SUNDAY Communications Ltd.: A Marketing Strategy for a Wireless Future SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Sales & Marketing
Strategy / MBA Resources
Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of SUNDAY Communications Ltd.: A Marketing Strategy for a Wireless Future
SUNDAY Communications was one of six mobile phone service providers facing fierce competition in a small market of 6.7 million population in Hong Kong. The company had pursued an aggressive marketing and branding strategy since its establishment in 1994. However, after six years, it was still struggling to make a profit. With the imminent granting of 3G licenses in early 2001, the company is hard-pressed to formulate a viable strategy that will enable it to capitalize on its brand image and reposition itself in the mobile phone industry.
Swot Analysis of "SUNDAY Communications Ltd.: A Marketing Strategy for a Wireless Future" written by Velma Lee, Pauline Ng, Elsie Choi includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Sunday Phone facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in SUNDAY Communications Ltd.: A Marketing Strategy for a Wireless Future case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Customers, Pricing and Sales & Marketing.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the SUNDAY Communications Ltd.: A Marketing Strategy for a Wireless Future casestudy better are - – competitive advantages are harder to sustain because of technology dispersion, cloud computing is disrupting traditional business models, increasing household debt because of falling income levels, geopolitical disruptions, banking and financial system is disrupted by Bitcoin and other crypto currencies, increasing energy prices, digital marketing is dominated by two big players Facebook and Google,
increasing inequality as vast percentage of new income is going to the top 1%, talent flight as more people leaving formal jobs, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of SUNDAY Communications Ltd.: A Marketing Strategy for a Wireless Future
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in SUNDAY Communications Ltd.: A Marketing Strategy for a Wireless Future case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Sunday Phone, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Sunday Phone 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 SUNDAY Communications Ltd.: A Marketing Strategy for a Wireless Future can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in SUNDAY Communications Ltd.: A Marketing Strategy for a Wireless Future case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Sunday Phone
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 Sunday Phone
Strengths SUNDAY Communications Ltd.: A Marketing Strategy for a Wireless Future | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Sunday Phone in SUNDAY Communications Ltd.: A Marketing Strategy for a Wireless Future Harvard Business Review case study are -
Ability to lead change in Sales & Marketing field
– Sunday Phone 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 Sunday Phone 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
– Sunday Phone is one of the leading recruiters in the industry. Managers in the SUNDAY Communications Ltd.: A Marketing Strategy for a Wireless Future are in a position to attract the best talent available. The firm has a robust talent identification program that helps in identifying the brightest.
Training and development
– Sunday Phone has one of the best training and development program in the industry. The effectiveness of the training programs can be measured in SUNDAY Communications Ltd.: A Marketing Strategy for a Wireless Future 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.
Operational resilience
– The operational resilience strategy in the SUNDAY Communications Ltd.: A Marketing Strategy for a Wireless Future 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.
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of Sunday Phone in the sector have low bargaining power. SUNDAY Communications Ltd.: A Marketing Strategy for a Wireless Future has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Sunday Phone to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
Digital Transformation in Sales & Marketing segment
- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For Sunday Phone digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Sunday Phone 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.
Superior customer experience
– The customer experience strategy of Sunday Phone in the segment is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.
Cross disciplinary teams
– Horizontal connected teams at the Sunday Phone 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.
Strong track record of project management
– Sunday Phone is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.
Learning organization
- Sunday Phone 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 Sunday Phone is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders in SUNDAY Communications Ltd.: A Marketing Strategy for a Wireless Future Harvard Business Review case study emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
Innovation driven organization
– Sunday Phone is one of the most innovative firm in sector. Manager in SUNDAY Communications Ltd.: A Marketing Strategy for a Wireless Future Harvard Business Review case study can use Clayton Christensen Disruptive Innovation strategies to further increase the scale of innovtions in the organization.
High switching costs
– The high switching costs that Sunday Phone 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.
Weaknesses SUNDAY Communications Ltd.: A Marketing Strategy for a Wireless Future | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of SUNDAY Communications Ltd.: A Marketing Strategy for a Wireless Future are -
Need for greater diversity
– Sunday Phone 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.
High operating costs
– Compare to the competitors, firm in the HBR case study SUNDAY Communications Ltd.: A Marketing Strategy for a Wireless Future 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 Sunday Phone 's lucrative customers.
Compensation and incentives
– The revenue per employee as mentioned in the HBR case study SUNDAY Communications Ltd.: A Marketing Strategy for a Wireless Future, is just above the industry average. Sunday Phone needs to redesign the compensation structure and incentives to increase the revenue per employees. Some of the steps that it can take are – hiring more specialists on project basis, etc.
