YOC AG: Integrating the Mobile Phone into the Marketing Mix SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Sales & Marketing
Strategy / MBA Resources
Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of YOC AG: Integrating the Mobile Phone into the Marketing Mix
"The case study along with its teaching note provides students with an overview of the mobile marketing industry. After working through the case, students will be able to: Understand YOC's evolution into a complete mobile service provider; Understand the company's service portfolio and its underlying technologies; and Discuss YOC's competitive environment and its strategic positioning. "
Authors :: Tawfik Jelassi, Mathias Promny, Enders Albrecht, Charles Waldman
Swot Analysis of "YOC AG: Integrating the Mobile Phone into the Marketing Mix" written by Tawfik Jelassi, Mathias Promny, Enders Albrecht, Charles Waldman includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Yoc's Mobile facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in YOC AG: Integrating the Mobile Phone into the Marketing Mix case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Entrepreneurship, International business, Marketing and Sales & Marketing.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the YOC AG: Integrating the Mobile Phone into the Marketing Mix casestudy better are - – increasing commodity prices, increasing government debt because of Covid-19 spendings, competitive advantages are harder to sustain because of technology dispersion, wage bills are increasing, there is backlash against globalization, there is increasing trade war between United States & China, increasing transportation and logistics costs,
technology disruption, increasing energy prices, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of YOC AG: Integrating the Mobile Phone into the Marketing Mix
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in YOC AG: Integrating the Mobile Phone into the Marketing Mix case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Yoc's Mobile, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Yoc's Mobile 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 YOC AG: Integrating the Mobile Phone into the Marketing Mix can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in YOC AG: Integrating the Mobile Phone into the Marketing Mix case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Yoc's Mobile
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 Yoc's Mobile
Strengths YOC AG: Integrating the Mobile Phone into the Marketing Mix | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Yoc's Mobile in YOC AG: Integrating the Mobile Phone into the Marketing Mix Harvard Business Review case study are -
Operational resilience
– The operational resilience strategy in the YOC AG: Integrating the Mobile Phone into the Marketing Mix 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.
Highly skilled collaborators
– Yoc's Mobile 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 YOC AG: Integrating the Mobile Phone into the Marketing Mix HBR case study have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
Diverse revenue streams
– Yoc's Mobile is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided firm in YOC AG: Integrating the Mobile Phone into the Marketing Mix 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 brand equity
– Yoc's Mobile has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Yoc's Mobile to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Innovation driven organization
– Yoc's Mobile is one of the most innovative firm in sector. Manager in YOC AG: Integrating the Mobile Phone into the Marketing Mix Harvard Business Review case study can use Clayton Christensen Disruptive Innovation strategies to further increase the scale of innovtions in the organization.
Digital Transformation in Sales & Marketing segment
- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For Yoc's Mobile digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Yoc's Mobile 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.
Ability to lead change in Sales & Marketing field
– Yoc's Mobile 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 Yoc's Mobile in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.
Ability to recruit top talent
– Yoc's Mobile is one of the leading recruiters in the industry. Managers in the YOC AG: Integrating the Mobile Phone into the Marketing Mix are in a position to attract the best talent available. The firm has a robust talent identification program that helps in identifying the brightest.
Learning organization
- Yoc's Mobile 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 Yoc's Mobile is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders in YOC AG: Integrating the Mobile Phone into the Marketing Mix Harvard Business Review case study emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
Cross disciplinary teams
– Horizontal connected teams at the Yoc's Mobile 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.
High switching costs
– The high switching costs that Yoc's Mobile 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.
Strong track record of project management
– Yoc's Mobile is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.
Weaknesses YOC AG: Integrating the Mobile Phone into the Marketing Mix | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of YOC AG: Integrating the Mobile Phone into the Marketing Mix are -
Increasing silos among functional specialists
– The organizational structure of Yoc's Mobile is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Sales & Marketing segment. Yoc's Mobile needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Yoc's Mobile to focus more on services rather than just following the product oriented approach.
High operating costs
– Compare to the competitors, firm in the HBR case study YOC AG: Integrating the Mobile Phone into the Marketing Mix 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 Yoc's Mobile 's lucrative customers.
