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, supply chains are disrupted by pandemic , customer relationship management is fast transforming because of increasing concerns over data privacy, talent flight as more people leaving formal jobs, cloud computing is disrupting traditional business models, geopolitical disruptions, central banks are concerned over increasing inflation,
challanges to central banks by blockchain based private currencies, banking and financial system is disrupted by Bitcoin and other crypto currencies, 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 -
Analytics focus
– Telecom Bharti 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 Varadharajan Sridhar, Amit Malik 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.
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Sales & Marketing industry
– Turning Copper into Gold: Bharti Airtel's Fixed-Line Service in India firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Telecom Bharti to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Sales & Marketing industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Telecom Bharti to invest into research and development (R&D) 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.
Effective Research and Development (R&D)
– Telecom Bharti 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 Turning Copper into Gold: Bharti Airtel's Fixed-Line Service in India - staying ahead in the industry in terms of – new product launches, superior customer experience, highly competitive pricing strategies, and great returns to the shareholders.
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.
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.
Innovation driven organization
– Telecom Bharti is one of the most innovative firm in sector. Manager in Turning Copper into Gold: Bharti Airtel's Fixed-Line Service in India Harvard Business Review case study can use Clayton Christensen Disruptive Innovation strategies to further increase the scale of innovtions in the organization.
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.
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.
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.
High switching costs
– The high switching costs that Telecom Bharti 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.
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 -
Increasing silos among functional specialists
– The organizational structure of Telecom Bharti is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Sales & Marketing segment. Telecom Bharti needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Telecom Bharti to focus more on services rather than just following the product oriented approach.
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.
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.
Need for greater diversity
– Telecom Bharti has taken concrete steps on diversity, equity, and inclusion. But the efforts so far has resulted in limited success. It needs to expand the recruitment and selection process to hire more people from the minorities and underprivileged background.
Lack of clear differentiation of Telecom Bharti products
– To increase the profitability and margins on the products, Telecom Bharti needs to provide more differentiated products than what it is currently offering in the marketplace.
Compensation and incentives
– The revenue per employee as mentioned in the HBR case study Turning Copper into Gold: Bharti Airtel's Fixed-Line Service in India, is just above the industry average. Telecom Bharti 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.
Workers concerns about automation
– As automation is fast increasing in the segment, Telecom Bharti 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.
High bargaining power of channel partners
– Because of the regulatory requirements, Varadharajan Sridhar, Amit Malik suggests that, Telecom Bharti 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.
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.
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.
Ability to respond to the competition
– As the decision making is very deliberative, highlighted in the case study Turning Copper into Gold: Bharti Airtel's Fixed-Line Service in India, in the dynamic environment Telecom Bharti has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. Telecom Bharti has reasonably good record with similar level competitors but it has struggled with new entrants taking away niches of its business.
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 -
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.
Redefining models of collaboration and team work
– As explained in the weaknesses section, Telecom Bharti is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. Turning Copper into Gold: Bharti Airtel's Fixed-Line Service in India case study suggests that firm can utilize new technology to build more coordinated teams and streamline operations and communications using tools such as CAD, Zoom, etc.
Reforming the budgeting process
- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects Telecom Bharti can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.
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.
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– Telecom Bharti 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 Turning Copper into Gold: Bharti Airtel's Fixed-Line Service in India - to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Telecom Bharti to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
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.
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.
Increase in government spending
– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Telecom Bharti can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Telecom Bharti operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Sales & Marketing sector.
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.
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.
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. Telecom Bharti 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. Telecom Bharti 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.
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.
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 -
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.
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.
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Telecom Bharti 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 Turning Copper into Gold: Bharti Airtel's Fixed-Line Service in India .
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.
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.
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.
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Telecom Bharti is facing in Sales & Marketing sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.
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.
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.
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.
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Telecom Bharti 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.
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.
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.