Avaya (A): How to Go to Market? SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Sales & Marketing
Strategy / MBA Resources
Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of Avaya (A): How to Go to Market?
For three years after its spin off from Lucent in late 2000, Avaya struggled with how best to structure its go-to-market organization. Chronicles Avaya's repeated attempts to create an effective go-to-market structure. Ends in late 2003, when Don Peterson, the CEO, must choose between four final options.
Authors :: Mark Leslie, Alexander Tauber, Andrew Tauber
Swot Analysis of "Avaya (A): How to Go to Market?" written by Mark Leslie, Alexander Tauber, Andrew Tauber includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Avaya Avaya's facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Avaya (A): How to Go to Market? case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Reorganization, Strategy and Sales & Marketing.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Avaya (A): How to Go to Market? casestudy better are - – technology disruption, increasing commodity prices, increasing energy prices, competitive advantages are harder to sustain because of technology dispersion, central banks are concerned over increasing inflation, increasing inequality as vast percentage of new income is going to the top 1%, banking and financial system is disrupted by Bitcoin and other crypto currencies,
there is increasing trade war between United States & China, digital marketing is dominated by two big players Facebook and Google, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Avaya (A): How to Go to Market?
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Avaya (A): How to Go to Market? case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Avaya Avaya's, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Avaya Avaya's 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 Avaya (A): How to Go to Market? can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Avaya (A): How to Go to Market? case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Avaya Avaya's
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 Avaya Avaya's
Strengths Avaya (A): How to Go to Market? | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Avaya Avaya's in Avaya (A): How to Go to Market? Harvard Business Review case study are -
Cross disciplinary teams
– Horizontal connected teams at the Avaya Avaya's 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.
Effective Research and Development (R&D)
– Avaya Avaya's 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 Avaya (A): How to Go to Market? - staying ahead in the industry in terms of – new product launches, superior customer experience, highly competitive pricing strategies, and great returns to the shareholders.
Training and development
– Avaya Avaya's has one of the best training and development program in the industry. The effectiveness of the training programs can be measured in Avaya (A): How to Go to Market? 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.
High switching costs
– The high switching costs that Avaya Avaya's 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.
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of Avaya Avaya's in the sector have low bargaining power. Avaya (A): How to Go to Market? has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Avaya Avaya's to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
Strong track record of project management
– Avaya Avaya's 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
– Avaya Avaya's 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 Avaya Avaya's in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.
Organizational Resilience of Avaya Avaya's
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing that Avaya Avaya's does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
Learning organization
- Avaya Avaya's 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 Avaya Avaya's is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders in Avaya (A): How to Go to Market? Harvard Business Review case study emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
Innovation driven organization
– Avaya Avaya's is one of the most innovative firm in sector. Manager in Avaya (A): How to Go to Market? Harvard Business Review case study can use Clayton Christensen Disruptive Innovation strategies to further increase the scale of innovtions in the organization.
Analytics focus
– Avaya Avaya's 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 Mark Leslie, Alexander Tauber, Andrew Tauber 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
– Avaya (A): How to Go to Market? firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Avaya Avaya's to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Sales & Marketing industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Avaya Avaya's to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Weaknesses Avaya (A): How to Go to Market? | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Avaya (A): How to Go to Market? are -
Compensation and incentives
– The revenue per employee as mentioned in the HBR case study Avaya (A): How to Go to Market?, is just above the industry average. Avaya Avaya's 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.
Employees’ incomplete understanding of strategy
– From the instances in the HBR case study Avaya (A): How to Go to Market?, it seems that the employees of Avaya Avaya's 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 cash cycle compare to competitors
Avaya Avaya's 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.
High operating costs
– Compare to the competitors, firm in the HBR case study Avaya (A): How to Go to Market? 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 Avaya Avaya's 's lucrative customers.
Aligning sales with marketing
– It come across in the case study Avaya (A): How to Go to Market? 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 Avaya (A): How to Go to Market? can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Avaya Avaya's is planning to shift buying processes online.
Lack of clear differentiation of Avaya Avaya's products
– To increase the profitability and margins on the products, Avaya Avaya's needs to provide more differentiated products than what it is currently offering in the marketplace.
Interest costs
– Compare to the competition, Avaya Avaya's 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 bargaining power of channel partners
– Because of the regulatory requirements, Mark Leslie, Alexander Tauber, Andrew Tauber suggests that, Avaya Avaya's 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.
Slow to harness new channels of communication
– Even though competitors are using new communication channels such as Instagram, Tiktok, and Snap, Avaya Avaya's is slow explore the new channels of communication. These new channels of communication mentioned in marketing section of case study Avaya (A): How to Go to Market? can help to provide better information regarding products and services. It can also build an online community to further reach out to potential customers.
High dependence on star products
– The top 2 products and services of the firm as mentioned in the Avaya (A): How to Go to Market? 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 Avaya Avaya's has relatively successful track record of launching new products.
Increasing silos among functional specialists
– The organizational structure of Avaya Avaya's is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Sales & Marketing segment. Avaya Avaya's needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Avaya Avaya's to focus more on services rather than just following the product oriented approach.
Opportunities Avaya (A): How to Go to Market? | 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 Avaya (A): How to Go to Market? are -
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Avaya Avaya's has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Avaya Avaya's to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the Avaya (A): How to Go to Market? case study. Avaya Avaya's can build new products and services such as - data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
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 Avaya Avaya's in the consumer business. Now Avaya Avaya's can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.
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 Avaya Avaya's 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.
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. Avaya Avaya's 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. Avaya Avaya's 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.
Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities
– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Avaya Avaya's to expand its talent hiring zone. According to McKinsey Global Institute, 20% of the high end workforce in fields such as finance, information technology, can continously work from remote local post Covid-19. This presents a really great opportunity for Avaya Avaya's to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
Reforming the budgeting process
- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects Avaya Avaya's can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.
Better consumer reach
– The expansion of the 5G network will help Avaya Avaya's to increase its market reach. Avaya Avaya's 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.
Lowering marketing communication costs
– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Avaya Avaya's 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, Avaya Avaya's 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, Avaya (A): How to Go to Market?, to buy more products closer to the markets, and it can leverage its size and influence to get better deal from the local markets.
Buying journey improvements
– Avaya Avaya's can improve the customer journey of consumers in the industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. Avaya (A): How to Go to Market? 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.
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. Avaya Avaya's can tie-up with other value chain partners to explore new opportunities regarding meeting customer demands and building a rewarding and engaging relationship.
Developing new processes and practices
– Avaya Avaya's 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.
Loyalty marketing
– Avaya Avaya's 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.
Threats Avaya (A): How to Go to Market? External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Avaya (A): How to Go to Market? are -
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry in the industry are lowering. It can presents Avaya Avaya's with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the sector.
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, Avaya Avaya's 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 Avaya (A): How to Go to Market? .
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 Avaya Avaya's business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, 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 Avaya (A): How to Go to Market?, Avaya Avaya's 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 .
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Avaya Avaya's 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.
Environmental challenges
– Avaya Avaya's 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. Avaya Avaya's can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Sales & Marketing industry.
High dependence on third party suppliers
– Avaya Avaya's 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.
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 Avaya Avaya's.
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. Avaya Avaya's 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.
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Avaya Avaya's 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.
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. Avaya Avaya's 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 Avaya (A): How to Go to Market? 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 Avaya (A): How to Go to Market? 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 Avaya (A): How to Go to Market? 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 Avaya (A): How to Go to Market? 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 Avaya (A): How to Go to Market? 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 Avaya Avaya's needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.