Low market penetration in new markets
– Outside its home market of Yoc's Mobile, firm in the HBR case study YOC AG: Integrating the Mobile Phone into the Marketing Mix needs to spend more promotional, marketing, and advertising efforts to penetrate international markets.
Need for greater diversity
– Yoc's Mobile 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.
Slow to strategic competitive environment developments
– As YOC AG: Integrating the Mobile Phone into the Marketing Mix HBR case study mentions - Yoc's Mobile 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.
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 Yoc's Mobile supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes mentioned in the HBR case study - YOC AG: Integrating the Mobile Phone into the Marketing Mix, it is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left Yoc's Mobile vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.
Lack of clear differentiation of Yoc's Mobile products
– To increase the profitability and margins on the products, Yoc's Mobile needs to provide more differentiated products than what it is currently offering in the marketplace.
Workers concerns about automation
– As automation is fast increasing in the segment, Yoc's Mobile 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.
Slow to harness new channels of communication
– Even though competitors are using new communication channels such as Instagram, Tiktok, and Snap, Yoc's Mobile is slow explore the new channels of communication. These new channels of communication mentioned in marketing section of case study YOC AG: Integrating the Mobile Phone into the Marketing Mix can help to provide better information regarding products and services. It can also build an online community to further reach out to potential customers.
Interest costs
– Compare to the competition, Yoc's Mobile 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.
Slow decision making process
– As mentioned earlier in the report, Yoc's Mobile 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. Yoc's Mobile 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.
Opportunities YOC AG: Integrating the Mobile Phone into the Marketing Mix | 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 YOC AG: Integrating the Mobile Phone into the Marketing Mix are -
Loyalty marketing
– Yoc's Mobile 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.
Reforming the budgeting process
- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects Yoc's Mobile can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.
Lowering marketing communication costs
– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Yoc's Mobile 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.
Better consumer reach
– The expansion of the 5G network will help Yoc's Mobile to increase its market reach. Yoc's Mobile 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.
Increase in government spending
– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Yoc's Mobile can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Yoc's Mobile 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. Yoc's Mobile 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. Yoc's Mobile 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.
Developing new processes and practices
– Yoc's Mobile 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.
Low interest rates
– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Yoc's Mobile 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.
Leveraging digital technologies
– Yoc's Mobile 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.
Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities
– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Yoc's Mobile 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 Yoc's Mobile to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
Building a culture of innovation
– managers at Yoc's Mobile 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.
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. Yoc's Mobile can tie-up with other value chain partners to explore new opportunities regarding meeting customer demands and building a rewarding and engaging relationship.
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Yoc's Mobile has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Yoc's Mobile to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the YOC AG: Integrating the Mobile Phone into the Marketing Mix case study. Yoc's Mobile can build new products and services such as - data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
Threats YOC AG: Integrating the Mobile Phone into the Marketing Mix External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study YOC AG: Integrating the Mobile Phone into the Marketing Mix are -
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, as highlighted in case study YOC AG: Integrating the Mobile Phone into the Marketing Mix, Yoc's Mobile 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 .
Consumer confidence and its impact on Yoc's Mobile 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.
Regulatory challenges
– Yoc's Mobile needs to prepare for regulatory challenges as consumer protection groups and other pressure groups are vigorously advocating for more regulations on big business - to reduce inequality, to create a level playing field, to product data privacy and consumer privacy, to reduce the influence of big money on democratic institutions, etc. This can lead to significant changes in the Sales & Marketing industry regulations.
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.
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.
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 Yoc's Mobile.
Environmental challenges
– Yoc's Mobile 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. Yoc's Mobile can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Sales & Marketing industry.
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Yoc's Mobile has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Sales & Marketing industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Yoc's Mobile 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.
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Yoc's Mobile 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.
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry in the industry are lowering. It can presents Yoc's Mobile with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the sector.
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. Yoc's Mobile 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.
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. Yoc's Mobile can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
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 Yoc's Mobile in the Sales & Marketing sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of YOC AG: Integrating the Mobile Phone into the Marketing Mix 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 YOC AG: Integrating the Mobile Phone into the Marketing Mix 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 YOC AG: Integrating the Mobile Phone into the Marketing Mix 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 YOC AG: Integrating the Mobile Phone into the Marketing Mix 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 YOC AG: Integrating the Mobile Phone into the Marketing Mix 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 Yoc's Mobile needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.