Madhyamam Newspaper: Which Way Forward? SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Strategy & Execution
Strategy / MBA Resources
Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of Madhyamam Newspaper: Which Way Forward?
Madhymam was a Malayalam-language newspaper headquartered in Kerala, India. Launched by a conservative Islamic trust, much of the newspaper's coverage and content were dictated by the trust's conservative values. Though the high quality of Madhymam's content was widely appreciated, this did not translate into the anticipated sales revenues. At least part of this shortfall was because of Madhymam's public image as a pro-Muslim newspaper - an image that the newspaper's management team had been making efforts to shed. Driven by its vision of becoming the largest newspaper in India, the management of Madhymam had been exploring various options to stimulate readership and sales. The task was made more difficult by the trust's exclusionary policies on advertising, stiff competition from major local players, the entry of national players and the proliferation of regional news channels. In light of such challenges, how should Madhymam move forward? Authors are affiliated with Indian Institute of Management Kozhikode.
Swot Analysis of "Madhyamam Newspaper: Which Way Forward?" written by M.K. Nandakumar, Debi Prasanna Pati, Chandra Sekhar Satpathy, Biswarup Saha includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Madhymam Newspaper facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Madhyamam Newspaper: Which Way Forward? case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, and Strategy & Execution.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Madhyamam Newspaper: Which Way Forward? casestudy better are - – wage bills are increasing, increasing commodity prices, there is backlash against globalization, increasing transportation and logistics costs, increasing government debt because of Covid-19 spendings, banking and financial system is disrupted by Bitcoin and other crypto currencies, technology disruption,
there is increasing trade war between United States & China, supply chains are disrupted by pandemic , etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Madhyamam Newspaper: Which Way Forward?
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Madhyamam Newspaper: Which Way Forward? case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Madhymam Newspaper, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Madhymam Newspaper 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 Madhyamam Newspaper: Which Way Forward? can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Madhyamam Newspaper: Which Way Forward? case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Madhymam Newspaper
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 Madhymam Newspaper
Strengths Madhyamam Newspaper: Which Way Forward? | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Madhymam Newspaper in Madhyamam Newspaper: Which Way Forward? Harvard Business Review case study are -
Training and development
– Madhymam Newspaper has one of the best training and development program in the industry. The effectiveness of the training programs can be measured in Madhyamam Newspaper: Which Way Forward? 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.
Cross disciplinary teams
– Horizontal connected teams at the Madhymam Newspaper 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.
Organizational Resilience of Madhymam Newspaper
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing that Madhymam Newspaper does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
Highly skilled collaborators
– Madhymam Newspaper 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 Madhyamam Newspaper: Which Way Forward? HBR case study have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of Madhymam Newspaper in the sector have low bargaining power. Madhyamam Newspaper: Which Way Forward? has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Madhymam Newspaper to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
Ability to recruit top talent
– Madhymam Newspaper is one of the leading recruiters in the industry. Managers in the Madhyamam Newspaper: Which Way Forward? are in a position to attract the best talent available. The firm has a robust talent identification program that helps in identifying the brightest.
Analytics focus
– Madhymam Newspaper 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 M.K. Nandakumar, Debi Prasanna Pati, Chandra Sekhar Satpathy, Biswarup Saha 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
– Madhymam Newspaper is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.
Ability to lead change in Strategy & Execution field
– Madhymam Newspaper 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 Madhymam Newspaper in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.
Superior customer experience
– The customer experience strategy of Madhymam Newspaper in the segment is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.
High switching costs
– The high switching costs that Madhymam Newspaper 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.
Effective Research and Development (R&D)
– Madhymam Newspaper 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 Madhyamam Newspaper: Which Way Forward? - staying ahead in the industry in terms of – new product launches, superior customer experience, highly competitive pricing strategies, and great returns to the shareholders.
Weaknesses Madhyamam Newspaper: Which Way Forward? | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Madhyamam Newspaper: Which Way Forward? are -
Increasing silos among functional specialists
– The organizational structure of Madhymam Newspaper is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Strategy & Execution segment. Madhymam Newspaper needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Madhymam Newspaper to focus more on services rather than just following the product oriented approach.
Employees’ incomplete understanding of strategy
– From the instances in the HBR case study Madhyamam Newspaper: Which Way Forward?, it seems that the employees of Madhymam Newspaper 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.
No frontier risks strategy
– After analyzing the HBR case study Madhyamam Newspaper: Which Way Forward?, 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.
