Konica Minolta Business Solutions: A Professional Approach to Selling (A) SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Sales & Marketing
Strategy / MBA Resources
Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of Konica Minolta Business Solutions: A Professional Approach to Selling (A)
Konica Minolta Business Solutions (KMBS) was a leader in advanced document management technologies. Its business solutions were grouped under office systems, print production, and printers. Its business solutions were grouped under office systems, print production, and printers. Peter Daniel, Branch Manager for northern New Jersey at KMBS, recently assigned Bill Swanson to be the sales rep responsible for Bergen and Passaic counties in New Jersey. Swanson was assigned the responsibility of winning an important account away from competitors, namely, NYCG, a large global accounting and consulting firm in Wayne, New Jersey. Swanson had to draft a plan to gather information from the prospect. The sales process can be classified into three key phases: prospecting, needs identification, and proposing a solution and closing the deal. The KMBS cases (A), (B), and (C) primarily focus on needs identification. In KMBS(A), Swanson had to develop the plan of action for planning, preparing, and approaching NYCG. In KMBS(B), Swanson met with the Global Procurement Director at NYCG, Bob Benedict, to understand NYCG's needs. He also met with Peter Daniel to discuss how they should continue to identify NYCG's needs. Finally, in KMBS(C), Swanson met with the heads of the Distributed Print Services and Central Print Services divisions, as well as other users at NYCG, to understand their needs. These efforts should help KMBS create a custom solution for NYCG. Swanson and Daniel thus must decide which solutions to present to NYCG.
Authors :: Prabakar Kothandaraman, Sudha Mani, William J. Healy
Swot Analysis of "Konica Minolta Business Solutions: A Professional Approach to Selling (A)" written by Prabakar Kothandaraman, Sudha Mani, William J. Healy includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Kmbs Swanson facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Konica Minolta Business Solutions: A Professional Approach to Selling (A) case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Manufacturing, Sales, Technology and Sales & Marketing.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Konica Minolta Business Solutions: A Professional Approach to Selling (A) casestudy better are - – wage bills are increasing, customer relationship management is fast transforming because of increasing concerns over data privacy, technology disruption, cloud computing is disrupting traditional business models, increasing energy prices, challanges to central banks by blockchain based private currencies, central banks are concerned over increasing inflation,
increasing government debt because of Covid-19 spendings, supply chains are disrupted by pandemic , etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Konica Minolta Business Solutions: A Professional Approach to Selling (A)
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Konica Minolta Business Solutions: A Professional Approach to Selling (A) case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Kmbs Swanson, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Kmbs Swanson 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 Konica Minolta Business Solutions: A Professional Approach to Selling (A) can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Konica Minolta Business Solutions: A Professional Approach to Selling (A) case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Kmbs Swanson
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 Kmbs Swanson
Strengths Konica Minolta Business Solutions: A Professional Approach to Selling (A) | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Kmbs Swanson in Konica Minolta Business Solutions: A Professional Approach to Selling (A) Harvard Business Review case study are -
Cross disciplinary teams
– Horizontal connected teams at the Kmbs Swanson 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.
Ability to recruit top talent
– Kmbs Swanson is one of the leading recruiters in the industry. Managers in the Konica Minolta Business Solutions: A Professional Approach to Selling (A) are in a position to attract the best talent available. The firm has a robust talent identification program that helps in identifying the brightest.
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Sales & Marketing industry
– Konica Minolta Business Solutions: A Professional Approach to Selling (A) firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Kmbs Swanson to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Sales & Marketing industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Kmbs Swanson to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
High switching costs
– The high switching costs that Kmbs Swanson 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.
Superior customer experience
– The customer experience strategy of Kmbs Swanson in the segment is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.
Successful track record of launching new products
– Kmbs Swanson has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Kmbs Swanson has effective processes in place that helps in exploring new product needs, doing quick pilot testing, and then launching the products quickly using its extensive distribution network.
Strong track record of project management
– Kmbs Swanson is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.
Highly skilled collaborators
– Kmbs Swanson 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 Konica Minolta Business Solutions: A Professional Approach to Selling (A) HBR case study have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
Digital Transformation in Sales & Marketing segment
- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For Kmbs Swanson digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Kmbs Swanson 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.
Analytics focus
– Kmbs Swanson 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 Prabakar Kothandaraman, Sudha Mani, William J. Healy 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.
Diverse revenue streams
– Kmbs Swanson is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided firm in Konica Minolta Business Solutions: A Professional Approach to Selling (A) 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.
Operational resilience
– The operational resilience strategy in the Konica Minolta Business Solutions: A Professional Approach to Selling (A) 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.
Weaknesses Konica Minolta Business Solutions: A Professional Approach to Selling (A) | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Konica Minolta Business Solutions: A Professional Approach to Selling (A) are -
Ability to respond to the competition
– As the decision making is very deliberative, highlighted in the case study Konica Minolta Business Solutions: A Professional Approach to Selling (A), in the dynamic environment Kmbs Swanson has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. Kmbs Swanson has reasonably good record with similar level competitors but it has struggled with new entrants taking away niches of its business.
