Hostile Takeover Battle in Japan: Fuji TV vs. Livedoor for NBS SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Strategy & Execution
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Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of Hostile Takeover Battle in Japan: Fuji TV vs. Livedoor for NBS
In February 2005, the top management of Fuji Television Network, Inc., one of Japan's leading media conglomerates, was informed that a small IT-related company, Livedoor Co., had bought 35% of shares in Nippon Broadcasting System, Inc. (NBS) with the help of Lehman Brothers, a U.S.-based financial services firm. Fuji TV owned 12.39% of NBS shares and was in the process of acquiring it. What complicated the issue was that NBS' main asset was its 22.5% stake in Fuji TV. The news came as a shock because Livedoor had acquired NBS shares through off-floor trading at the Tokyo Stock Exchange--prohibited by the Securities Exchange Law, unless done for the purposes of a takeover bid. Fuji TV's top management had to take effective measures to counter Livedoor's move. Such measures involved the assistance of legal counselors and the planning department, who studied which legal and effective actions Fuji TV could take against Livedoor and calculated the corporate value of NBS using both American and Japanese methods.
Swot Analysis of "Hostile Takeover Battle in Japan: Fuji TV vs. Livedoor for NBS" written by Mitsuru Misawa includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Nbs Fuji facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Hostile Takeover Battle in Japan: Fuji TV vs. Livedoor for NBS case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Budgeting, Crisis management, Ethics, Financial analysis, Mergers & acquisitions, Negotiations and Strategy & Execution.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Hostile Takeover Battle in Japan: Fuji TV vs. Livedoor for NBS casestudy better are - – technology disruption, talent flight as more people leaving formal jobs, geopolitical disruptions, challanges to central banks by blockchain based private currencies, banking and financial system is disrupted by Bitcoin and other crypto currencies, digital marketing is dominated by two big players Facebook and Google, there is backlash against globalization,
increasing government debt because of Covid-19 spendings, there is increasing trade war between United States & China, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Hostile Takeover Battle in Japan: Fuji TV vs. Livedoor for NBS
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Hostile Takeover Battle in Japan: Fuji TV vs. Livedoor for NBS case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Nbs Fuji, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Nbs Fuji 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 Hostile Takeover Battle in Japan: Fuji TV vs. Livedoor for NBS can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Hostile Takeover Battle in Japan: Fuji TV vs. Livedoor for NBS case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Nbs Fuji
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 Nbs Fuji
Strengths Hostile Takeover Battle in Japan: Fuji TV vs. Livedoor for NBS | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Nbs Fuji in Hostile Takeover Battle in Japan: Fuji TV vs. Livedoor for NBS Harvard Business Review case study are -
Effective Research and Development (R&D)
– Nbs Fuji 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 Hostile Takeover Battle in Japan: Fuji TV vs. Livedoor for NBS - staying ahead in the industry in terms of – new product launches, superior customer experience, highly competitive pricing strategies, and great returns to the shareholders.
Learning organization
- Nbs Fuji 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 Nbs Fuji is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders in Hostile Takeover Battle in Japan: Fuji TV vs. Livedoor for NBS Harvard Business Review case study emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
High brand equity
– Nbs Fuji has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Nbs Fuji to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Successful track record of launching new products
– Nbs Fuji has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Nbs Fuji 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.
Highly skilled collaborators
– Nbs Fuji 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 Hostile Takeover Battle in Japan: Fuji TV vs. Livedoor for NBS HBR case study have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
Digital Transformation in Strategy & Execution segment
- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For Nbs Fuji digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Nbs Fuji 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.
Cross disciplinary teams
– Horizontal connected teams at the Nbs Fuji 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.
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Strategy & Execution industry
– Hostile Takeover Battle in Japan: Fuji TV vs. Livedoor for NBS firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Nbs Fuji to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Strategy & Execution industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Nbs Fuji to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Operational resilience
– The operational resilience strategy in the Hostile Takeover Battle in Japan: Fuji TV vs. Livedoor for NBS 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.
Organizational Resilience of Nbs Fuji
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing that Nbs Fuji does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
Analytics focus
– Nbs Fuji 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 Mitsuru Misawa 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.
Innovation driven organization
– Nbs Fuji is one of the most innovative firm in sector. Manager in Hostile Takeover Battle in Japan: Fuji TV vs. Livedoor for NBS Harvard Business Review case study can use Clayton Christensen Disruptive Innovation strategies to further increase the scale of innovtions in the organization.