Capital Spending Reduction
– Even during the low interest decade, Madhymam Newspaper has not been able to do capital spending to the tune of the competition. This has resulted into fewer innovations and company facing stiff competition from both existing competitors and new entrants who are disrupting the industry using digital technology.
High dependence on star products
– The top 2 products and services of the firm as mentioned in the Madhyamam Newspaper: Which Way Forward? 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 Madhymam Newspaper has relatively successful track record of launching new products.
Compensation and incentives
– The revenue per employee as mentioned in the HBR case study Madhyamam Newspaper: Which Way Forward?, is just above the industry average. Madhymam Newspaper 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.
Slow decision making process
– As mentioned earlier in the report, Madhymam Newspaper 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. Madhymam Newspaper 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, Madhymam Newspaper is slow explore the new channels of communication. These new channels of communication mentioned in marketing section of case study Madhyamam Newspaper: Which Way Forward? can help to provide better information regarding products and services. It can also build an online community to further reach out to potential customers.
Workers concerns about automation
– As automation is fast increasing in the segment, Madhymam Newspaper 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.
Products dominated business model
– Even though Madhymam Newspaper 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 - Madhyamam Newspaper: Which Way Forward? should strive to include more intangible value offerings along with its core products and services.
Lack of clear differentiation of Madhymam Newspaper products
– To increase the profitability and margins on the products, Madhymam Newspaper needs to provide more differentiated products than what it is currently offering in the marketplace.
Opportunities Madhyamam Newspaper: Which Way Forward? | 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 Madhyamam Newspaper: Which Way Forward? are -
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– Madhymam Newspaper 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 Madhyamam Newspaper: Which Way Forward? - to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Madhymam Newspaper to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
Building a culture of innovation
– managers at Madhymam Newspaper 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 Strategy & Execution segment.
Better consumer reach
– The expansion of the 5G network will help Madhymam Newspaper to increase its market reach. Madhymam Newspaper will be able to reach out to new customers. Secondly 5G will also provide technology framework to build new tools and products that can help more immersive consumer experience and faster consumer journey.
Increase in government spending
– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Madhymam Newspaper can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Madhymam Newspaper operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Strategy & Execution sector.
Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities
– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Madhymam Newspaper 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 Madhymam Newspaper to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
Learning at scale
– Online learning technologies has now opened space for Madhymam Newspaper 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.
Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains
– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Madhymam Newspaper 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, Madhyamam Newspaper: Which Way Forward?, to buy more products closer to the markets, and it can leverage its size and influence to get better deal from the local markets.
Reforming the budgeting process
- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects Madhymam Newspaper 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 Madhymam Newspaper 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.
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. Madhymam Newspaper 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 Madhymam Newspaper 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.
Manufacturing automation
– Madhymam Newspaper can use the latest technology developments to improve its manufacturing and designing process in Strategy & Execution 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.
Buying journey improvements
– Madhymam Newspaper can improve the customer journey of consumers in the industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. Madhyamam Newspaper: Which Way Forward? 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.
Threats Madhyamam Newspaper: Which Way Forward? External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Madhyamam Newspaper: Which Way Forward? are -
Increasing wage structure of Madhymam Newspaper
– 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 Madhymam Newspaper.
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 Madhymam Newspaper in the Strategy & Execution sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Madhymam Newspaper 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.
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.
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Madhymam Newspaper is facing in Strategy & Execution sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Madhymam Newspaper 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.
Consumer confidence and its impact on Madhymam Newspaper 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.
Environmental challenges
– Madhymam Newspaper 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. Madhymam Newspaper can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Strategy & Execution industry.
Regulatory challenges
– Madhymam Newspaper 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.
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.
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry in the industry are lowering. It can presents Madhymam Newspaper with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the sector.
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, as highlighted in case study Madhyamam Newspaper: Which Way Forward?, Madhymam Newspaper may face longer learning curve for training and development of existing employees. This can open space for more nimble competitors in the field of Strategy & Execution .
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Madhymam Newspaper has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Strategy & Execution industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Madhymam Newspaper 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.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Madhyamam Newspaper: Which Way Forward? 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 Madhyamam Newspaper: Which Way Forward? 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 Madhyamam Newspaper: Which Way Forward? 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 Madhyamam Newspaper: Which Way Forward? 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 Madhyamam Newspaper: Which Way Forward? 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 Madhymam Newspaper needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.
