Who is the Better Player? Off-Field Battle on Facebook and Twitter SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Sales & Marketing
Strategy / MBA Resources
Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of Who is the Better Player? Off-Field Battle on Facebook and Twitter
Social media networks have become essential to the modern business world, and are especially vital for sports firms and athletes. Social media networks are new channels for firms to connect with their audience and establish a social customer relationship. For sports firms, athletes play a special role, as they are the firms' ambassadors and the focus of virtual communities of fans. For most athletes, social media is a powerful tool to take advantage of their time in the spotlight. However, social media has much more potential. This work analyzes the social media profile and content created by six well-known sports figures--Cristiano Ronaldo, Lionel Messi, Tom Brady, Aaron Rodgers, LeBron James, and Kevin Durant--to develop a model (STAR) for social media use. The adoption of this model can enhance fan engagement online and therefore increase athletes' and firms' brand value and connectivity with consumers.
Authors :: Maria Teresa Pinheiro Melo Borges Tiago, Flavio Tiago, Sandra Dias Faria, Joao Pedro Couto
Swot Analysis of "Who is the Better Player? Off-Field Battle on Facebook and Twitter" written by Maria Teresa Pinheiro Melo Borges Tiago, Flavio Tiago, Sandra Dias Faria, Joao Pedro Couto includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Athletes Media facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Who is the Better Player? Off-Field Battle on Facebook and Twitter case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Customer service, Customers, Internet, Social platforms and Sales & Marketing.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Who is the Better Player? Off-Field Battle on Facebook and Twitter casestudy better are - – increasing inequality as vast percentage of new income is going to the top 1%, there is increasing trade war between United States & China, digital marketing is dominated by two big players Facebook and Google, increasing commodity prices, cloud computing is disrupting traditional business models, central banks are concerned over increasing inflation, banking and financial system is disrupted by Bitcoin and other crypto currencies,
customer relationship management is fast transforming because of increasing concerns over data privacy, technology disruption, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Who is the Better Player? Off-Field Battle on Facebook and Twitter
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Who is the Better Player? Off-Field Battle on Facebook and Twitter case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Athletes Media, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Athletes Media 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 Who is the Better Player? Off-Field Battle on Facebook and Twitter can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Who is the Better Player? Off-Field Battle on Facebook and Twitter case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Athletes Media
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 Athletes Media
Strengths Who is the Better Player? Off-Field Battle on Facebook and Twitter | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Athletes Media in Who is the Better Player? Off-Field Battle on Facebook and Twitter Harvard Business Review case study are -
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Sales & Marketing industry
– Who is the Better Player? Off-Field Battle on Facebook and Twitter firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Athletes Media to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Sales & Marketing industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Athletes Media to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of Athletes Media in the sector have low bargaining power. Who is the Better Player? Off-Field Battle on Facebook and Twitter has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Athletes Media to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
Diverse revenue streams
– Athletes Media is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided firm in Who is the Better Player? Off-Field Battle on Facebook and Twitter 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.
High switching costs
– The high switching costs that Athletes Media 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.
Effective Research and Development (R&D)
– Athletes Media 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 Who is the Better Player? Off-Field Battle on Facebook and Twitter - staying ahead in the industry in terms of – new product launches, superior customer experience, highly competitive pricing strategies, and great returns to the shareholders.
Superior customer experience
– The customer experience strategy of Athletes Media in the segment is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.
Learning organization
- Athletes Media 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 Athletes Media is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders in Who is the Better Player? Off-Field Battle on Facebook and Twitter Harvard Business Review case study emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
Training and development
– Athletes Media has one of the best training and development program in the industry. The effectiveness of the training programs can be measured in Who is the Better Player? Off-Field Battle on Facebook and Twitter 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.
Ability to lead change in Sales & Marketing field
– Athletes Media 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 Athletes Media in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.
Strong track record of project management
– Athletes Media is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.
Digital Transformation in Sales & Marketing segment
- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For Athletes Media digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Athletes Media 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
– Athletes Media 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 Who is the Better Player? Off-Field Battle on Facebook and Twitter HBR case study have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
Weaknesses Who is the Better Player? Off-Field Battle on Facebook and Twitter | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Who is the Better Player? Off-Field Battle on Facebook and Twitter are -
Low market penetration in new markets
– Outside its home market of Athletes Media, firm in the HBR case study Who is the Better Player? Off-Field Battle on Facebook and Twitter needs to spend more promotional, marketing, and advertising efforts to penetrate international markets.
