Telect Inc. and the 30-Year Ride: Edgy or Over the Edge? SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Strategy & Execution
Strategy / MBA Resources
Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of Telect Inc. and the 30-Year Ride: Edgy or Over the Edge?
This case is set in November 2011. Wayne Williams, the CEO of Telect, Inc. has proposed that he and the company's CFO, Stan Hilbert, spend a month or more riding around the country on their Harley Davidson motorcycles visiting the company's customers in honor of the company's upcoming 30th anniversary in September 2012. Wayne wants to take the ride to personally thank the customers who have helped the company reach this milestone and to showcase the firm's product offerings. He would also like to find out from customers what more Telect could be doing to meet their needs. Stan is concerned that the ride could backfire and be misinterpreted by customers, eroding rather than enhancing customer relationships. He is also concerned that employees will not see the ride as the best use of the company's resources and CEO and CFO's time, and that the company may not want to take on the physical risks of having its executive team travel around the country by motorcycle. The students are put into the shoes of the CFO and must decide whether or not to support the ride. If they support the ride, they need to craft a strong argument for the ride to present to the company's board of directors. If they decide not to support the ride, they need to craft a strong argument that will have a chance of convincing the CEO to change his mind about the ride. The case was written primarily for use in MBA and Executive Education strategy and/or executive leadership courses, but it is also suitable for use in an undergraduate level strategy or leadership course. The case focuses on strategic leadership and the role of the executive team in both shaping corporate culture and in developing and maintaining strong relationships with the organization's stakeholders, and in particular, its customers.
Swot Analysis of "Telect Inc. and the 30-Year Ride: Edgy or Over the Edge?" written by John J. Lawrence, Anubha Mishra includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Ride Telect facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Telect Inc. and the 30-Year Ride: Edgy or Over the Edge? case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Customers, Leadership, Leading teams, Organizational culture, Strategy execution and Strategy & Execution.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Telect Inc. and the 30-Year Ride: Edgy or Over the Edge? casestudy better are - – banking and financial system is disrupted by Bitcoin and other crypto currencies, challanges to central banks by blockchain based private currencies, cloud computing is disrupting traditional business models, digital marketing is dominated by two big players Facebook and Google, there is backlash against globalization, increasing commodity prices, talent flight as more people leaving formal jobs,
technology disruption, increasing government debt because of Covid-19 spendings, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Telect Inc. and the 30-Year Ride: Edgy or Over the Edge?
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Telect Inc. and the 30-Year Ride: Edgy or Over the Edge? case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Ride Telect, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Ride Telect 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 Telect Inc. and the 30-Year Ride: Edgy or Over the Edge? can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Telect Inc. and the 30-Year Ride: Edgy or Over the Edge? case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Ride Telect
3. Assessing feasibility of the new initiative in Strategy & Execution field.
4. Making a Strategy & Execution topic specific business decision
5. Set goals for the organization
6. Organizational restructuring of Ride Telect
Strengths Telect Inc. and the 30-Year Ride: Edgy or Over the Edge? | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Ride Telect in Telect Inc. and the 30-Year Ride: Edgy or Over the Edge? Harvard Business Review case study are -
Highly skilled collaborators
– Ride Telect 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 Telect Inc. and the 30-Year Ride: Edgy or Over the Edge? HBR case study have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
Ability to lead change in Strategy & Execution field
– Ride Telect 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 Ride Telect in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.
Operational resilience
– The operational resilience strategy in the Telect Inc. and the 30-Year Ride: Edgy or Over the Edge? 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.
Learning organization
- Ride Telect 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 Ride Telect is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders in Telect Inc. and the 30-Year Ride: Edgy or Over the Edge? Harvard Business Review case study emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
Superior customer experience
– The customer experience strategy of Ride Telect in the segment is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.
Innovation driven organization
– Ride Telect is one of the most innovative firm in sector. Manager in Telect Inc. and the 30-Year Ride: Edgy or Over the Edge? Harvard Business Review case study can use Clayton Christensen Disruptive Innovation strategies to further increase the scale of innovtions in the organization.
Organizational Resilience of Ride Telect
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing that Ride Telect does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
High switching costs
– The high switching costs that Ride Telect 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.
Successful track record of launching new products
– Ride Telect has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Ride Telect 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.
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of Ride Telect in the sector have low bargaining power. Telect Inc. and the 30-Year Ride: Edgy or Over the Edge? has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Ride Telect to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
Cross disciplinary teams
– Horizontal connected teams at the Ride Telect 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
– Ride Telect is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided firm in Telect Inc. and the 30-Year Ride: Edgy or Over the Edge? 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.
Weaknesses Telect Inc. and the 30-Year Ride: Edgy or Over the Edge? | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Telect Inc. and the 30-Year Ride: Edgy or Over the Edge? are -
Aligning sales with marketing
– It come across in the case study Telect Inc. and the 30-Year Ride: Edgy or Over the Edge? that the firm needs to have more collaboration between its sales team and marketing team. Sales professionals in the industry have deep experience in developing customer relationships. Marketing department in the case Telect Inc. and the 30-Year Ride: Edgy or Over the Edge? can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Ride Telect is planning to shift buying processes online.
Slow to harness new channels of communication
– Even though competitors are using new communication channels such as Instagram, Tiktok, and Snap, Ride Telect is slow explore the new channels of communication. These new channels of communication mentioned in marketing section of case study Telect Inc. and the 30-Year Ride: Edgy or Over the Edge? can help to provide better information regarding products and services. It can also build an online community to further reach out to potential customers.
