In September 2014, Stephen Burke, chief executive officer at lmedia and entertainment company NBCUniversal, has to decide between possible priorities for the company's 'Project Symphony,' guaranteeing the winners a high level of visibility and support across the media conglomerate's broadcast and cable television, film, and theme park divisions. Past "Gold" priorities for Symphony, an initiative introduced shortly after Comcast made steps to acquire NBCUniversal in 2010, saw subsequent success in the marketplace. Symphony is so powerful, in fact, that competing conglomerates are keen to buy some of NBCUniversal's cross-promotional strength, as Disney did with its megahit Frozen in 2014. For 2015, the choice is between five films-Fast & Furious 7, Fifty Shades of Grey, Jurassic World, Minions, and Pitch Perfect 2-as well as two choices in television. Which are most deserving of Gold status?
Swot Analysis of "NBCUniversal" written by Anita Elberse includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Nbcuniversal Symphony facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in NBCUniversal case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, and Sales & Marketing.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the NBCUniversal casestudy better are - – increasing transportation and logistics costs, supply chains are disrupted by pandemic , competitive advantages are harder to sustain because of technology dispersion, central banks are concerned over increasing inflation, banking and financial system is disrupted by Bitcoin and other crypto currencies, geopolitical disruptions, there is backlash against globalization,
there is increasing trade war between United States & China, increasing commodity prices, etc
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in NBCUniversal case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Nbcuniversal Symphony, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Nbcuniversal Symphony 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 NBCUniversal can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in NBCUniversal case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Nbcuniversal Symphony
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 Nbcuniversal Symphony
Strengths NBCUniversal | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Nbcuniversal Symphony in NBCUniversal Harvard Business Review case study are -
Cross disciplinary teams
– Horizontal connected teams at the Nbcuniversal Symphony 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.
Diverse revenue streams
– Nbcuniversal Symphony is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided firm in NBCUniversal 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.
Organizational Resilience of Nbcuniversal Symphony
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing that Nbcuniversal Symphony does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
Training and development
– Nbcuniversal Symphony has one of the best training and development program in the industry. The effectiveness of the training programs can be measured in NBCUniversal 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.
High brand equity
– Nbcuniversal Symphony has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Nbcuniversal Symphony to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Sales & Marketing industry
– NBCUniversal firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Nbcuniversal Symphony to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Sales & Marketing industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Nbcuniversal Symphony to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Strong track record of project management
– Nbcuniversal Symphony is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of Nbcuniversal Symphony in the sector have low bargaining power. NBCUniversal has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Nbcuniversal Symphony to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
Ability to lead change in Sales & Marketing field
– Nbcuniversal Symphony 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 Nbcuniversal Symphony in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.
Learning organization
- Nbcuniversal Symphony 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 Nbcuniversal Symphony is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders in NBCUniversal Harvard Business Review case study emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
Operational resilience
– The operational resilience strategy in the NBCUniversal 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.
Superior customer experience
– The customer experience strategy of Nbcuniversal Symphony in the segment is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.
Weaknesses NBCUniversal | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of NBCUniversal are -
Increasing silos among functional specialists
– The organizational structure of Nbcuniversal Symphony is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Sales & Marketing segment. Nbcuniversal Symphony needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Nbcuniversal Symphony to focus more on services rather than just following the product oriented approach.
Ability to respond to the competition
– As the decision making is very deliberative, highlighted in the case study NBCUniversal, in the dynamic environment Nbcuniversal Symphony has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. Nbcuniversal Symphony has reasonably good record with similar level competitors but it has struggled with new entrants taking away niches of its business.
High bargaining power of channel partners
– Because of the regulatory requirements, Anita Elberse suggests that, Nbcuniversal Symphony is facing high bargaining power of the channel partners. So far it has not able to streamline the operations to reduce the bargaining power of the value chain partners in the industry.
Slow decision making process
– As mentioned earlier in the report, Nbcuniversal Symphony 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. Nbcuniversal Symphony 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.
High operating costs
– Compare to the competitors, firm in the HBR case study NBCUniversal 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 Nbcuniversal Symphony 's lucrative customers.
Lack of clear differentiation of Nbcuniversal Symphony products
– To increase the profitability and margins on the products, Nbcuniversal Symphony needs to provide more differentiated products than what it is currently offering in the marketplace.