Low market penetration in new markets
– Outside its home market of Kmbs Swanson, firm in the HBR case study Konica Minolta Business Solutions: A Professional Approach to Selling (A) needs to spend more promotional, marketing, and advertising efforts to penetrate international markets.
High bargaining power of channel partners
– Because of the regulatory requirements, Prabakar Kothandaraman, Sudha Mani, William J. Healy suggests that, Kmbs Swanson 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, Kmbs Swanson is slow explore the new channels of communication. These new channels of communication mentioned in marketing section of case study Konica Minolta Business Solutions: A Professional Approach to Selling (A) 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 operating costs
– Compare to the competitors, firm in the HBR case study Konica Minolta Business Solutions: A Professional Approach to Selling (A) 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 Kmbs Swanson 's lucrative customers.
Workers concerns about automation
– As automation is fast increasing in the segment, Kmbs Swanson 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.
No frontier risks strategy
– After analyzing the HBR case study Konica Minolta Business Solutions: A Professional Approach to Selling (A), it seems that company is thinking about the frontier risks that can impact Sales & Marketing strategy. But it has very little resources allocation to manage the risks emerging from events such as natural disasters, climate change, melting of permafrost, tacking the rise of artificial intelligence, opportunities and threats emerging from commercialization of space etc.
Products dominated business model
– Even though Kmbs Swanson 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 - Konica Minolta Business Solutions: A Professional Approach to Selling (A) should strive to include more intangible value offerings along with its core products and services.
Slow to strategic competitive environment developments
– As Konica Minolta Business Solutions: A Professional Approach to Selling (A) HBR case study mentions - Kmbs Swanson 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.
Capital Spending Reduction
– Even during the low interest decade, Kmbs Swanson 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.
Lack of clear differentiation of Kmbs Swanson products
– To increase the profitability and margins on the products, Kmbs Swanson needs to provide more differentiated products than what it is currently offering in the marketplace.
Opportunities Konica Minolta Business Solutions: A Professional Approach to Selling (A) | 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 Konica Minolta Business Solutions: A Professional Approach to Selling (A) are -
Increase in government spending
– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Kmbs Swanson can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Kmbs Swanson operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Sales & Marketing sector.
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. Kmbs Swanson 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. Kmbs Swanson 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. Kmbs Swanson can tie-up with other value chain partners to explore new opportunities regarding meeting customer demands and building a rewarding and engaging relationship.
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. Kmbs Swanson can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.
Low interest rates
– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Kmbs Swanson 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.
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 Kmbs Swanson 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.
Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains
– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Kmbs Swanson 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, Konica Minolta Business Solutions: A Professional Approach to Selling (A), to buy more products closer to the markets, and it can leverage its size and influence to get better deal from the local markets.
Leveraging digital technologies
– Kmbs Swanson 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.
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Kmbs Swanson has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Kmbs Swanson to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the Konica Minolta Business Solutions: A Professional Approach to Selling (A) case study. Kmbs Swanson can build new products and services such as - data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
Learning at scale
– Online learning technologies has now opened space for Kmbs Swanson 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.
Lowering marketing communication costs
– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Kmbs Swanson 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
– Kmbs Swanson 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 Konica Minolta Business Solutions: A Professional Approach to Selling (A) - to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Kmbs Swanson to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
Manufacturing automation
– Kmbs Swanson 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.
Threats Konica Minolta Business Solutions: A Professional Approach to Selling (A) External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Konica Minolta Business Solutions: A Professional Approach to Selling (A) are -
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Kmbs Swanson 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 Konica Minolta Business Solutions: A Professional Approach to Selling (A) .
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 Kmbs Swanson in the Sales & Marketing sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, as highlighted in case study Konica Minolta Business Solutions: A Professional Approach to Selling (A), Kmbs Swanson 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 .
Increasing wage structure of Kmbs Swanson
– 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 Kmbs Swanson.
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Kmbs Swanson 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
– Kmbs Swanson 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. Kmbs Swanson 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.
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. Kmbs Swanson can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
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 Kmbs Swanson business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Kmbs Swanson 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.
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. Kmbs Swanson 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.
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Kmbs Swanson has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Sales & Marketing industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Kmbs Swanson 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.
High dependence on third party suppliers
– Kmbs Swanson 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.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Konica Minolta Business Solutions: A Professional Approach to Selling (A) 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 Konica Minolta Business Solutions: A Professional Approach to Selling (A) 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 Konica Minolta Business Solutions: A Professional Approach to Selling (A) 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 Konica Minolta Business Solutions: A Professional Approach to Selling (A) 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 Konica Minolta Business Solutions: A Professional Approach to Selling (A) 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 Kmbs Swanson needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.