Case Study Description of E.T. Phone Home, Inc.: Forecasting Business Demand
Describes a process for forecasting market demand for an emerging technology--cellular radio. The student must critically evaluate the demand model and the market estimates, and modify them as appropriate in order to develop a marketing plan and budget.
Swot Analysis of "E.T. Phone Home, Inc.: Forecasting Business Demand" written by John F. Cady, Frank V. Cespedes includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Forecasting Demand facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in E.T. Phone Home, Inc.: Forecasting Business Demand case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Forecasting, Marketing and Sales & Marketing.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the E.T. Phone Home, Inc.: Forecasting Business Demand casestudy better are - – central banks are concerned over increasing inflation, digital marketing is dominated by two big players Facebook and Google, technology disruption, there is increasing trade war between United States & China, customer relationship management is fast transforming because of increasing concerns over data privacy, talent flight as more people leaving formal jobs, geopolitical disruptions,
wage bills are increasing, there is backlash against globalization, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of E.T. Phone Home, Inc.: Forecasting Business Demand
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in E.T. Phone Home, Inc.: Forecasting Business Demand case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Forecasting Demand, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Forecasting Demand 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 E.T. Phone Home, Inc.: Forecasting Business Demand can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in E.T. Phone Home, Inc.: Forecasting Business Demand case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Forecasting Demand
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 Forecasting Demand
Strengths E.T. Phone Home, Inc.: Forecasting Business Demand | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Forecasting Demand in E.T. Phone Home, Inc.: Forecasting Business Demand Harvard Business Review case study are -
Strong track record of project management
– Forecasting Demand is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.
Ability to lead change in Sales & Marketing field
– Forecasting Demand 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 Forecasting Demand in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.
Cross disciplinary teams
– Horizontal connected teams at the Forecasting Demand 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.
High switching costs
– The high switching costs that Forecasting Demand 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.
Training and development
– Forecasting Demand has one of the best training and development program in the industry. The effectiveness of the training programs can be measured in E.T. Phone Home, Inc.: Forecasting Business Demand 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.
Innovation driven organization
– Forecasting Demand is one of the most innovative firm in sector. Manager in E.T. Phone Home, Inc.: Forecasting Business Demand Harvard Business Review case study can use Clayton Christensen Disruptive Innovation strategies to further increase the scale of innovtions in the organization.
Superior customer experience
– The customer experience strategy of Forecasting Demand in the segment is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.
Operational resilience
– The operational resilience strategy in the E.T. Phone Home, Inc.: Forecasting Business Demand 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.
Learning organization
- Forecasting Demand 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 Forecasting Demand is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders in E.T. Phone Home, Inc.: Forecasting Business Demand Harvard Business Review case study emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
Ability to recruit top talent
– Forecasting Demand is one of the leading recruiters in the industry. Managers in the E.T. Phone Home, Inc.: Forecasting Business Demand are in a position to attract the best talent available. The firm has a robust talent identification program that helps in identifying the brightest.
Diverse revenue streams
– Forecasting Demand is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided firm in E.T. Phone Home, Inc.: Forecasting Business Demand 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
– E.T. Phone Home, Inc.: Forecasting Business Demand firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Forecasting Demand to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Sales & Marketing industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Forecasting Demand to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Weaknesses E.T. Phone Home, Inc.: Forecasting Business Demand | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of E.T. Phone Home, Inc.: Forecasting Business Demand are -
Lack of clear differentiation of Forecasting Demand products
– To increase the profitability and margins on the products, Forecasting Demand needs to provide more differentiated products than what it is currently offering in the marketplace.
Skills based hiring
– The stress on hiring functional specialists at Forecasting Demand 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.
Products dominated business model
– Even though Forecasting Demand 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 - E.T. Phone Home, Inc.: Forecasting Business Demand should strive to include more intangible value offerings along with its core products and services.