Low market penetration in new markets
– Outside its home market of Nbcuniversal Symphony, firm in the HBR case study NBCUniversal needs to spend more promotional, marketing, and advertising efforts to penetrate international markets.
Interest costs
– Compare to the competition, Nbcuniversal Symphony 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.
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 Nbcuniversal Symphony supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes mentioned in the HBR case study - NBCUniversal, it is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left Nbcuniversal Symphony vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.
Skills based hiring
– The stress on hiring functional specialists at Nbcuniversal Symphony has created an environment where the organization is dominated by functional specialists rather than management generalist. This has resulted into product oriented approach rather than marketing oriented approach or consumers oriented approach.
High cash cycle compare to competitors
Nbcuniversal Symphony 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.
Opportunities NBCUniversal | 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 NBCUniversal are -
Reforming the budgeting process
- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects Nbcuniversal Symphony can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.
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. Nbcuniversal Symphony can tie-up with other value chain partners to explore new opportunities regarding meeting customer demands and building a rewarding and engaging relationship.
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 Nbcuniversal Symphony in the consumer business. Now Nbcuniversal Symphony can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Nbcuniversal Symphony has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Nbcuniversal Symphony to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the NBCUniversal case study. Nbcuniversal Symphony 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 Nbcuniversal Symphony 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.
Loyalty marketing
– Nbcuniversal Symphony 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.
Lowering marketing communication costs
– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Nbcuniversal Symphony 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.
Identify volunteer opportunities
– Covid-19 has impacted working population in two ways – it has led to people soul searching about their professional choices, resulting in mass resignation. Secondly it has encouraged people to do things that they are passionate about. This has opened opportunities for businesses to build volunteer oriented socially driven projects. Nbcuniversal Symphony can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.
Buying journey improvements
– Nbcuniversal Symphony can improve the customer journey of consumers in the industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. NBCUniversal 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.
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. Nbcuniversal Symphony 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. Nbcuniversal Symphony 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.
Increase in government spending
– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Nbcuniversal Symphony can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Nbcuniversal Symphony operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Sales & Marketing sector.
Redefining models of collaboration and team work
– As explained in the weaknesses section, Nbcuniversal Symphony is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. NBCUniversal 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.
Developing new processes and practices
– Nbcuniversal Symphony 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 NBCUniversal External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study NBCUniversal are -
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 Nbcuniversal Symphony in the Sales & Marketing sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Nbcuniversal Symphony in the Sales & Marketing industry. The Sales & Marketing industry is already at various protected from local competition in China, with the rise of trade war the protection levels may go up. This presents a clear threat of current business model in Chinese market.
Instability in the European markets
– European Union markets are facing three big challenges post Covid – expanded balance sheets, Brexit related business disruption, and aggressive Russia looking to distract the existing security mechanism. Nbcuniversal Symphony 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.
High dependence on third party suppliers
– Nbcuniversal Symphony 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.
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 Nbcuniversal Symphony.
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry in the industry are lowering. It can presents Nbcuniversal Symphony with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the sector.
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Nbcuniversal Symphony 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.
Consumer confidence and its impact on Nbcuniversal Symphony 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.
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Nbcuniversal Symphony 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 NBCUniversal .
Aging population
– As the populations of most advanced economies are aging, it will lead to high social security costs, higher savings among population, and lower demand for goods and services in the economy. The household savings in US, France, UK, Germany, and Japan are growing faster than predicted because of uncertainty caused by pandemic.
Easy access to finance
– Easy access to finance in Sales & Marketing field will also reduce the barriers to entry in the industry, thus putting downward pressure on the prices because of increasing competition. Nbcuniversal Symphony can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Nbcuniversal Symphony has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Sales & Marketing industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Nbcuniversal Symphony needs to keep up with the evolution of technology in the Sales & Marketing sector. According to Mckinsey study top managers believe that the adoption of technology in operations, communications is 20-25 times faster than what they planned in the beginning of 2019.
High 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. Nbcuniversal Symphony needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Sales & Marketing industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of NBCUniversal 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 NBCUniversal 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 NBCUniversal 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 NBCUniversal 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 NBCUniversal 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 Nbcuniversal Symphony needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.
