Swot Analysis of "Competitive Dynamics in Home Video Games (H): The Demise of the Sega Saturn" written by Peter J. Coughlan includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Saturn Sega's facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Competitive Dynamics in Home Video Games (H): The Demise of the Sega Saturn case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Competitive strategy, IT and Strategy & Execution.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Competitive Dynamics in Home Video Games (H): The Demise of the Sega Saturn casestudy better are - – geopolitical disruptions, increasing transportation and logistics costs, wage bills are increasing, banking and financial system is disrupted by Bitcoin and other crypto currencies, competitive advantages are harder to sustain because of technology dispersion, challanges to central banks by blockchain based private currencies, increasing commodity prices,
there is increasing trade war between United States & China, supply chains are disrupted by pandemic , etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Competitive Dynamics in Home Video Games (H): The Demise of the Sega Saturn
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Competitive Dynamics in Home Video Games (H): The Demise of the Sega Saturn case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Saturn Sega's, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Saturn Sega's 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 Competitive Dynamics in Home Video Games (H): The Demise of the Sega Saturn can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Competitive Dynamics in Home Video Games (H): The Demise of the Sega Saturn case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Saturn Sega's
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 Saturn Sega's
Strengths Competitive Dynamics in Home Video Games (H): The Demise of the Sega Saturn | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Saturn Sega's in Competitive Dynamics in Home Video Games (H): The Demise of the Sega Saturn Harvard Business Review case study are -
Highly skilled collaborators
– Saturn Sega's 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 Competitive Dynamics in Home Video Games (H): The Demise of the Sega Saturn HBR case study have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
Learning organization
- Saturn Sega's 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 Saturn Sega's is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders in Competitive Dynamics in Home Video Games (H): The Demise of the Sega Saturn Harvard Business Review case study emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
Superior customer experience
– The customer experience strategy of Saturn Sega's in the segment is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.
Successful track record of launching new products
– Saturn Sega's has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Saturn Sega's 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.
Innovation driven organization
– Saturn Sega's is one of the most innovative firm in sector. Manager in Competitive Dynamics in Home Video Games (H): The Demise of the Sega Saturn Harvard Business Review case study can use Clayton Christensen Disruptive Innovation strategies to further increase the scale of innovtions in the organization.
Ability to recruit top talent
– Saturn Sega's is one of the leading recruiters in the industry. Managers in the Competitive Dynamics in Home Video Games (H): The Demise of the Sega Saturn are in a position to attract the best talent available. The firm has a robust talent identification program that helps in identifying the brightest.
High brand equity
– Saturn Sega's has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Saturn Sega's to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Digital Transformation in Strategy & Execution segment
- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For Saturn Sega's digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Saturn Sega's 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
– Saturn Sega's 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 Peter J. Coughlan 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.
Operational resilience
– The operational resilience strategy in the Competitive Dynamics in Home Video Games (H): The Demise of the Sega Saturn 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.
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Strategy & Execution industry
– Competitive Dynamics in Home Video Games (H): The Demise of the Sega Saturn firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Saturn Sega's to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Strategy & Execution industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Saturn Sega's to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Diverse revenue streams
– Saturn Sega's is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided firm in Competitive Dynamics in Home Video Games (H): The Demise of the Sega Saturn 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.
Weaknesses Competitive Dynamics in Home Video Games (H): The Demise of the Sega Saturn | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Competitive Dynamics in Home Video Games (H): The Demise of the Sega Saturn are -
Capital Spending Reduction
– Even during the low interest decade, Saturn Sega's 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.
Ability to respond to the competition
– As the decision making is very deliberative, highlighted in the case study Competitive Dynamics in Home Video Games (H): The Demise of the Sega Saturn, in the dynamic environment Saturn Sega's has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. Saturn Sega's has reasonably good record with similar level competitors but it has struggled with new entrants taking away niches of its business.
Workers concerns about automation
– As automation is fast increasing in the segment, Saturn Sega's needs to come up with a strategy to reduce the workers concern regarding automation. Without a clear strategy, it could lead to disruption and uncertainty within the organization.
