Bridging the Digital Divide: The Case of Bell, Nortel and Chapleau, Ontario SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Strategy & Execution
Strategy / MBA Resources
Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of Bridging the Digital Divide: The Case of Bell, Nortel and Chapleau, Ontario
Bell, Nortel and Chapleau, Ontario, set out to transform the community of Chapleau through the deployment of technology and business solutions. Together they deploy a wireless broadband network in town, providing mobile internet access to the 2800 residents and town visitors. They also worked with the town's five schools, hospital and local businesses to identify and deploy business solutions. The hospital is given an indoor wireless network, an upgraded telephone system and additional computers. The schools are given laptops, wireless access, multimedia equipment, and teacher training. The community itself, in addition to the free wireless broadband service, is provided with a community portal, computer training and free access to a myriad of technologies. The local community centre is set up with multimedia equipment. University researchers are brought in to study the impact of the technology on the community, small businesses, health and education. A diabetes healthcare trial is launched. Employment is provided to 5 local residents. Over the course of two years, millions of dollars are spent and much is learned, by not only Bell and Nortel but also the community itself, government (federal, provincial, municipal) and others. Bell and Nortel create lasting relationships with community members. A degree of interdependence is established. Almost two years later, the project is nearing its end. The Chapleau Town Council voices their concern about what will remain in the community. They request sustainability solutions for the investments made by the project team. The steering committee must determine the needs and saliency of the project stakeholders and propose a sustainable solution.
Swot Analysis of "Bridging the Digital Divide: The Case of Bell, Nortel and Chapleau, Ontario" written by Gwyneth Edwards includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Chapleau Nortel facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Bridging the Digital Divide: The Case of Bell, Nortel and Chapleau, Ontario case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Ethics, IT, Social responsibility and Strategy & Execution.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Bridging the Digital Divide: The Case of Bell, Nortel and Chapleau, Ontario casestudy better are - – increasing transportation and logistics costs, there is increasing trade war between United States & China, cloud computing is disrupting traditional business models, increasing household debt because of falling income levels, banking and financial system is disrupted by Bitcoin and other crypto currencies, there is backlash against globalization, challanges to central banks by blockchain based private currencies,
technology disruption, increasing inequality as vast percentage of new income is going to the top 1%, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Bridging the Digital Divide: The Case of Bell, Nortel and Chapleau, Ontario
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Bridging the Digital Divide: The Case of Bell, Nortel and Chapleau, Ontario case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Chapleau Nortel, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Chapleau Nortel 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 Bridging the Digital Divide: The Case of Bell, Nortel and Chapleau, Ontario can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Bridging the Digital Divide: The Case of Bell, Nortel and Chapleau, Ontario case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Chapleau Nortel
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 Chapleau Nortel
Strengths Bridging the Digital Divide: The Case of Bell, Nortel and Chapleau, Ontario | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Chapleau Nortel in Bridging the Digital Divide: The Case of Bell, Nortel and Chapleau, Ontario Harvard Business Review case study are -
Successful track record of launching new products
– Chapleau Nortel has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Chapleau Nortel 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.
High brand equity
– Chapleau Nortel has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Chapleau Nortel to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
High switching costs
– The high switching costs that Chapleau Nortel 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.
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Strategy & Execution industry
– Bridging the Digital Divide: The Case of Bell, Nortel and Chapleau, Ontario firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Chapleau Nortel to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Strategy & Execution industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Chapleau Nortel to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Analytics focus
– Chapleau Nortel 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 Gwyneth Edwards 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.
Learning organization
- Chapleau Nortel 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 Chapleau Nortel is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders in Bridging the Digital Divide: The Case of Bell, Nortel and Chapleau, Ontario Harvard Business Review case study emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
Highly skilled collaborators
– Chapleau Nortel 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 Bridging the Digital Divide: The Case of Bell, Nortel and Chapleau, Ontario HBR case study have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
Innovation driven organization
– Chapleau Nortel is one of the most innovative firm in sector. Manager in Bridging the Digital Divide: The Case of Bell, Nortel and Chapleau, Ontario Harvard Business Review case study can use Clayton Christensen Disruptive Innovation strategies to further increase the scale of innovtions in the organization.
Organizational Resilience of Chapleau Nortel
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing that Chapleau Nortel does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
Strong track record of project management
– Chapleau Nortel is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.
Ability to lead change in Strategy & Execution field
– Chapleau Nortel 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 Chapleau Nortel in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.
Effective Research and Development (R&D)
– Chapleau Nortel 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 Bridging the Digital Divide: The Case of Bell, Nortel and Chapleau, Ontario - staying ahead in the industry in terms of – new product launches, superior customer experience, highly competitive pricing strategies, and great returns to the shareholders.
Weaknesses Bridging the Digital Divide: The Case of Bell, Nortel and Chapleau, Ontario | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Bridging the Digital Divide: The Case of Bell, Nortel and Chapleau, Ontario are -
Aligning sales with marketing
– It come across in the case study Bridging the Digital Divide: The Case of Bell, Nortel and Chapleau, Ontario 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 Bridging the Digital Divide: The Case of Bell, Nortel and Chapleau, Ontario can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Chapleau Nortel is planning to shift buying processes online.
