News in the Digital World: Who Pays? SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Strategy & Execution
Strategy / MBA Resources
Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of News in the Digital World: Who Pays?
Models to monetizing news in the digital landscape which is real-time, searchable, sharable, multi-sourced, anytime, any screen were emerging in 2010. Could content creators get people to pay for what they watched, read, listened to, and shared online? Were news aggregators riding on the backs of the new content generators? Or were they providing a new stream of audience directly to new sites which needed to create innovative models to monetize their content? As more delivery models were on the horizon (location-based breaking headlines via cell phones) and more content production unhinged from a commercial entity (images captured and uploaded from personal cell phone cameras), the news industry landscape became freewheeling and individualistic. The straight line model of content generator, distributor to reader was gone.
Swot Analysis of "News in the Digital World: Who Pays?" written by Stephen P. Bradley, Nancy Bartlett includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Content News facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in News in the Digital World: Who Pays? case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, and Strategy & Execution.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the News in the Digital World: Who Pays? casestudy better are - – increasing commodity prices, technology disruption, banking and financial system is disrupted by Bitcoin and other crypto currencies, increasing government debt because of Covid-19 spendings, geopolitical disruptions, wage bills are increasing, there is increasing trade war between United States & China,
increasing energy prices, customer relationship management is fast transforming because of increasing concerns over data privacy, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of News in the Digital World: Who Pays?
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in News in the Digital World: Who Pays? case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Content News, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Content News 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 News in the Digital World: Who Pays? can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in News in the Digital World: Who Pays? case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Content News
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 Content News
Strengths News in the Digital World: Who Pays? | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Content News in News in the Digital World: Who Pays? Harvard Business Review case study are -
Innovation driven organization
– Content News is one of the most innovative firm in sector. Manager in News in the Digital World: Who Pays? Harvard Business Review case study can use Clayton Christensen Disruptive Innovation strategies to further increase the scale of innovtions in the organization.
Operational resilience
– The operational resilience strategy in the News in the Digital World: Who Pays? 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.
Training and development
– Content News has one of the best training and development program in the industry. The effectiveness of the training programs can be measured in News in the Digital World: Who Pays? 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.
Highly skilled collaborators
– Content News 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 News in the Digital World: Who Pays? HBR case study have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
High brand equity
– Content News has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Content News to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Learning organization
- Content News 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 Content News is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders in News in the Digital World: Who Pays? Harvard Business Review case study emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
Diverse revenue streams
– Content News is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided firm in News in the Digital World: Who Pays? 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.
High switching costs
– The high switching costs that Content News 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)
– Content News 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 News in the Digital World: Who Pays? - staying ahead in the industry in terms of – new product launches, superior customer experience, highly competitive pricing strategies, and great returns to the shareholders.
Ability to recruit top talent
– Content News is one of the leading recruiters in the industry. Managers in the News in the Digital World: Who Pays? are in a position to attract the best talent available. The firm has a robust talent identification program that helps in identifying the brightest.
Digital Transformation in Strategy & Execution segment
- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For Content News digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Content News 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.
Analytics focus
– Content News 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 Stephen P. Bradley, Nancy Bartlett 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.
Weaknesses News in the Digital World: Who Pays? | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of News in the Digital World: Who Pays? are -
Increasing silos among functional specialists
– The organizational structure of Content News is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Strategy & Execution segment. Content News needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Content News 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 News in the Digital World: Who Pays?, it seems that the employees of Content News 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.
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 Content News supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes mentioned in the HBR case study - News in the Digital World: Who Pays?, it is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left Content News vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.
Lack of clear differentiation of Content News products
– To increase the profitability and margins on the products, Content News needs to provide more differentiated products than what it is currently offering in the marketplace.
High cash cycle compare to competitors
Content News 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.
Compensation and incentives
– The revenue per employee as mentioned in the HBR case study News in the Digital World: Who Pays?, is just above the industry average. Content News 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.
Capital Spending Reduction
– Even during the low interest decade, Content News 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.
Skills based hiring
– The stress on hiring functional specialists at Content News 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 bargaining power of channel partners
– Because of the regulatory requirements, Stephen P. Bradley, Nancy Bartlett suggests that, Content News 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 News in the Digital World: Who Pays? 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 Content News has relatively successful track record of launching new products.
Low market penetration in new markets
– Outside its home market of Content News, firm in the HBR case study News in the Digital World: Who Pays? needs to spend more promotional, marketing, and advertising efforts to penetrate international markets.
Opportunities News in the Digital World: Who Pays? | 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 News in the Digital World: Who Pays? are -
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– Content News 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 News in the Digital World: Who Pays? - to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Content News to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
Manufacturing automation
– Content News 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.
Reforming the budgeting process
- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects Content News can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.
Developing new processes and practices
– Content News 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.
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Content News has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Content News to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the News in the Digital World: Who Pays? case study. Content News can build new products and services such as - data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains
– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Content News 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, News in the Digital World: Who Pays?, to buy more products closer to the markets, and it can leverage its size and influence to get better deal from the local markets.
Building a culture of innovation
– managers at Content News 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.
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. Content News can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.
Loyalty marketing
– Content News 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.
Better consumer reach
– The expansion of the 5G network will help Content News to increase its market reach. Content News 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.
Learning at scale
– Online learning technologies has now opened space for Content News 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.
Finding new ways to collaborate
– Covid-19 has not only transformed business models of companies in Strategy & Execution industry, but it has also influenced the consumer preferences. Content News can tie-up with other value chain partners to explore new opportunities regarding meeting customer demands and building a rewarding and engaging relationship.
Low interest rates
– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Content News 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.
Threats News in the Digital World: Who Pays? External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study News in the Digital World: Who Pays? 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. Content News can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Content News 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.
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, as highlighted in case study News in the Digital World: Who Pays?, Content News 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 .
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. Content News needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Strategy & Execution industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
Increasing wage structure of Content News
– 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 Content News.
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.
High dependence on third party suppliers
– Content News 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.
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 Content News business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Content News 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 News in the Digital World: Who Pays? .
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. Content News 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.
Consumer confidence and its impact on Content News 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.
Regulatory challenges
– Content News 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.
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Content News 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.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of News in the Digital World: Who Pays? 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 News in the Digital World: Who Pays? 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 News in the Digital World: Who Pays? 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 News in the Digital World: Who Pays? 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 News in the Digital World: Who Pays? 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 Content News needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.
