Turning Copper into Gold: Bharti Airtel's Fixed-Line Service in India SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Sales & Marketing
Strategy / MBA Resources
Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of Turning Copper into Gold: Bharti Airtel's Fixed-Line Service in India
Basic telecommunication services in India, provided by the government as a natural monopoly service, have over the years seen drastic changes in terms of competition, service offerings and technology used. This case highlights the technology, marketing and financial strategies adopted by Bharti Airtel, a leading private telecom service provider in India. While Bharti succeeded in carving a niche for itself in its fixed line service offering, the case brings out Bharti's need for agility as it confronts the competition of the cash-rich government operators and the strong emergence of mobile services and related technologies. The case can also be used to study India's evolving telecom regulations and the effects of migrating from a monopoly to a perfectly competitive basic telecom service in an emerging market. Government Monopoly, Business Strategy, Telecom Services, Fixed Line Services, Telecom regulations, Market penetration
Swot Analysis of "Turning Copper into Gold: Bharti Airtel's Fixed-Line Service in India" written by Varadharajan Sridhar, Amit Malik includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Telecom Bharti facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Turning Copper into Gold: Bharti Airtel's Fixed-Line Service in India case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, and Sales & Marketing.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Turning Copper into Gold: Bharti Airtel's Fixed-Line Service in India casestudy better are - – increasing household debt because of falling income levels, customer relationship management is fast transforming because of increasing concerns over data privacy, wage bills are increasing, increasing transportation and logistics costs, there is backlash against globalization, there is increasing trade war between United States & China, talent flight as more people leaving formal jobs,
increasing government debt because of Covid-19 spendings, supply chains are disrupted by pandemic , etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Turning Copper into Gold: Bharti Airtel's Fixed-Line Service in India
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Turning Copper into Gold: Bharti Airtel's Fixed-Line Service in India case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Telecom Bharti, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Telecom Bharti 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 Turning Copper into Gold: Bharti Airtel's Fixed-Line Service in India can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Turning Copper into Gold: Bharti Airtel's Fixed-Line Service in India case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Telecom Bharti
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 Telecom Bharti
Strengths Turning Copper into Gold: Bharti Airtel's Fixed-Line Service in India | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Telecom Bharti in Turning Copper into Gold: Bharti Airtel's Fixed-Line Service in India Harvard Business Review case study are -
Strong track record of project management
– Telecom Bharti is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.
Cross disciplinary teams
– Horizontal connected teams at the Telecom Bharti 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 brand equity
– Telecom Bharti has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Telecom Bharti to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Digital Transformation in Sales & Marketing segment
- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For Telecom Bharti digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Telecom Bharti 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
– Telecom Bharti 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 Turning Copper into Gold: Bharti Airtel's Fixed-Line Service in India HBR case study have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
Organizational Resilience of Telecom Bharti
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing that Telecom Bharti does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
Ability to recruit top talent
– Telecom Bharti is one of the leading recruiters in the industry. Managers in the Turning Copper into Gold: Bharti Airtel's Fixed-Line Service in India are in a position to attract the best talent available. The firm has a robust talent identification program that helps in identifying the brightest.
Operational resilience
– The operational resilience strategy in the Turning Copper into Gold: Bharti Airtel's Fixed-Line Service in India 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
- Telecom Bharti 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 Telecom Bharti is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders in Turning Copper into Gold: Bharti Airtel's Fixed-Line Service in India Harvard Business Review case study emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
Training and development
– Telecom Bharti has one of the best training and development program in the industry. The effectiveness of the training programs can be measured in Turning Copper into Gold: Bharti Airtel's Fixed-Line Service in India 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.
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of Telecom Bharti in the sector have low bargaining power. Turning Copper into Gold: Bharti Airtel's Fixed-Line Service in India has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Telecom Bharti to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
Superior customer experience
– The customer experience strategy of Telecom Bharti in the segment is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.
Weaknesses Turning Copper into Gold: Bharti Airtel's Fixed-Line Service in India | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Turning Copper into Gold: Bharti Airtel's Fixed-Line Service in India are -
Employees’ incomplete understanding of strategy
– From the instances in the HBR case study Turning Copper into Gold: Bharti Airtel's Fixed-Line Service in India, it seems that the employees of Telecom Bharti 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 operating costs
– Compare to the competitors, firm in the HBR case study Turning Copper into Gold: Bharti Airtel's Fixed-Line Service in India 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 Telecom Bharti 's lucrative customers.
Aligning sales with marketing
– It come across in the case study Turning Copper into Gold: Bharti Airtel's Fixed-Line Service in India 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 Turning Copper into Gold: Bharti Airtel's Fixed-Line Service in India can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Telecom Bharti is planning to shift buying processes online.