High dependence on star products
– The top 2 products and services of the firm as mentioned in the Who is the Better Player? Off-Field Battle on Facebook and Twitter 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 Athletes Media has relatively successful track record of launching new products.
Employees’ incomplete understanding of strategy
– From the instances in the HBR case study Who is the Better Player? Off-Field Battle on Facebook and Twitter, it seems that the employees of Athletes Media 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.
Skills based hiring
– The stress on hiring functional specialists at Athletes Media has created an environment where the organization is dominated by functional specialists rather than management generalist. This has resulted into product oriented approach rather than marketing oriented approach or consumers oriented approach.
Slow decision making process
– As mentioned earlier in the report, Athletes Media 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. Athletes Media 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.
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 Athletes Media supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes mentioned in the HBR case study - Who is the Better Player? Off-Field Battle on Facebook and Twitter, it is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left Athletes Media vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.
High operating costs
– Compare to the competitors, firm in the HBR case study Who is the Better Player? Off-Field Battle on Facebook and Twitter 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 Athletes Media 's lucrative customers.
Ability to respond to the competition
– As the decision making is very deliberative, highlighted in the case study Who is the Better Player? Off-Field Battle on Facebook and Twitter, in the dynamic environment Athletes Media has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. Athletes Media has reasonably good record with similar level competitors but it has struggled with new entrants taking away niches of its business.
Interest costs
– Compare to the competition, Athletes Media 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.
Aligning sales with marketing
– It come across in the case study Who is the Better Player? Off-Field Battle on Facebook and Twitter 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 Who is the Better Player? Off-Field Battle on Facebook and Twitter can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Athletes Media is planning to shift buying processes online.
Capital Spending Reduction
– Even during the low interest decade, Athletes Media 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.
Opportunities Who is the Better Player? Off-Field Battle on Facebook and Twitter | 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 Who is the Better Player? Off-Field Battle on Facebook and Twitter 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. Athletes Media can tie-up with other value chain partners to explore new opportunities regarding meeting customer demands and building a rewarding and engaging relationship.
Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities
– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Athletes Media 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 Athletes Media to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
Developing new processes and practices
– Athletes Media 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.
Redefining models of collaboration and team work
– As explained in the weaknesses section, Athletes Media is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. Who is the Better Player? Off-Field Battle on Facebook and Twitter 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.
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. Athletes Media 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. Athletes Media 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.
Manufacturing automation
– Athletes Media 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.
Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains
– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Athletes Media 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, Who is the Better Player? Off-Field Battle on Facebook and Twitter, to buy more products closer to the markets, and it can leverage its size and influence to get better deal from the local markets.
Lowering marketing communication costs
– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Athletes Media 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.
Leveraging digital technologies
– Athletes Media 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.
Buying journey improvements
– Athletes Media can improve the customer journey of consumers in the industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. Who is the Better Player? Off-Field Battle on Facebook and Twitter 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.
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. Athletes Media can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– Athletes Media 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 Who is the Better Player? Off-Field Battle on Facebook and Twitter - to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Athletes Media to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
Building a culture of innovation
– managers at Athletes Media 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.
Threats Who is the Better Player? Off-Field Battle on Facebook and Twitter External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Who is the Better Player? Off-Field Battle on Facebook and Twitter are -
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. Athletes Media 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 Athletes Media is facing in Sales & Marketing sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Athletes Media 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.
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. Athletes Media needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Sales & Marketing industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
High dependence on third party suppliers
– Athletes Media 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.
Environmental challenges
– Athletes Media 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. Athletes Media can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Sales & Marketing industry.
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Athletes Media 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.
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 Athletes Media business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
Increasing wage structure of Athletes Media
– 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 Athletes Media.
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Athletes Media 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 Who is the Better Player? Off-Field Battle on Facebook and Twitter .
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 Athletes Media.
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.
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Athletes Media has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Sales & Marketing industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Athletes Media 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.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Who is the Better Player? Off-Field Battle on Facebook and Twitter 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 Who is the Better Player? Off-Field Battle on Facebook and Twitter 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 Who is the Better Player? Off-Field Battle on Facebook and Twitter 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 Who is the Better Player? Off-Field Battle on Facebook and Twitter 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 Who is the Better Player? Off-Field Battle on Facebook and Twitter 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 Athletes Media needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.