Employees’ incomplete understanding of strategy
– From the instances in the HBR case study Telect Inc. and the 30-Year Ride: Edgy or Over the Edge?, it seems that the employees of Ride Telect don’t have comprehensive understanding of the firm’s strategy. This is reflected in number of promotional campaigns over the last few years that had mixed messaging and competing priorities. Some of the strategic activities and services promoted in the promotional campaigns were not consistent with the organization’s strategy.
Slow to strategic competitive environment developments
– As Telect Inc. and the 30-Year Ride: Edgy or Over the Edge? HBR case study mentions - Ride Telect 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.
Compensation and incentives
– The revenue per employee as mentioned in the HBR case study Telect Inc. and the 30-Year Ride: Edgy or Over the Edge?, is just above the industry average. Ride Telect 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 bargaining power of channel partners
– Because of the regulatory requirements, John J. Lawrence, Anubha Mishra suggests that, Ride Telect is facing high bargaining power of the channel partners. So far it has not able to streamline the operations to reduce the bargaining power of the value chain partners in the industry.
High dependence on star products
– The top 2 products and services of the firm as mentioned in the Telect Inc. and the 30-Year Ride: Edgy or Over the Edge? 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 Ride Telect has relatively successful track record of launching new products.
High operating costs
– Compare to the competitors, firm in the HBR case study Telect Inc. and the 30-Year Ride: Edgy or Over the Edge? 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 Ride Telect 's lucrative customers.
No frontier risks strategy
– After analyzing the HBR case study Telect Inc. and the 30-Year Ride: Edgy or Over the Edge?, it seems that company is thinking about the frontier risks that can impact Strategy & Execution 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.
Interest costs
– Compare to the competition, Ride Telect 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.
Low market penetration in new markets
– Outside its home market of Ride Telect, firm in the HBR case study Telect Inc. and the 30-Year Ride: Edgy or Over the Edge? needs to spend more promotional, marketing, and advertising efforts to penetrate international markets.
Opportunities Telect Inc. and the 30-Year Ride: Edgy or Over the Edge? | 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 Telect Inc. and the 30-Year Ride: Edgy or Over the Edge? are -
Increase in government spending
– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Ride Telect can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Ride Telect operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Strategy & Execution sector.
Low interest rates
– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Ride Telect 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.
Better consumer reach
– The expansion of the 5G network will help Ride Telect to increase its market reach. Ride Telect 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.
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Ride Telect has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Ride Telect to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the Telect Inc. and the 30-Year Ride: Edgy or Over the Edge? case study. Ride Telect can build new products and services such as - data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
Redefining models of collaboration and team work
– As explained in the weaknesses section, Ride Telect is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. Telect Inc. and the 30-Year Ride: Edgy or Over the Edge? 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.
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. Ride Telect can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.
Lowering marketing communication costs
– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Ride Telect in the field of marketing communication. It will bring down the cost of doing business, provide technology platform to build new products in the Strategy & Execution segment, and it will provide faster access to the consumers.
Loyalty marketing
– Ride Telect 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.
Leveraging digital technologies
– Ride Telect 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.
Learning at scale
– Online learning technologies has now opened space for Ride Telect to conduct training and development for its employees across the world. This will result in not only reducing the cost of training but also help employees in different part of the world to integrate with the headquarter work culture, ethos, and standards.
Reforming the budgeting process
- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects Ride Telect can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.
Reconfiguring business model
– The expansion of digital payment system, the bringing down of international transactions costs using Bitcoin and other blockchain based currencies, etc can help Ride Telect to reconfigure its entire business model. For example it can used blockchain based technologies to reduce piracy of its products in the big markets such as China. Secondly it can use the popularity of e-commerce in various developing markets to build a Direct to Customer business model rather than the current Channel Heavy distribution network.
Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains
– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Ride Telect 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, Telect Inc. and the 30-Year Ride: Edgy or Over the Edge?, to buy more products closer to the markets, and it can leverage its size and influence to get better deal from the local markets.
Threats Telect Inc. and the 30-Year Ride: Edgy or Over the Edge? External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Telect Inc. and the 30-Year Ride: Edgy or Over the Edge? are -
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry in the industry are lowering. It can presents Ride Telect with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the sector.
Consumer confidence and its impact on Ride Telect 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.
Easy access to finance
– Easy access to finance in Strategy & Execution field will also reduce the barriers to entry in the industry, thus putting downward pressure on the prices because of increasing competition. Ride Telect can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Ride Telect in the Strategy & Execution industry. The Strategy & Execution 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 Ride Telect in the Strategy & Execution sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Ride Telect has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Strategy & Execution industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Ride Telect needs to keep up with the evolution of technology in the Strategy & Execution 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.
Environmental challenges
– Ride Telect 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. Ride Telect can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Strategy & Execution industry.
High dependence on third party suppliers
– Ride Telect 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.
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. Ride Telect 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.
Regulatory challenges
– Ride Telect 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 Strategy & Execution industry regulations.
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Ride Telect 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 Telect Inc. and the 30-Year Ride: Edgy or Over the Edge? .
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 Ride Telect business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
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. Ride Telect needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Strategy & Execution industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Telect Inc. and the 30-Year Ride: Edgy or Over the Edge? 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 Telect Inc. and the 30-Year Ride: Edgy or Over the Edge? 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 Telect Inc. and the 30-Year Ride: Edgy or Over the Edge? 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 Telect Inc. and the 30-Year Ride: Edgy or Over the Edge? 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 Telect Inc. and the 30-Year Ride: Edgy or Over the Edge? 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 Ride Telect needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.
