Case Study Description of Microsoft's Acquisition of Sendit (D): Post-Acquisition Integration
The case describes Microsoft's first significant acquisition in Europe and its first in the telecom equipment (software) market. SendIt is a publicly listed Swedish start-up, which offers the only Windows based solutions to the IP-based mobile phone services market. The acquisition starts in high tone, loses momentum and is finally integrated with some degree of success.
Swot Analysis of "Microsoft's Acquisition of Sendit (D): Post-Acquisition Integration" written by Maurizio Zollo includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Sendit Acquisition facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Microsoft's Acquisition of Sendit (D): Post-Acquisition Integration case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Financial analysis, Mergers & acquisitions, Negotiations and Strategy & Execution.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Microsoft's Acquisition of Sendit (D): Post-Acquisition Integration casestudy better are - – cloud computing is disrupting traditional business models, technology disruption, increasing commodity prices, central banks are concerned over increasing inflation, geopolitical disruptions, wage bills are increasing, increasing household debt because of falling income levels,
increasing transportation and logistics costs, banking and financial system is disrupted by Bitcoin and other crypto currencies, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Microsoft's Acquisition of Sendit (D): Post-Acquisition Integration
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Microsoft's Acquisition of Sendit (D): Post-Acquisition Integration case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Sendit Acquisition, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Sendit Acquisition 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 Microsoft's Acquisition of Sendit (D): Post-Acquisition Integration can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Microsoft's Acquisition of Sendit (D): Post-Acquisition Integration case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Sendit Acquisition
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 Sendit Acquisition
Strengths Microsoft's Acquisition of Sendit (D): Post-Acquisition Integration | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Sendit Acquisition in Microsoft's Acquisition of Sendit (D): Post-Acquisition Integration Harvard Business Review case study are -
Innovation driven organization
– Sendit Acquisition is one of the most innovative firm in sector. Manager in Microsoft's Acquisition of Sendit (D): Post-Acquisition Integration Harvard Business Review case study can use Clayton Christensen Disruptive Innovation strategies to further increase the scale of innovtions in the organization.
Successful track record of launching new products
– Sendit Acquisition has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Sendit Acquisition 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 Sendit Acquisition in the sector have low bargaining power. Microsoft's Acquisition of Sendit (D): Post-Acquisition Integration has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Sendit Acquisition to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
Organizational Resilience of Sendit Acquisition
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing that Sendit Acquisition does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
Operational resilience
– The operational resilience strategy in the Microsoft's Acquisition of Sendit (D): Post-Acquisition Integration 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.
Effective Research and Development (R&D)
– Sendit Acquisition 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 Microsoft's Acquisition of Sendit (D): Post-Acquisition Integration - staying ahead in the industry in terms of – new product launches, superior customer experience, highly competitive pricing strategies, and great returns to the shareholders.
High brand equity
– Sendit Acquisition has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Sendit Acquisition to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Ability to lead change in Strategy & Execution field
– Sendit Acquisition 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 Sendit Acquisition in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.
High switching costs
– The high switching costs that Sendit Acquisition 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.
Training and development
– Sendit Acquisition has one of the best training and development program in the industry. The effectiveness of the training programs can be measured in Microsoft's Acquisition of Sendit (D): Post-Acquisition Integration 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.
Analytics focus
– Sendit Acquisition 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 Maurizio Zollo 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.
Superior customer experience
– The customer experience strategy of Sendit Acquisition in the segment is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.
Weaknesses Microsoft's Acquisition of Sendit (D): Post-Acquisition Integration | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Microsoft's Acquisition of Sendit (D): Post-Acquisition Integration are -
Slow to harness new channels of communication
– Even though competitors are using new communication channels such as Instagram, Tiktok, and Snap, Sendit Acquisition is slow explore the new channels of communication. These new channels of communication mentioned in marketing section of case study Microsoft's Acquisition of Sendit (D): Post-Acquisition Integration can help to provide better information regarding products and services. It can also build an online community to further reach out to potential customers.
No frontier risks strategy
– After analyzing the HBR case study Microsoft's Acquisition of Sendit (D): Post-Acquisition Integration, 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, Sendit Acquisition 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 Sendit Acquisition, firm in the HBR case study Microsoft's Acquisition of Sendit (D): Post-Acquisition Integration needs to spend more promotional, marketing, and advertising efforts to penetrate international markets.
