FreeMove: Creating Value Through Strategic Alliances in the Mobile Telecommunications Industry SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
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Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of FreeMove: Creating Value Through Strategic Alliances in the Mobile Telecommunications Industry
Describes the changing competitive landscape in the European mobile industry in 2003/2004. In April 2003, four of the leading mobile operators in Europe, Telefonica Moviles of Spain, T-Mobile of Germany, Telecom Italia Mobile, and Orange of France, had formed the "FreeMove" alliance to counter the ever-growing market presence of Vodafone Plc. Only six months later, nine smaller European operators formed a similar alliance named "Starmap" under the leadership of mmO2, the former mobile subsidiary of British Telecom.
Swot Analysis of "FreeMove: Creating Value Through Strategic Alliances in the Mobile Telecommunications Industry" written by Africa Arino, Frank Reihl, Frank Riehl includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Mobile Freemove facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in FreeMove: Creating Value Through Strategic Alliances in the Mobile Telecommunications Industry case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Growth strategy, Joint ventures and Strategy & Execution.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the FreeMove: Creating Value Through Strategic Alliances in the Mobile Telecommunications Industry casestudy better are - – banking and financial system is disrupted by Bitcoin and other crypto currencies, customer relationship management is fast transforming because of increasing concerns over data privacy, increasing transportation and logistics costs, competitive advantages are harder to sustain because of technology dispersion, cloud computing is disrupting traditional business models, digital marketing is dominated by two big players Facebook and Google, increasing government debt because of Covid-19 spendings,
central banks are concerned over increasing inflation, increasing household debt because of falling income levels, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of FreeMove: Creating Value Through Strategic Alliances in the Mobile Telecommunications Industry
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in FreeMove: Creating Value Through Strategic Alliances in the Mobile Telecommunications Industry case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Mobile Freemove, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Mobile Freemove 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 FreeMove: Creating Value Through Strategic Alliances in the Mobile Telecommunications Industry can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in FreeMove: Creating Value Through Strategic Alliances in the Mobile Telecommunications Industry case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Mobile Freemove
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 Mobile Freemove
Strengths FreeMove: Creating Value Through Strategic Alliances in the Mobile Telecommunications Industry | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Mobile Freemove in FreeMove: Creating Value Through Strategic Alliances in the Mobile Telecommunications Industry Harvard Business Review case study are -
High brand equity
– Mobile Freemove has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Mobile Freemove to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Organizational Resilience of Mobile Freemove
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing that Mobile Freemove does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
Analytics focus
– Mobile Freemove 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 Africa Arino, Frank Reihl, Frank Riehl 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.
Ability to lead change in Strategy & Execution field
– Mobile Freemove 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 Mobile Freemove in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.
Successful track record of launching new products
– Mobile Freemove has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Mobile Freemove 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
– Mobile Freemove 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 FreeMove: Creating Value Through Strategic Alliances in the Mobile Telecommunications Industry HBR case study have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
Training and development
– Mobile Freemove has one of the best training and development program in the industry. The effectiveness of the training programs can be measured in FreeMove: Creating Value Through Strategic Alliances in the Mobile Telecommunications Industry 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.
Ability to recruit top talent
– Mobile Freemove is one of the leading recruiters in the industry. Managers in the FreeMove: Creating Value Through Strategic Alliances in the Mobile Telecommunications Industry are in a position to attract the best talent available. The firm has a robust talent identification program that helps in identifying the brightest.
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of Mobile Freemove in the sector have low bargaining power. FreeMove: Creating Value Through Strategic Alliances in the Mobile Telecommunications Industry has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Mobile Freemove to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
Learning organization
- Mobile Freemove 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 Mobile Freemove is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders in FreeMove: Creating Value Through Strategic Alliances in the Mobile Telecommunications Industry Harvard Business Review case study emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
Operational resilience
– The operational resilience strategy in the FreeMove: Creating Value Through Strategic Alliances in the Mobile Telecommunications Industry 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.
Superior customer experience
– The customer experience strategy of Mobile Freemove in the segment is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.
Weaknesses FreeMove: Creating Value Through Strategic Alliances in the Mobile Telecommunications Industry | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of FreeMove: Creating Value Through Strategic Alliances in the Mobile Telecommunications Industry are -
Skills based hiring
– The stress on hiring functional specialists at Mobile Freemove 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.
Interest costs
– Compare to the competition, Mobile Freemove 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.
Compensation and incentives
– The revenue per employee as mentioned in the HBR case study FreeMove: Creating Value Through Strategic Alliances in the Mobile Telecommunications Industry, is just above the industry average. Mobile Freemove 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.
Increasing silos among functional specialists
– The organizational structure of Mobile Freemove is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Strategy & Execution segment. Mobile Freemove needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Mobile Freemove to focus more on services rather than just following the product oriented approach.