High dependence on star products
– The top 2 products and services of the firm as mentioned in the SUNDAY Communications Ltd.: A Marketing Strategy for a Wireless Future HBR case study still accounts for major business revenue. This dependence on star products in has resulted into insufficient focus on developing new products, even though Sunday Phone has relatively successful track record of launching new products.
Slow decision making process
– As mentioned earlier in the report, Sunday Phone 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. Sunday Phone 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.
Slow to harness new channels of communication
– Even though competitors are using new communication channels such as Instagram, Tiktok, and Snap, Sunday Phone is slow explore the new channels of communication. These new channels of communication mentioned in marketing section of case study SUNDAY Communications Ltd.: A Marketing Strategy for a Wireless Future can help to provide better information regarding products and services. It can also build an online community to further reach out to potential customers.
Products dominated business model
– Even though Sunday Phone 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 - SUNDAY Communications Ltd.: A Marketing Strategy for a Wireless Future should strive to include more intangible value offerings along with its core products and services.
High cash cycle compare to competitors
Sunday Phone 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.
Employees’ incomplete understanding of strategy
– From the instances in the HBR case study SUNDAY Communications Ltd.: A Marketing Strategy for a Wireless Future, it seems that the employees of Sunday Phone 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.
Workers concerns about automation
– As automation is fast increasing in the segment, Sunday Phone 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 SUNDAY Communications Ltd.: A Marketing Strategy for a Wireless Future, 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.
Opportunities SUNDAY Communications Ltd.: A Marketing Strategy for a Wireless Future | 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 SUNDAY Communications Ltd.: A Marketing Strategy for a Wireless Future are -
Learning at scale
– Online learning technologies has now opened space for Sunday Phone 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.
Low interest rates
– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Sunday Phone 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.
Developing new processes and practices
– Sunday Phone can develop new processes and procedures in Sales & Marketing industry using technology such as automation using artificial intelligence, real time transportation and products tracking, 3D modeling for concept development and new products pilot testing etc.
Redefining models of collaboration and team work
– As explained in the weaknesses section, Sunday Phone is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. SUNDAY Communications Ltd.: A Marketing Strategy for a Wireless Future case study suggests that firm can utilize new technology to build more coordinated teams and streamline operations and communications using tools such as CAD, Zoom, etc.
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Sunday Phone has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Sunday Phone to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the SUNDAY Communications Ltd.: A Marketing Strategy for a Wireless Future case study. Sunday Phone can build new products and services such as - data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
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. Sunday Phone can tie-up with other value chain partners to explore new opportunities regarding meeting customer demands and building a rewarding and engaging relationship.
Leveraging digital technologies
– Sunday Phone 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.
Better consumer reach
– The expansion of the 5G network will help Sunday Phone to increase its market reach. Sunday Phone 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.
Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities
– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Sunday Phone 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 Sunday Phone to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
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. Sunday Phone 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. Sunday Phone 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.
Building a culture of innovation
– managers at Sunday Phone 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.
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 Sunday Phone in the consumer business. Now Sunday Phone can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.
Loyalty marketing
– Sunday Phone 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.
Threats SUNDAY Communications Ltd.: A Marketing Strategy for a Wireless Future External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study SUNDAY Communications Ltd.: A Marketing Strategy for a Wireless Future are -
Regulatory challenges
– Sunday Phone 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.
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry in the industry are lowering. It can presents Sunday Phone 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 Sunday Phone 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. Sunday Phone can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
Consumer confidence and its impact on Sunday Phone 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.
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 Sunday Phone.
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Sunday Phone 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 SUNDAY Communications Ltd.: A Marketing Strategy for a Wireless Future .
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Sunday Phone 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.
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 Sunday Phone in the Sales & Marketing sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Sunday Phone 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.
High level of anxiety and lack of motivation
– the Great Resignation in United States is the sign of broader dissatisfaction among the workforce in United States. Sunday Phone needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Sales & Marketing industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, as highlighted in case study SUNDAY Communications Ltd.: A Marketing Strategy for a Wireless Future, Sunday Phone 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 .
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 SUNDAY Communications Ltd.: A Marketing Strategy for a Wireless Future 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 SUNDAY Communications Ltd.: A Marketing Strategy for a Wireless Future 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 SUNDAY Communications Ltd.: A Marketing Strategy for a Wireless Future 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 SUNDAY Communications Ltd.: A Marketing Strategy for a Wireless Future 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 SUNDAY Communications Ltd.: A Marketing Strategy for a Wireless Future 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 Sunday Phone needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.
