online learning technologies has now opened space for Marketing 4 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.
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. Marketing 4 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. Marketing 4 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.
Lowering marketing communication costs
– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Marketing 4 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.
Loyalty marketing
– Marketing 4 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.
Redefining models of collaboration and team work
– As explained in the weaknesses section, Marketing 4 is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. LG Electronics Canada, Inc. - The Watch Phone 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.
Developing new processes and practices
– Marketing 4 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.
Building a culture of innovation
– managers at Marketing 4 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. Marketing 4 can tie-up with other value chain partners to explore new opportunities regarding meeting customer demands and building a rewarding and engaging relationship.
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 Marketing 4 in the consumer business. Now Marketing 4 can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.
Manufacturing automation
– Marketing 4 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.
Reconfiguring business model
– The expansion of digital payment system, the bringing down of international transactions costs using Bitcoin and other blockchain based currencies, etc can help Marketing 4 to reconfigure its entire business model. For example it can used blockchain based technologies to reduce piracy of its products in the big markets such as China. Secondly it can use the popularity of e-commerce in various developing markets to build a Direct to Customer business model rather than the current Channel Heavy distribution network.
Threats LG Electronics Canada, Inc. - The Watch Phone External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study LG Electronics Canada, Inc. - The Watch Phone are -
Environmental challenges
– Marketing 4 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. Marketing 4 can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Sales & Marketing industry.
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry in the industry are lowering. It can presents Marketing 4 with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the sector.
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. Marketing 4 needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Sales & Marketing industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
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. Marketing 4 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
– Marketing 4 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.
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. Marketing 4 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.
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, as highlighted in case study LG Electronics Canada, Inc. - The Watch Phone, Marketing 4 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 .
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Marketing 4 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.
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 Marketing 4 business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
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 Marketing 4
– 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 Marketing 4.
High dependence on third party suppliers
– Marketing 4 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
– Marketing 4 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.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of LG Electronics Canada, Inc. - The Watch Phone 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 LG Electronics Canada, Inc. - The Watch Phone 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 LG Electronics Canada, Inc. - The Watch Phone 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 LG Electronics Canada, Inc. - The Watch Phone 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 LG Electronics Canada, Inc. - The Watch Phone 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 Marketing 4 needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.