Case Study Description of Managing Multi-Media Audiences at WHDH (Boston)
WHDH's Channel 7 News rose to the #1 position in Boston-area news broadcasting through its embrace of an innovative format and affiliating with NBC. Since the early 2000s, however, other news programs had copied their format, and young audiences had begin to use the Internet to get their news, dramatically cutting ratings and ad revenue. Station owner Edmund Ansin and general manager Chris Wayland faced a choice of whether to use the TV news to push viewers to the station's website and monetize online, or use an online presence to build loyalty to Channel 7 and thus drive viewers to TV.
Swot Analysis of "Managing Multi-Media Audiences at WHDH (Boston)" written by Thales S. Teixeira, V. Kasturi Rangan includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that News Viewers facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Managing Multi-Media Audiences at WHDH (Boston) case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Competition, Customers, Decision making, Economics and Sales & Marketing.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Managing Multi-Media Audiences at WHDH (Boston) casestudy better are - – increasing transportation and logistics costs, increasing inequality as vast percentage of new income is going to the top 1%, digital marketing is dominated by two big players Facebook and Google, cloud computing is disrupting traditional business models, competitive advantages are harder to sustain because of technology dispersion, central banks are concerned over increasing inflation, increasing energy prices,
increasing household debt because of falling income levels, wage bills are increasing, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Managing Multi-Media Audiences at WHDH (Boston)
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Managing Multi-Media Audiences at WHDH (Boston) case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the News Viewers, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which News Viewers 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 Managing Multi-Media Audiences at WHDH (Boston) can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Managing Multi-Media Audiences at WHDH (Boston) case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of News Viewers
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 News Viewers
Strengths Managing Multi-Media Audiences at WHDH (Boston) | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of News Viewers in Managing Multi-Media Audiences at WHDH (Boston) Harvard Business Review case study are -
Successful track record of launching new products
– News Viewers has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. News Viewers 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.
High switching costs
– The high switching costs that News Viewers 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.
Ability to recruit top talent
– News Viewers is one of the leading recruiters in the industry. Managers in the Managing Multi-Media Audiences at WHDH (Boston) are in a position to attract the best talent available. The firm has a robust talent identification program that helps in identifying the brightest.
Effective Research and Development (R&D)
– News Viewers 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 Managing Multi-Media Audiences at WHDH (Boston) - staying ahead in the industry in terms of – new product launches, superior customer experience, highly competitive pricing strategies, and great returns to the shareholders.
Training and development
– News Viewers has one of the best training and development program in the industry. The effectiveness of the training programs can be measured in Managing Multi-Media Audiences at WHDH (Boston) 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.
Learning organization
- News Viewers 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 News Viewers is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders in Managing Multi-Media Audiences at WHDH (Boston) Harvard Business Review case study emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
Highly skilled collaborators
– News Viewers 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 Managing Multi-Media Audiences at WHDH (Boston) HBR case study have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
Analytics focus
– News Viewers 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 Thales S. Teixeira, V. Kasturi Rangan 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.
Strong track record of project management
– News Viewers is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.
Superior customer experience
– The customer experience strategy of News Viewers in the segment is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.
Ability to lead change in Sales & Marketing field
– News Viewers 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 News Viewers in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.
Digital Transformation in Sales & Marketing segment
- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For News Viewers digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. News Viewers 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.
Weaknesses Managing Multi-Media Audiences at WHDH (Boston) | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Managing Multi-Media Audiences at WHDH (Boston) are -
High operating costs
– Compare to the competitors, firm in the HBR case study Managing Multi-Media Audiences at WHDH (Boston) 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 News Viewers 's lucrative customers.
Employees’ incomplete understanding of strategy
– From the instances in the HBR case study Managing Multi-Media Audiences at WHDH (Boston), it seems that the employees of News Viewers 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.
Products dominated business model
– Even though News Viewers 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 - Managing Multi-Media Audiences at WHDH (Boston) should strive to include more intangible value offerings along with its core products and services.
