Xerox Corp.: The Customer Satisfaction Program (A) SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Sales & Marketing
Strategy / MBA Resources
Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of Xerox Corp.: The Customer Satisfaction Program (A)
A rewritten version of an earlier case, Xerox Corp.: The Customer Satisfaction Program. Does not provide an update and no new content is added. The new (A) and (B) case structure merely isolates the service guarantee issue.
Swot Analysis of "Xerox Corp.: The Customer Satisfaction Program (A)" written by Melvyn A.J. Menezes, Jon D. Serbin includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Xerox Satisfaction facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Xerox Corp.: The Customer Satisfaction Program (A) case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Customer service, Customers and Sales & Marketing.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Xerox Corp.: The Customer Satisfaction Program (A) casestudy better are - – increasing inequality as vast percentage of new income is going to the top 1%, increasing energy prices, cloud computing is disrupting traditional business models, central banks are concerned over increasing inflation, customer relationship management is fast transforming because of increasing concerns over data privacy, increasing transportation and logistics costs, increasing government debt because of Covid-19 spendings,
increasing household debt because of falling income levels, competitive advantages are harder to sustain because of technology dispersion, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Xerox Corp.: The Customer Satisfaction Program (A)
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Xerox Corp.: The Customer Satisfaction Program (A) case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Xerox Satisfaction, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Xerox Satisfaction 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 Xerox Corp.: The Customer Satisfaction Program (A) can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Xerox Corp.: The Customer Satisfaction Program (A) case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Xerox Satisfaction
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 Xerox Satisfaction
Strengths Xerox Corp.: The Customer Satisfaction Program (A) | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Xerox Satisfaction in Xerox Corp.: The Customer Satisfaction Program (A) Harvard Business Review case study are -
Organizational Resilience of Xerox Satisfaction
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing that Xerox Satisfaction does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
Effective Research and Development (R&D)
– Xerox Satisfaction 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 Xerox Corp.: The Customer Satisfaction Program (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.
Highly skilled collaborators
– Xerox Satisfaction 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 Xerox Corp.: The Customer Satisfaction Program (A) HBR case study have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of Xerox Satisfaction in the sector have low bargaining power. Xerox Corp.: The Customer Satisfaction Program (A) has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Xerox Satisfaction to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
Diverse revenue streams
– Xerox Satisfaction is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided firm in Xerox Corp.: The Customer Satisfaction Program (A) 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.
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Sales & Marketing industry
– Xerox Corp.: The Customer Satisfaction Program (A) firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Xerox Satisfaction to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Sales & Marketing industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Xerox Satisfaction to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
High brand equity
– Xerox Satisfaction has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Xerox Satisfaction to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Ability to recruit top talent
– Xerox Satisfaction is one of the leading recruiters in the industry. Managers in the Xerox Corp.: The Customer Satisfaction Program (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.
Innovation driven organization
– Xerox Satisfaction is one of the most innovative firm in sector. Manager in Xerox Corp.: The Customer Satisfaction Program (A) Harvard Business Review case study can use Clayton Christensen Disruptive Innovation strategies to further increase the scale of innovtions in the organization.
Training and development
– Xerox Satisfaction has one of the best training and development program in the industry. The effectiveness of the training programs can be measured in Xerox Corp.: The Customer Satisfaction Program (A) 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.
Learning organization
- Xerox Satisfaction 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 Xerox Satisfaction is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders in Xerox Corp.: The Customer Satisfaction Program (A) Harvard Business Review case study emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
Digital Transformation in Sales & Marketing segment
- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For Xerox Satisfaction digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Xerox Satisfaction 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.
Weaknesses Xerox Corp.: The Customer Satisfaction Program (A) | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Xerox Corp.: The Customer Satisfaction Program (A) are -
Capital Spending Reduction
– Even during the low interest decade, Xerox Satisfaction 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, Xerox Satisfaction 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.
Low market penetration in new markets
– Outside its home market of Xerox Satisfaction, firm in the HBR case study Xerox Corp.: The Customer Satisfaction Program (A) needs to spend more promotional, marketing, and advertising efforts to penetrate international markets.