Low market penetration in new markets
– Outside its home market of Mobile Freemove, firm in the HBR case study FreeMove: Creating Value Through Strategic Alliances in the Mobile Telecommunications Industry needs to spend more promotional, marketing, and advertising efforts to penetrate international markets.
High cash cycle compare to competitors
Mobile Freemove 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.
High dependence on star products
– The top 2 products and services of the firm as mentioned in the FreeMove: Creating Value Through Strategic Alliances in the Mobile Telecommunications Industry 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 Mobile Freemove has relatively successful track record of launching new products.
Slow to strategic competitive environment developments
– As FreeMove: Creating Value Through Strategic Alliances in the Mobile Telecommunications Industry HBR case study mentions - Mobile Freemove 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.
Employees’ incomplete understanding of strategy
– From the instances in the HBR case study FreeMove: Creating Value Through Strategic Alliances in the Mobile Telecommunications Industry, it seems that the employees of Mobile Freemove 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.
Aligning sales with marketing
– It come across in the case study FreeMove: Creating Value Through Strategic Alliances in the Mobile Telecommunications Industry 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 FreeMove: Creating Value Through Strategic Alliances in the Mobile Telecommunications Industry can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Mobile Freemove is planning to shift buying processes online.
High bargaining power of channel partners
– Because of the regulatory requirements, Africa Arino, Frank Reihl, Frank Riehl suggests that, Mobile Freemove 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.
Opportunities FreeMove: Creating Value Through Strategic Alliances in the Mobile Telecommunications Industry | 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 FreeMove: Creating Value Through Strategic Alliances in the Mobile Telecommunications Industry are -
Leveraging digital technologies
– Mobile Freemove 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.
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 Mobile Freemove in the consumer business. Now Mobile Freemove can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.
Changes in consumer behavior post Covid-19
– Consumer behavior has changed in the Strategy & Execution industry because of Covid-19 restrictions. Some of this behavior will stay once things get back to normal. Mobile Freemove can take advantage of these changes in consumer behavior to build a far more efficient business model. For example consumer regular ordering of products can reduce both last mile delivery costs and market penetration costs. Mobile Freemove can further use this consumer data to build better customer loyalty, provide better products and service collection, and improve the value proposition in inflationary times.
Manufacturing automation
– Mobile Freemove 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, Mobile Freemove can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Mobile Freemove operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Strategy & Execution sector.
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. Mobile Freemove can tie-up with other value chain partners to explore new opportunities regarding meeting customer demands and building a rewarding and engaging relationship.
Learning at scale
– Online learning technologies has now opened space for Mobile Freemove 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.
Redefining models of collaboration and team work
– As explained in the weaknesses section, Mobile Freemove is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. FreeMove: Creating Value Through Strategic Alliances in the Mobile Telecommunications Industry 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.
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– Mobile Freemove 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 FreeMove: Creating Value Through Strategic Alliances in the Mobile Telecommunications Industry - to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Mobile Freemove to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
Loyalty marketing
– Mobile Freemove 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.
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Mobile Freemove has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Mobile Freemove to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the FreeMove: Creating Value Through Strategic Alliances in the Mobile Telecommunications Industry case study. Mobile Freemove can build new products and services such as - data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities
– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Mobile Freemove 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 Mobile Freemove to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
Developing new processes and practices
– Mobile Freemove 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.
Threats FreeMove: Creating Value Through Strategic Alliances in the Mobile Telecommunications Industry External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study FreeMove: Creating Value Through Strategic Alliances in the Mobile Telecommunications Industry are -
Environmental challenges
– Mobile Freemove 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. Mobile Freemove can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Strategy & Execution industry.
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Mobile Freemove 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.
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry in the industry are lowering. It can presents Mobile Freemove with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the sector.
Consumer confidence and its impact on Mobile Freemove 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, Mobile Freemove 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 FreeMove: Creating Value Through Strategic Alliances in the Mobile Telecommunications 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.
High dependence on third party suppliers
– Mobile Freemove 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.
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. Mobile Freemove can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
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. Mobile Freemove needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Strategy & Execution industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
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. Mobile Freemove 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.
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Mobile Freemove has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Strategy & Execution industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Mobile Freemove 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.
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 Mobile Freemove in the Strategy & Execution sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
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 Mobile Freemove business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of FreeMove: Creating Value Through Strategic Alliances in the Mobile Telecommunications Industry 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 FreeMove: Creating Value Through Strategic Alliances in the Mobile Telecommunications Industry 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 FreeMove: Creating Value Through Strategic Alliances in the Mobile Telecommunications Industry 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 FreeMove: Creating Value Through Strategic Alliances in the Mobile Telecommunications Industry 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 FreeMove: Creating Value Through Strategic Alliances in the Mobile Telecommunications Industry 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 Mobile Freemove needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.
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