Ability to respond to the competition
– As the decision making is very deliberative, highlighted in the case study Microsoft's Acquisition of Sendit (D): Post-Acquisition Integration, in the dynamic environment Sendit Acquisition has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. Sendit Acquisition has reasonably good record with similar level competitors but it has struggled with new entrants taking away niches of its business.
Compensation and incentives
– The revenue per employee as mentioned in the HBR case study Microsoft's Acquisition of Sendit (D): Post-Acquisition Integration, is just above the industry average. Sendit Acquisition 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, Sendit Acquisition 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 Microsoft's Acquisition of Sendit (D): Post-Acquisition Integration 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 Sendit Acquisition has relatively successful track record of launching new products.
Increasing silos among functional specialists
– The organizational structure of Sendit Acquisition is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Strategy & Execution segment. Sendit Acquisition needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Sendit Acquisition to focus more on services rather than just following the product oriented approach.
Products dominated business model
– Even though Sendit Acquisition 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 - Microsoft's Acquisition of Sendit (D): Post-Acquisition Integration should strive to include more intangible value offerings along with its core products and services.
Slow to strategic competitive environment developments
– As Microsoft's Acquisition of Sendit (D): Post-Acquisition Integration HBR case study mentions - Sendit Acquisition 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.
Opportunities Microsoft's Acquisition of Sendit (D): Post-Acquisition Integration | 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 Microsoft's Acquisition of Sendit (D): Post-Acquisition Integration are -
Buying journey improvements
– Sendit Acquisition can improve the customer journey of consumers in the industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. Microsoft's Acquisition of Sendit (D): Post-Acquisition Integration 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.
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. Sendit Acquisition can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.
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. Sendit Acquisition can tie-up with other value chain partners to explore new opportunities regarding meeting customer demands and building a rewarding and engaging relationship.
Reforming the budgeting process
- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects Sendit Acquisition 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, Sendit Acquisition is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. Microsoft's Acquisition of Sendit (D): Post-Acquisition Integration 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.
Manufacturing automation
– Sendit Acquisition 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.
Increase in government spending
– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Sendit Acquisition can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Sendit Acquisition 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 Sendit Acquisition 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 Sendit Acquisition to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
Leveraging digital technologies
– Sendit Acquisition 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 Sendit Acquisition 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, Sendit Acquisition 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, Microsoft's Acquisition of Sendit (D): Post-Acquisition Integration, to buy more products closer to the markets, and it can leverage its size and influence to get better deal from the local markets.
Lowering marketing communication costs
– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Sendit Acquisition 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.
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– Sendit Acquisition 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 Microsoft's Acquisition of Sendit (D): Post-Acquisition Integration - to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Sendit Acquisition to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
Threats Microsoft's Acquisition of Sendit (D): Post-Acquisition Integration External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Microsoft's Acquisition of Sendit (D): Post-Acquisition Integration are -
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Sendit Acquisition 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.
Environmental challenges
– Sendit Acquisition 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. Sendit Acquisition can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Strategy & Execution industry.
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, as highlighted in case study Microsoft's Acquisition of Sendit (D): Post-Acquisition Integration, Sendit Acquisition 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 .
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 Sendit Acquisition 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, Sendit Acquisition 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 Microsoft's Acquisition of Sendit (D): Post-Acquisition Integration .
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. Sendit Acquisition needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Strategy & Execution industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
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 Sendit Acquisition in the Strategy & Execution sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
Increasing wage structure of Sendit Acquisition
– 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 Sendit Acquisition.
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. Sendit Acquisition 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 Sendit Acquisition 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.
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 Sendit Acquisition with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the sector.
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. Sendit Acquisition can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Microsoft's Acquisition of Sendit (D): Post-Acquisition Integration 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 Microsoft's Acquisition of Sendit (D): Post-Acquisition Integration 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 Microsoft's Acquisition of Sendit (D): Post-Acquisition Integration 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 Microsoft's Acquisition of Sendit (D): Post-Acquisition Integration 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 Microsoft's Acquisition of Sendit (D): Post-Acquisition Integration 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 Sendit Acquisition needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.