Employees’ incomplete understanding of strategy
– From the instances in the HBR case study E.T. Phone Home, Inc.: Forecasting Business Demand, it seems that the employees of Forecasting Demand 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, John F. Cady, Frank V. Cespedes suggests that, Forecasting Demand 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.
Interest costs
– Compare to the competition, Forecasting Demand 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 decision making process
– As mentioned earlier in the report, Forecasting Demand 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. Forecasting Demand 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.
Increasing silos among functional specialists
– The organizational structure of Forecasting Demand is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Sales & Marketing segment. Forecasting Demand needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Forecasting Demand to focus more on services rather than just following the product oriented approach.
Capital Spending Reduction
– Even during the low interest decade, Forecasting Demand 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.
Compensation and incentives
– The revenue per employee as mentioned in the HBR case study E.T. Phone Home, Inc.: Forecasting Business Demand, is just above the industry average. Forecasting Demand 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.
Aligning sales with marketing
– It come across in the case study E.T. Phone Home, Inc.: Forecasting Business Demand 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 E.T. Phone Home, Inc.: Forecasting Business Demand can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Forecasting Demand is planning to shift buying processes online.
Opportunities E.T. Phone Home, Inc.: Forecasting Business Demand | 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 E.T. Phone Home, Inc.: Forecasting Business Demand are -
Lowering marketing communication costs
– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Forecasting Demand 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.
Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains
– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Forecasting Demand 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, E.T. Phone Home, Inc.: Forecasting Business Demand, to buy more products closer to the markets, and it can leverage its size and influence to get better deal from the local markets.
Building a culture of innovation
– managers at Forecasting Demand 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.
Increase in government spending
– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Forecasting Demand can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Forecasting Demand operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Sales & Marketing sector.
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. Forecasting Demand can tie-up with other value chain partners to explore new opportunities regarding meeting customer demands and building a rewarding and engaging relationship.
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. Forecasting Demand 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. Forecasting Demand 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
– Forecasting Demand 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.
Leveraging digital technologies
– Forecasting Demand 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.
Better consumer reach
– The expansion of the 5G network will help Forecasting Demand to increase its market reach. Forecasting Demand 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.
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 Forecasting Demand 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.
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 Forecasting Demand in the consumer business. Now Forecasting Demand can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.
Buying journey improvements
– Forecasting Demand can improve the customer journey of consumers in the industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. E.T. Phone Home, Inc.: Forecasting Business Demand 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.
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Forecasting Demand has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Forecasting Demand to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the E.T. Phone Home, Inc.: Forecasting Business Demand case study. Forecasting Demand can build new products and services such as - data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
Threats E.T. Phone Home, Inc.: Forecasting Business Demand External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study E.T. Phone Home, Inc.: Forecasting Business Demand are -
Environmental challenges
– Forecasting Demand 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. Forecasting Demand can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Sales & Marketing industry.
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 Forecasting Demand business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Forecasting Demand is facing in Sales & Marketing sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, as highlighted in case study E.T. Phone Home, Inc.: Forecasting Business Demand, Forecasting Demand 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 .
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. Forecasting Demand needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Sales & Marketing industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
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. Forecasting Demand 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.
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Forecasting Demand 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.
High dependence on third party suppliers
– Forecasting Demand 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.
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 Forecasting Demand 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
– Forecasting Demand has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Sales & Marketing industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Forecasting Demand 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.
Capital market disruption
– During the Covid-19, Dow Jones has touched record high. The valuations of a number of companies are way beyond their existing business model potential. This can lead to capital market correction which can put a number of suppliers, collaborators, value chain partners in great financial difficulty. It will directly impact the business of Forecasting Demand.
Regulatory challenges
– Forecasting Demand 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.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of E.T. Phone Home, Inc.: Forecasting Business Demand 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 E.T. Phone Home, Inc.: Forecasting Business Demand 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 E.T. Phone Home, Inc.: Forecasting Business Demand 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 E.T. Phone Home, Inc.: Forecasting Business Demand 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 E.T. Phone Home, Inc.: Forecasting Business Demand 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 Forecasting Demand needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.
