Case Study Description of Northern Telecom (A): Greenwich Investment Proposal, Spanish Version
The business products division has developed a business proposal asking for $50 million to fund the creation of a new telephone system for the small business market. The company's last entry into this marketplace lost $70 million. The new product would face 100 competitors in a market believed to be at zero growth rate. Should the investment proposal be accepted?
Swot Analysis of "Northern Telecom (A): Greenwich Investment Proposal, Spanish Version" written by Robert J. Dolan includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Proposal Greenwich facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Northern Telecom (A): Greenwich Investment Proposal, Spanish Version case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Product development and Sales & Marketing.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Northern Telecom (A): Greenwich Investment Proposal, Spanish Version casestudy better are - – wage bills are increasing, increasing government debt because of Covid-19 spendings, there is backlash against globalization, supply chains are disrupted by pandemic , challanges to central banks by blockchain based private currencies, competitive advantages are harder to sustain because of technology dispersion, technology disruption,
banking and financial system is disrupted by Bitcoin and other crypto currencies, increasing commodity prices, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Northern Telecom (A): Greenwich Investment Proposal, Spanish Version
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Northern Telecom (A): Greenwich Investment Proposal, Spanish Version case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Proposal Greenwich, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Proposal Greenwich 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 Northern Telecom (A): Greenwich Investment Proposal, Spanish Version can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Northern Telecom (A): Greenwich Investment Proposal, Spanish Version case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Proposal Greenwich
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 Proposal Greenwich
Strengths Northern Telecom (A): Greenwich Investment Proposal, Spanish Version | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Proposal Greenwich in Northern Telecom (A): Greenwich Investment Proposal, Spanish Version Harvard Business Review case study are -
Ability to recruit top talent
– Proposal Greenwich is one of the leading recruiters in the industry. Managers in the Northern Telecom (A): Greenwich Investment Proposal, Spanish Version are in a position to attract the best talent available. The firm has a robust talent identification program that helps in identifying the brightest.
Digital Transformation in Sales & Marketing segment
- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For Proposal Greenwich digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Proposal Greenwich 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.
Highly skilled collaborators
– Proposal Greenwich 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 Northern Telecom (A): Greenwich Investment Proposal, Spanish Version 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 Proposal Greenwich in the sector have low bargaining power. Northern Telecom (A): Greenwich Investment Proposal, Spanish Version has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Proposal Greenwich to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
Analytics focus
– Proposal Greenwich 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 Robert J. Dolan 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.
High brand equity
– Proposal Greenwich has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Proposal Greenwich to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Strong track record of project management
– Proposal Greenwich is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.
Effective Research and Development (R&D)
– Proposal Greenwich 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 Northern Telecom (A): Greenwich Investment Proposal, Spanish Version - staying ahead in the industry in terms of – new product launches, superior customer experience, highly competitive pricing strategies, and great returns to the shareholders.
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Sales & Marketing industry
– Northern Telecom (A): Greenwich Investment Proposal, Spanish Version firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Proposal Greenwich to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Sales & Marketing industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Proposal Greenwich to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Innovation driven organization
– Proposal Greenwich is one of the most innovative firm in sector. Manager in Northern Telecom (A): Greenwich Investment Proposal, Spanish Version 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
– Proposal Greenwich has one of the best training and development program in the industry. The effectiveness of the training programs can be measured in Northern Telecom (A): Greenwich Investment Proposal, Spanish Version 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.
Organizational Resilience of Proposal Greenwich
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing that Proposal Greenwich does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
Weaknesses Northern Telecom (A): Greenwich Investment Proposal, Spanish Version | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Northern Telecom (A): Greenwich Investment Proposal, Spanish Version are -
Slow decision making process
– As mentioned earlier in the report, Proposal Greenwich 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. Proposal Greenwich 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.
Products dominated business model
– Even though Proposal Greenwich 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 - Northern Telecom (A): Greenwich Investment Proposal, Spanish Version should strive to include more intangible value offerings along with its core products and services.
Skills based hiring
– The stress on hiring functional specialists at Proposal Greenwich has created an environment where the organization is dominated by functional specialists rather than management generalist. This has resulted into product oriented approach rather than marketing oriented approach or consumers oriented approach.