Weaknesses Hostile Takeover Battle in Japan: Fuji TV vs. Livedoor for NBS | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Hostile Takeover Battle in Japan: Fuji TV vs. Livedoor for NBS are -
Employees’ incomplete understanding of strategy
– From the instances in the HBR case study Hostile Takeover Battle in Japan: Fuji TV vs. Livedoor for NBS, it seems that the employees of Nbs Fuji 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, Nbs Fuji 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.
Lack of clear differentiation of Nbs Fuji products
– To increase the profitability and margins on the products, Nbs Fuji needs to provide more differentiated products than what it is currently offering in the marketplace.
No frontier risks strategy
– After analyzing the HBR case study Hostile Takeover Battle in Japan: Fuji TV vs. Livedoor for NBS, 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.
Increasing silos among functional specialists
– The organizational structure of Nbs Fuji is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Strategy & Execution segment. Nbs Fuji needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Nbs Fuji to focus more on services rather than just following the product oriented approach.
High cash cycle compare to competitors
Nbs Fuji 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.
Need for greater diversity
– Nbs Fuji 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.
Compensation and incentives
– The revenue per employee as mentioned in the HBR case study Hostile Takeover Battle in Japan: Fuji TV vs. Livedoor for NBS, is just above the industry average. Nbs Fuji 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.
Skills based hiring
– The stress on hiring functional specialists at Nbs Fuji 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.
Aligning sales with marketing
– It come across in the case study Hostile Takeover Battle in Japan: Fuji TV vs. Livedoor for NBS 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 Hostile Takeover Battle in Japan: Fuji TV vs. Livedoor for NBS can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Nbs Fuji is planning to shift buying processes online.
Ability to respond to the competition
– As the decision making is very deliberative, highlighted in the case study Hostile Takeover Battle in Japan: Fuji TV vs. Livedoor for NBS, in the dynamic environment Nbs Fuji has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. Nbs Fuji has reasonably good record with similar level competitors but it has struggled with new entrants taking away niches of its business.
Opportunities Hostile Takeover Battle in Japan: Fuji TV vs. Livedoor for NBS | 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 Hostile Takeover Battle in Japan: Fuji TV vs. Livedoor for NBS are -
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. Nbs Fuji can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.
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 Nbs Fuji 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.
Developing new processes and practices
– Nbs Fuji can develop new processes and procedures in Strategy & Execution 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.
Loyalty marketing
– Nbs Fuji 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.
Reforming the budgeting process
- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects Nbs Fuji can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.
Redefining models of collaboration and team work
– As explained in the weaknesses section, Nbs Fuji is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. Hostile Takeover Battle in Japan: Fuji TV vs. Livedoor for NBS 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.
Leveraging digital technologies
– Nbs Fuji 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.
Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities
– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Nbs Fuji 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 Nbs Fuji to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
Low interest rates
– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Nbs Fuji 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.
Building a culture of innovation
– managers at Nbs Fuji 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.
Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains
– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Nbs Fuji 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, Hostile Takeover Battle in Japan: Fuji TV vs. Livedoor for NBS, to buy more products closer to the markets, and it can leverage its size and influence to get better deal from the local markets.
Increase in government spending
– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Nbs Fuji can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Nbs Fuji operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Strategy & Execution sector.
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 Nbs Fuji in the consumer business. Now Nbs Fuji can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.
Threats Hostile Takeover Battle in Japan: Fuji TV vs. Livedoor for NBS External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Hostile Takeover Battle in Japan: Fuji TV vs. Livedoor for NBS are -
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. Nbs Fuji can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
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. Nbs Fuji 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
– Nbs Fuji 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.
High dependence on third party suppliers
– Nbs Fuji 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.
Environmental challenges
– Nbs Fuji 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. Nbs Fuji can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Strategy & Execution industry.
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.
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.
Consumer confidence and its impact on Nbs Fuji 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, Nbs Fuji 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 Hostile Takeover Battle in Japan: Fuji TV vs. Livedoor for NBS .
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. Nbs Fuji needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Strategy & Execution 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 Hostile Takeover Battle in Japan: Fuji TV vs. Livedoor for NBS, Nbs Fuji 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 .
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 Nbs Fuji.
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Nbs Fuji has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Strategy & Execution industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Nbs Fuji 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 Hostile Takeover Battle in Japan: Fuji TV vs. Livedoor for NBS 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 Hostile Takeover Battle in Japan: Fuji TV vs. Livedoor for NBS 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 Hostile Takeover Battle in Japan: Fuji TV vs. Livedoor for NBS 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 Hostile Takeover Battle in Japan: Fuji TV vs. Livedoor for NBS 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 Hostile Takeover Battle in Japan: Fuji TV vs. Livedoor for NBS 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 Nbs Fuji needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.