Increasing silos among functional specialists
– The organizational structure of Chapleau Nortel is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Strategy & Execution segment. Chapleau Nortel needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Chapleau Nortel to focus more on services rather than just following the product oriented approach.
Ability to respond to the competition
– As the decision making is very deliberative, highlighted in the case study Bridging the Digital Divide: The Case of Bell, Nortel and Chapleau, Ontario, in the dynamic environment Chapleau Nortel has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. Chapleau Nortel has reasonably good record with similar level competitors but it has struggled with new entrants taking away niches of its business.
Slow decision making process
– As mentioned earlier in the report, Chapleau Nortel has a very deliberative decision making approach. This approach has resulted in prudent decisions, but it has also resulted in missing opportunities in the industry over the last five years. Chapleau Nortel even though has strong showing on digital transformation primary two stages, it has struggled to capitalize the power of digital transformation in marketing efforts and new venture efforts.
High operating costs
– Compare to the competitors, firm in the HBR case study Bridging the Digital Divide: The Case of Bell, Nortel and Chapleau, Ontario has high operating costs in the. This can be harder to sustain given the new emerging competition from nimble players who are using technology to attract Chapleau Nortel 's lucrative customers.
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 Chapleau Nortel supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes mentioned in the HBR case study - Bridging the Digital Divide: The Case of Bell, Nortel and Chapleau, Ontario, it is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left Chapleau Nortel vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.
Products dominated business model
– Even though Chapleau Nortel 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 - Bridging the Digital Divide: The Case of Bell, Nortel and Chapleau, Ontario should strive to include more intangible value offerings along with its core products and services.
Need for greater diversity
– Chapleau Nortel 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.
Slow to strategic competitive environment developments
– As Bridging the Digital Divide: The Case of Bell, Nortel and Chapleau, Ontario HBR case study mentions - Chapleau Nortel 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.
Lack of clear differentiation of Chapleau Nortel products
– To increase the profitability and margins on the products, Chapleau Nortel 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 Bridging the Digital Divide: The Case of Bell, Nortel and Chapleau, Ontario, 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.
Opportunities Bridging the Digital Divide: The Case of Bell, Nortel and Chapleau, Ontario | 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 Bridging the Digital Divide: The Case of Bell, Nortel and Chapleau, Ontario are -
Developing new processes and practices
– Chapleau Nortel 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.
Buying journey improvements
– Chapleau Nortel can improve the customer journey of consumers in the industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. Bridging the Digital Divide: The Case of Bell, Nortel and Chapleau, Ontario 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.
Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities
– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Chapleau Nortel 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 Chapleau Nortel to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– Chapleau Nortel 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 Bridging the Digital Divide: The Case of Bell, Nortel and Chapleau, Ontario - to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Chapleau Nortel to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
Building a culture of innovation
– managers at Chapleau Nortel 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.
Redefining models of collaboration and team work
– As explained in the weaknesses section, Chapleau Nortel is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. Bridging the Digital Divide: The Case of Bell, Nortel and Chapleau, Ontario 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.
Learning at scale
– Online learning technologies has now opened space for Chapleau Nortel 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, Chapleau Nortel 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, Bridging the Digital Divide: The Case of Bell, Nortel and Chapleau, Ontario, to buy more products closer to the markets, and it can leverage its size and influence to get better deal from the local markets.
Leveraging digital technologies
– Chapleau Nortel 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.
Better consumer reach
– The expansion of the 5G network will help Chapleau Nortel to increase its market reach. Chapleau Nortel will be able to reach out to new customers. Secondly 5G will also provide technology framework to build new tools and products that can help more immersive consumer experience and faster consumer journey.
Increase in government spending
– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Chapleau Nortel can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Chapleau Nortel operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Strategy & Execution sector.
Low interest rates
– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Chapleau Nortel 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.
Loyalty marketing
– Chapleau Nortel 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.
Threats Bridging the Digital Divide: The Case of Bell, Nortel and Chapleau, Ontario External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Bridging the Digital Divide: The Case of Bell, Nortel and Chapleau, Ontario are -
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Chapleau Nortel 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.
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Chapleau Nortel 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 Bridging the Digital Divide: The Case of Bell, Nortel and Chapleau, Ontario .
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 Chapleau Nortel business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Chapleau Nortel has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Strategy & Execution industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Chapleau Nortel 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.
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 Chapleau Nortel.
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 Chapleau Nortel in the Strategy & Execution sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
Increasing wage structure of Chapleau Nortel
– 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 Chapleau Nortel.
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.
Environmental challenges
– Chapleau Nortel 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. Chapleau Nortel can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Strategy & Execution industry.
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry in the industry are lowering. It can presents Chapleau Nortel with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the sector.
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Chapleau Nortel 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.
High dependence on third party suppliers
– Chapleau Nortel 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.
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. Chapleau Nortel 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.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Bridging the Digital Divide: The Case of Bell, Nortel and Chapleau, Ontario 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 Bridging the Digital Divide: The Case of Bell, Nortel and Chapleau, Ontario 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 Bridging the Digital Divide: The Case of Bell, Nortel and Chapleau, Ontario 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 Bridging the Digital Divide: The Case of Bell, Nortel and Chapleau, Ontario 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 Bridging the Digital Divide: The Case of Bell, Nortel and Chapleau, Ontario 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 Chapleau Nortel needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.