Slow to harness new channels of communication
– Even though competitors are using new communication channels such as Instagram, Tiktok, and Snap, Proposal Greenwich is slow explore the new channels of communication. These new channels of communication mentioned in marketing section of case study Northern Telecom (A): Greenwich Investment Proposal, Spanish Version can help to provide better information regarding products and services. It can also build an online community to further reach out to potential customers.
Employees’ incomplete understanding of strategy
– From the instances in the HBR case study Northern Telecom (A): Greenwich Investment Proposal, Spanish Version, it seems that the employees of Proposal Greenwich 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.
High bargaining power of channel partners
– Because of the regulatory requirements, Robert J. Dolan suggests that, Proposal Greenwich 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.
Workers concerns about automation
– As automation is fast increasing in the segment, Proposal Greenwich 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 Northern Telecom (A): Greenwich Investment Proposal, Spanish Version 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 Northern Telecom (A): Greenwich Investment Proposal, Spanish Version can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Proposal Greenwich is planning to shift buying processes online.
Ability to respond to the competition
– As the decision making is very deliberative, highlighted in the case study Northern Telecom (A): Greenwich Investment Proposal, Spanish Version, in the dynamic environment Proposal Greenwich has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. Proposal Greenwich has reasonably good record with similar level competitors but it has struggled with new entrants taking away niches of its business.
Increasing silos among functional specialists
– The organizational structure of Proposal Greenwich is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Sales & Marketing segment. Proposal Greenwich needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Proposal Greenwich to focus more on services rather than just following the product oriented approach.
Lack of clear differentiation of Proposal Greenwich products
– To increase the profitability and margins on the products, Proposal Greenwich needs to provide more differentiated products than what it is currently offering in the marketplace.
Opportunities Northern Telecom (A): Greenwich Investment Proposal, Spanish Version | 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 Northern Telecom (A): Greenwich Investment Proposal, Spanish Version are -
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. Proposal Greenwich can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.
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 Proposal Greenwich in the consumer business. Now Proposal Greenwich can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.
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. Proposal Greenwich 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. Proposal Greenwich 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.
Loyalty marketing
– Proposal Greenwich 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.
Building a culture of innovation
– managers at Proposal Greenwich 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.
Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains
– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Proposal Greenwich 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, Northern Telecom (A): Greenwich Investment Proposal, Spanish Version, to buy more products closer to the markets, and it can leverage its size and influence to get better deal from the local markets.
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 Proposal Greenwich 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.
Learning at scale
– Online learning technologies has now opened space for Proposal Greenwich 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.
Developing new processes and practices
– Proposal Greenwich 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.
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– Proposal Greenwich has spent a significant amount of money and effort to integrate analytics and machine learning into its operations in the sector. This continuous investment in analytics has enabled, as illustrated in the Harvard case study Northern Telecom (A): Greenwich Investment Proposal, Spanish Version - to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Proposal Greenwich to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
Manufacturing automation
– Proposal Greenwich 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.
Increase in government spending
– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Proposal Greenwich can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Proposal Greenwich operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Sales & Marketing sector.
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Proposal Greenwich has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Proposal Greenwich to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the Northern Telecom (A): Greenwich Investment Proposal, Spanish Version case study. Proposal Greenwich can build new products and services such as - data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
Threats Northern Telecom (A): Greenwich Investment Proposal, Spanish Version External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Northern Telecom (A): Greenwich Investment Proposal, Spanish Version are -
Environmental challenges
– Proposal Greenwich 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. Proposal Greenwich can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Sales & Marketing industry.
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Proposal Greenwich 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.
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, Proposal Greenwich 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 Northern Telecom (A): Greenwich Investment Proposal, Spanish Version .
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. Proposal Greenwich needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Sales & Marketing industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry in the industry are lowering. It can presents Proposal Greenwich with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the sector.
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Proposal Greenwich has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Sales & Marketing industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Proposal Greenwich 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
– Proposal Greenwich 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.
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. Proposal Greenwich 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.
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 Proposal Greenwich 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.
Consumer confidence and its impact on Proposal Greenwich 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.
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Proposal Greenwich is facing in Sales & Marketing sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Northern Telecom (A): Greenwich Investment Proposal, Spanish Version 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 Northern Telecom (A): Greenwich Investment Proposal, Spanish Version 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 Northern Telecom (A): Greenwich Investment Proposal, Spanish Version 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 Northern Telecom (A): Greenwich Investment Proposal, Spanish Version 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 Northern Telecom (A): Greenwich Investment Proposal, Spanish Version 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 Proposal Greenwich needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.
