Swot Analysis of "Star Cablevision Group (F): Lessons Learned" written by William A. Sahlman, Burton C. Hurlock includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Learned Lessons facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Star Cablevision Group (F): Lessons Learned case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Reorganization and Finance & Accounting.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Star Cablevision Group (F): Lessons Learned casestudy better are - – banking and financial system is disrupted by Bitcoin and other crypto currencies, technology disruption, supply chains are disrupted by pandemic , there is backlash against globalization, wage bills are increasing, competitive advantages are harder to sustain because of technology dispersion, geopolitical disruptions,
increasing government debt because of Covid-19 spendings, increasing household debt because of falling income levels, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Star Cablevision Group (F): Lessons Learned
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Star Cablevision Group (F): Lessons Learned case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Learned Lessons, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Learned Lessons 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 Star Cablevision Group (F): Lessons Learned can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Star Cablevision Group (F): Lessons Learned case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Learned Lessons
3. Assessing feasibility of the new initiative in Finance & Accounting field.
4. Making a Finance & Accounting topic specific business decision
5. Set goals for the organization
6. Organizational restructuring of Learned Lessons
Strengths Star Cablevision Group (F): Lessons Learned | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Learned Lessons in Star Cablevision Group (F): Lessons Learned Harvard Business Review case study are -
Innovation driven organization
– Learned Lessons is one of the most innovative firm in sector. Manager in Star Cablevision Group (F): Lessons Learned Harvard Business Review case study can use Clayton Christensen Disruptive Innovation strategies to further increase the scale of innovtions in the organization.
Analytics focus
– Learned Lessons 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 William A. Sahlman, Burton C. Hurlock 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.
Highly skilled collaborators
– Learned Lessons 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 Star Cablevision Group (F): Lessons Learned HBR case study have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
Operational resilience
– The operational resilience strategy in the Star Cablevision Group (F): Lessons Learned 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 brand equity
– Learned Lessons has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Learned Lessons to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of Learned Lessons in the sector have low bargaining power. Star Cablevision Group (F): Lessons Learned has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Learned Lessons to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
Digital Transformation in Finance & Accounting segment
- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For Learned Lessons digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Learned Lessons 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.
Successful track record of launching new products
– Learned Lessons has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Learned Lessons 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.
Ability to recruit top talent
– Learned Lessons is one of the leading recruiters in the industry. Managers in the Star Cablevision Group (F): Lessons Learned are in a position to attract the best talent available. The firm has a robust talent identification program that helps in identifying the brightest.
Strong track record of project management
– Learned Lessons is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.
Effective Research and Development (R&D)
– Learned Lessons 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 Star Cablevision Group (F): Lessons Learned - staying ahead in the industry in terms of – new product launches, superior customer experience, highly competitive pricing strategies, and great returns to the shareholders.
Organizational Resilience of Learned Lessons
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing that Learned Lessons does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
Weaknesses Star Cablevision Group (F): Lessons Learned | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Star Cablevision Group (F): Lessons Learned are -
Employees’ incomplete understanding of strategy
– From the instances in the HBR case study Star Cablevision Group (F): Lessons Learned, it seems that the employees of Learned Lessons 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 decision making process
– As mentioned earlier in the report, Learned Lessons 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. Learned Lessons 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.
Interest costs
– Compare to the competition, Learned Lessons 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
– Learned Lessons 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 Learned Lessons products
– To increase the profitability and margins on the products, Learned Lessons needs to provide more differentiated products than what it is currently offering in the marketplace.
High cash cycle compare to competitors
Learned Lessons 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.
Increasing silos among functional specialists
– The organizational structure of Learned Lessons is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Finance & Accounting segment. Learned Lessons needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Learned Lessons to focus more on services rather than just following the product oriented approach.
Workers concerns about automation
– As automation is fast increasing in the segment, Learned Lessons 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, William A. Sahlman, Burton C. Hurlock suggests that, Learned Lessons 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.
High operating costs
– Compare to the competitors, firm in the HBR case study Star Cablevision Group (F): Lessons Learned 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 Learned Lessons 's lucrative customers.
Slow to strategic competitive environment developments
– As Star Cablevision Group (F): Lessons Learned HBR case study mentions - Learned Lessons 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.
Opportunities Star Cablevision Group (F): Lessons Learned | 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 Star Cablevision Group (F): Lessons Learned are -
Building a culture of innovation
– managers at Learned Lessons 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 Finance & Accounting segment.
Developing new processes and practices
– Learned Lessons can develop new processes and procedures in Finance & Accounting 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.
Buying journey improvements
– Learned Lessons can improve the customer journey of consumers in the industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. Star Cablevision Group (F): Lessons Learned 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.
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 Learned Lessons in the consumer business. Now Learned Lessons can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.
Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities
– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Learned Lessons 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 Learned Lessons to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
Low interest rates
– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Learned Lessons 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.
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Learned Lessons has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Learned Lessons to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the Star Cablevision Group (F): Lessons Learned case study. Learned Lessons 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 Learned Lessons 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.
Reforming the budgeting process
- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects Learned Lessons can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.
Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains
– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Learned Lessons 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, Star Cablevision Group (F): Lessons Learned, to buy more products closer to the markets, and it can leverage its size and influence to get better deal from the local markets.
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– Learned Lessons 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 Star Cablevision Group (F): Lessons Learned - to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Learned Lessons 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 Learned Lessons 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.
Lowering marketing communication costs
– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Learned Lessons in the field of marketing communication. It will bring down the cost of doing business, provide technology platform to build new products in the Finance & Accounting segment, and it will provide faster access to the consumers.
Threats Star Cablevision Group (F): Lessons Learned External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Star Cablevision Group (F): Lessons Learned are -
Regulatory challenges
– Learned Lessons 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 Finance & Accounting industry regulations.
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry in the industry are lowering. It can presents Learned Lessons with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the sector.
Easy access to finance
– Easy access to finance in Finance & Accounting field will also reduce the barriers to entry in the industry, thus putting downward pressure on the prices because of increasing competition. Learned Lessons can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
Environmental challenges
– Learned Lessons 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. Learned Lessons can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Finance & Accounting industry.
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Learned Lessons is facing in Finance & Accounting sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.
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 Learned Lessons business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
High dependence on third party suppliers
– Learned Lessons 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 Learned Lessons in the Finance & Accounting 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 Star Cablevision Group (F): Lessons Learned, Learned Lessons may face longer learning curve for training and development of existing employees. This can open space for more nimble competitors in the field of Finance & Accounting .
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Learned Lessons in the Finance & Accounting industry. The Finance & Accounting 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, Learned Lessons 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 Star Cablevision Group (F): Lessons Learned .
Increasing wage structure of Learned Lessons
– 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 Learned Lessons.
Consumer confidence and its impact on Learned Lessons 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.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Star Cablevision Group (F): Lessons Learned 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 Star Cablevision Group (F): Lessons Learned 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 Star Cablevision Group (F): Lessons Learned 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 Star Cablevision Group (F): Lessons Learned 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 Star Cablevision Group (F): Lessons Learned 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 Learned Lessons needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.