Low market penetration in new markets
– Outside its home market of News Viewers, firm in the HBR case study Managing Multi-Media Audiences at WHDH (Boston) needs to spend more promotional, marketing, and advertising efforts to penetrate international markets.
Ability to respond to the competition
– As the decision making is very deliberative, highlighted in the case study Managing Multi-Media Audiences at WHDH (Boston), in the dynamic environment News Viewers has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. News Viewers 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, News Viewers 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.
No frontier risks strategy
– After analyzing the HBR case study Managing Multi-Media Audiences at WHDH (Boston), 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.
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 News Viewers supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes mentioned in the HBR case study - Managing Multi-Media Audiences at WHDH (Boston), it is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left News Viewers vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.
Increasing silos among functional specialists
– The organizational structure of News Viewers is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Sales & Marketing segment. News Viewers needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help News Viewers to focus more on services rather than just following the product oriented approach.
Lack of clear differentiation of News Viewers products
– To increase the profitability and margins on the products, News Viewers needs to provide more differentiated products than what it is currently offering in the marketplace.
Slow to harness new channels of communication
– Even though competitors are using new communication channels such as Instagram, Tiktok, and Snap, News Viewers is slow explore the new channels of communication. These new channels of communication mentioned in marketing section of case study Managing Multi-Media Audiences at WHDH (Boston) can help to provide better information regarding products and services. It can also build an online community to further reach out to potential customers.
Opportunities Managing Multi-Media Audiences at WHDH (Boston) | 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 Managing Multi-Media Audiences at WHDH (Boston) are -
Building a culture of innovation
– managers at News Viewers 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.
Manufacturing automation
– News Viewers 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, News Viewers 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, Managing Multi-Media Audiences at WHDH (Boston), 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 News Viewers 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
– News Viewers 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 Managing Multi-Media Audiences at WHDH (Boston) - to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help News Viewers to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
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. News Viewers 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. News Viewers 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.
Reforming the budgeting process
- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects News Viewers can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.
Buying journey improvements
– News Viewers can improve the customer journey of consumers in the industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. Managing Multi-Media Audiences at WHDH (Boston) suggest that firm can provide automated chats to help consumers solve their own problems, provide online suggestions to get maximum out of the products and services, and help consumers to build a community where they can interact with each other to develop new features and uses.
Finding new ways to collaborate
– Covid-19 has not only transformed business models of companies in Sales & Marketing industry, but it has also influenced the consumer preferences. News Viewers can tie-up with other value chain partners to explore new opportunities regarding meeting customer demands and building a rewarding and engaging relationship.
Loyalty marketing
– News Viewers 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.
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 News Viewers in the consumer business. Now News Viewers can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.
Learning at scale
– Online learning technologies has now opened space for News Viewers 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.
Developing new processes and practices
– News Viewers 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.
Threats Managing Multi-Media Audiences at WHDH (Boston) External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Managing Multi-Media Audiences at WHDH (Boston) are -
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.
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. News Viewers 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.
Increasing wage structure of News Viewers
– 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 News Viewers.
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 News Viewers.
Environmental challenges
– News Viewers 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. News Viewers can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Sales & Marketing industry.
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry in the industry are lowering. It can presents News Viewers with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the sector.
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 News Viewers business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
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. News Viewers can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, News Viewers 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 Managing Multi-Media Audiences at WHDH (Boston) .
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– News Viewers 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.
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 News Viewers in the Sales & Marketing sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– News Viewers has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Sales & Marketing industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, News Viewers 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.
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.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Managing Multi-Media Audiences at WHDH (Boston) 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 Managing Multi-Media Audiences at WHDH (Boston) 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 Managing Multi-Media Audiences at WHDH (Boston) 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 Managing Multi-Media Audiences at WHDH (Boston) 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 Managing Multi-Media Audiences at WHDH (Boston) 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 News Viewers needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.