High dependence on star products
– The top 2 products and services of the firm as mentioned in the Turning Copper into Gold: Bharti Airtel's Fixed-Line Service in India HBR case study still accounts for major business revenue. This dependence on star products in has resulted into insufficient focus on developing new products, even though Telecom Bharti has relatively successful track record of launching new products.
Slow to strategic competitive environment developments
– As Turning Copper into Gold: Bharti Airtel's Fixed-Line Service in India HBR case study mentions - Telecom Bharti 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.
Slow decision making process
– As mentioned earlier in the report, Telecom Bharti 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. Telecom Bharti 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 Telecom Bharti 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 - Turning Copper into Gold: Bharti Airtel's Fixed-Line Service in India should strive to include more intangible value offerings along with its core products and services.
Interest costs
– Compare to the competition, Telecom Bharti 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.
High dependence on existing supply chain
– The disruption in the global supply chains because of the Covid-19 pandemic and blockage of the Suez Canal illustrated the fragile nature of Telecom Bharti supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes mentioned in the HBR case study - Turning Copper into Gold: Bharti Airtel's Fixed-Line Service in India, it is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left Telecom Bharti vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.
High cash cycle compare to competitors
Telecom Bharti has a high cash cycle compare to other players in the industry. It needs to shorten the cash cycle by 12% to be more competitive in the marketplace, reduce inventory costs, and be more profitable.
Skills based hiring
– The stress on hiring functional specialists at Telecom Bharti has created an environment where the organization is dominated by functional specialists rather than management generalist. This has resulted into product oriented approach rather than marketing oriented approach or consumers oriented approach.
Opportunities Turning Copper into Gold: Bharti Airtel's Fixed-Line Service in India | 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 Turning Copper into Gold: Bharti Airtel's Fixed-Line Service in India are -
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. Telecom Bharti can tie-up with other value chain partners to explore new opportunities regarding meeting customer demands and building a rewarding and engaging relationship.
Low interest rates
– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Telecom Bharti 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.
Developing new processes and practices
– Telecom Bharti 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.
Lowering marketing communication costs
– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Telecom Bharti in the field of marketing communication. It will bring down the cost of doing business, provide technology platform to build new products in the Sales & Marketing segment, and it will provide faster access to the consumers.
Identify volunteer opportunities
– Covid-19 has impacted working population in two ways – it has led to people soul searching about their professional choices, resulting in mass resignation. Secondly it has encouraged people to do things that they are passionate about. This has opened opportunities for businesses to build volunteer oriented socially driven projects. Telecom Bharti can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.
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 Telecom Bharti 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 Telecom Bharti 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.
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 Telecom Bharti in the consumer business. Now Telecom Bharti can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.
Manufacturing automation
– Telecom Bharti 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.
Loyalty marketing
– Telecom Bharti 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 Telecom Bharti 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.
Better consumer reach
– The expansion of the 5G network will help Telecom Bharti to increase its market reach. Telecom Bharti 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.
Buying journey improvements
– Telecom Bharti can improve the customer journey of consumers in the industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. Turning Copper into Gold: Bharti Airtel's Fixed-Line Service in India 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.
Threats Turning Copper into Gold: Bharti Airtel's Fixed-Line Service in India External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Turning Copper into Gold: Bharti Airtel's Fixed-Line Service in India are -
Environmental challenges
– Telecom Bharti 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. Telecom Bharti can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Sales & Marketing industry.
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.
High dependence on third party suppliers
– Telecom Bharti 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.
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Telecom Bharti has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Sales & Marketing industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Telecom Bharti 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.
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry in the industry are lowering. It can presents Telecom Bharti with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the sector.
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 Telecom Bharti in the Sales & Marketing sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
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.
Regulatory challenges
– Telecom Bharti 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.
Increasing wage structure of Telecom Bharti
– 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 Telecom Bharti.
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, as highlighted in case study Turning Copper into Gold: Bharti Airtel's Fixed-Line Service in India, Telecom Bharti 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 .
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. Telecom Bharti can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
Consumer confidence and its impact on Telecom Bharti 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.
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Telecom Bharti 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.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Turning Copper into Gold: Bharti Airtel's Fixed-Line Service in India 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 Turning Copper into Gold: Bharti Airtel's Fixed-Line Service in India 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 Turning Copper into Gold: Bharti Airtel's Fixed-Line Service in India 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 Turning Copper into Gold: Bharti Airtel's Fixed-Line Service in India 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 Turning Copper into Gold: Bharti Airtel's Fixed-Line Service in India 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 Telecom Bharti needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.