Skills based hiring
– The stress on hiring functional specialists at Saturn Sega's 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.
Increasing silos among functional specialists
– The organizational structure of Saturn Sega's is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Strategy & Execution segment. Saturn Sega's needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Saturn Sega's to focus more on services rather than just following the product oriented approach.
High cash cycle compare to competitors
Saturn Sega's 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 operating costs
– Compare to the competitors, firm in the HBR case study Competitive Dynamics in Home Video Games (H): The Demise of the Sega Saturn 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 Saturn Sega's 's lucrative customers.
Employees’ incomplete understanding of strategy
– From the instances in the HBR case study Competitive Dynamics in Home Video Games (H): The Demise of the Sega Saturn, it seems that the employees of Saturn Sega's 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.
Lack of clear differentiation of Saturn Sega's products
– To increase the profitability and margins on the products, Saturn Sega's needs to provide more differentiated products than what it is currently offering in the marketplace.
Interest costs
– Compare to the competition, Saturn Sega's 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.
No frontier risks strategy
– After analyzing the HBR case study Competitive Dynamics in Home Video Games (H): The Demise of the Sega Saturn, 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 Competitive Dynamics in Home Video Games (H): The Demise of the Sega Saturn | 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 Competitive Dynamics in Home Video Games (H): The Demise of the Sega Saturn are -
Better consumer reach
– The expansion of the 5G network will help Saturn Sega's to increase its market reach. Saturn Sega's 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.
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. Saturn Sega's can tie-up with other value chain partners to explore new opportunities regarding meeting customer demands and building a rewarding and engaging relationship.
Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains
– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Saturn Sega's 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, Competitive Dynamics in Home Video Games (H): The Demise of the Sega Saturn, 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 Saturn Sega's 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.
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– Saturn Sega's 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 Competitive Dynamics in Home Video Games (H): The Demise of the Sega Saturn - to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Saturn Sega's to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
Lowering marketing communication costs
– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Saturn Sega's 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.
Low interest rates
– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Saturn Sega's 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.
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Saturn Sega's has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Saturn Sega's to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the Competitive Dynamics in Home Video Games (H): The Demise of the Sega Saturn case study. Saturn Sega's can build new products and services such as - data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
Leveraging digital technologies
– Saturn Sega's 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.
Loyalty marketing
– Saturn Sega's 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.
Redefining models of collaboration and team work
– As explained in the weaknesses section, Saturn Sega's is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. Competitive Dynamics in Home Video Games (H): The Demise of the Sega Saturn 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.
Developing new processes and practices
– Saturn Sega's 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.
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 Saturn Sega's in the consumer business. Now Saturn Sega's can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.
Threats Competitive Dynamics in Home Video Games (H): The Demise of the Sega Saturn External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Competitive Dynamics in Home Video Games (H): The Demise of the Sega Saturn are -
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry in the industry are lowering. It can presents Saturn Sega's with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the sector.
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Saturn Sega's is facing in Strategy & Execution sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.
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 Saturn Sega's.
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Saturn Sega's has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Strategy & Execution industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Saturn Sega's 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.
Regulatory challenges
– Saturn Sega's 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.
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.
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Saturn Sega's 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 Competitive Dynamics in Home Video Games (H): The Demise of the Sega Saturn .
Environmental challenges
– Saturn Sega's 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. Saturn Sega's can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Strategy & Execution industry.
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 Saturn Sega's business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
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. Saturn Sega's 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.
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Saturn Sega's 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.
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.
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, as highlighted in case study Competitive Dynamics in Home Video Games (H): The Demise of the Sega Saturn, Saturn Sega's 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 .
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Competitive Dynamics in Home Video Games (H): The Demise of the Sega Saturn 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 Competitive Dynamics in Home Video Games (H): The Demise of the Sega Saturn 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 Competitive Dynamics in Home Video Games (H): The Demise of the Sega Saturn 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 Competitive Dynamics in Home Video Games (H): The Demise of the Sega Saturn 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 Competitive Dynamics in Home Video Games (H): The Demise of the Sega Saturn 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 Saturn Sega's needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.