Slow decision making process
– As mentioned earlier in the report, Xerox Satisfaction 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. Xerox Satisfaction 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.
Interest costs
– Compare to the competition, Xerox Satisfaction 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.
Slow to harness new channels of communication
– Even though competitors are using new communication channels such as Instagram, Tiktok, and Snap, Xerox Satisfaction is slow explore the new channels of communication. These new channels of communication mentioned in marketing section of case study Xerox Corp.: The Customer Satisfaction Program (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.
Ability to respond to the competition
– As the decision making is very deliberative, highlighted in the case study Xerox Corp.: The Customer Satisfaction Program (A), in the dynamic environment Xerox Satisfaction has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. Xerox Satisfaction has reasonably good record with similar level competitors but it has struggled with new entrants taking away niches of its business.
Slow to strategic competitive environment developments
– As Xerox Corp.: The Customer Satisfaction Program (A) HBR case study mentions - Xerox Satisfaction 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.
Lack of clear differentiation of Xerox Satisfaction products
– To increase the profitability and margins on the products, Xerox Satisfaction needs to provide more differentiated products than what it is currently offering in the marketplace.
No frontier risks strategy
– After analyzing the HBR case study Xerox Corp.: The Customer Satisfaction Program (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.
High operating costs
– Compare to the competitors, firm in the HBR case study Xerox Corp.: The Customer Satisfaction Program (A) 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 Xerox Satisfaction 's lucrative customers.
Opportunities Xerox Corp.: The Customer Satisfaction Program (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 Xerox Corp.: The Customer Satisfaction Program (A) are -
Loyalty marketing
– Xerox Satisfaction 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.
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. Xerox Satisfaction 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. Xerox Satisfaction 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.
Low interest rates
– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Xerox Satisfaction 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.
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Xerox Satisfaction has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Xerox Satisfaction to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the Xerox Corp.: The Customer Satisfaction Program (A) case study. Xerox Satisfaction can build new products and services such as - data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
Learning at scale
– Online learning technologies has now opened space for Xerox Satisfaction 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.
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. Xerox Satisfaction can tie-up with other value chain partners to explore new opportunities regarding meeting customer demands and building a rewarding and engaging relationship.
Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities
– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Xerox Satisfaction 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 Xerox Satisfaction to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
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 Xerox Satisfaction 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.
Building a culture of innovation
– managers at Xerox Satisfaction 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.
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 Xerox Satisfaction in the consumer business. Now Xerox Satisfaction can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.
Lowering marketing communication costs
– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Xerox Satisfaction 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.
Developing new processes and practices
– Xerox Satisfaction 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.
Reforming the budgeting process
- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects Xerox Satisfaction can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.
Threats Xerox Corp.: The Customer Satisfaction Program (A) External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Xerox Corp.: The Customer Satisfaction Program (A) 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. Xerox Satisfaction can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
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.
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry in the industry are lowering. It can presents Xerox Satisfaction with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the sector.
Consumer confidence and its impact on Xerox Satisfaction 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.
Environmental challenges
– Xerox Satisfaction 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. Xerox Satisfaction can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Sales & Marketing industry.
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 international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Xerox Satisfaction 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 Xerox Corp.: The Customer Satisfaction Program (A) .
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 Xerox Satisfaction business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
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. Xerox Satisfaction needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Sales & Marketing industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, as highlighted in case study Xerox Corp.: The Customer Satisfaction Program (A), Xerox Satisfaction 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 .
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Xerox Satisfaction has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Sales & Marketing industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Xerox Satisfaction 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.
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Xerox Satisfaction is facing in Sales & Marketing sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.
High dependence on third party suppliers
– Xerox Satisfaction 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.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Xerox Corp.: The Customer Satisfaction Program (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 Xerox Corp.: The Customer Satisfaction Program (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 Xerox Corp.: The Customer Satisfaction Program (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 Xerox Corp.: The Customer Satisfaction Program (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 Xerox Corp.: The Customer Satisfaction Program (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 Xerox Satisfaction needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.