Case Study Description of Colonial Broadcasting Co.
Colonial Broadcasting, a major American television network, must determine whether fact-based television movies garner higher Nielsen ratings than movies based on fictional concepts. Furthermore, the network must decide whether to accept a fixed-fee advertising contract or a sliding-scale contract.
Swot Analysis of "Colonial Broadcasting Co." written by George Wu includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Colonial Movies facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Colonial Broadcasting Co. case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Decision making, Financial analysis, Forecasting, Marketing and Strategy & Execution.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Colonial Broadcasting Co. casestudy better are - – digital marketing is dominated by two big players Facebook and Google, there is increasing trade war between United States & China, supply chains are disrupted by pandemic , increasing energy prices, geopolitical disruptions, wage bills are increasing, banking and financial system is disrupted by Bitcoin and other crypto currencies,
increasing transportation and logistics costs, increasing commodity prices, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Colonial Broadcasting Co.
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Colonial Broadcasting Co. case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Colonial Movies, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Colonial Movies 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 Colonial Broadcasting Co. can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Colonial Broadcasting Co. case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Colonial Movies
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 Colonial Movies
Strengths Colonial Broadcasting Co. | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Colonial Movies in Colonial Broadcasting Co. Harvard Business Review case study are -
Organizational Resilience of Colonial Movies
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing that Colonial Movies does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of Colonial Movies in the sector have low bargaining power. Colonial Broadcasting Co. has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Colonial Movies to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
Digital Transformation in Strategy & Execution segment
- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For Colonial Movies digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Colonial Movies 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.
Operational resilience
– The operational resilience strategy in the Colonial Broadcasting Co. 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.
Analytics focus
– Colonial Movies 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 George Wu 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 recruit top talent
– Colonial Movies is one of the leading recruiters in the industry. Managers in the Colonial Broadcasting Co. are in a position to attract the best talent available. The firm has a robust talent identification program that helps in identifying the brightest.
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Strategy & Execution industry
– Colonial Broadcasting Co. firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Colonial Movies to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Strategy & Execution industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Colonial Movies to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Highly skilled collaborators
– Colonial Movies 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 Colonial Broadcasting Co. HBR case study have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
Cross disciplinary teams
– Horizontal connected teams at the Colonial Movies are driving operational speed, building greater agility, and keeping the organization nimble to compete with new competitors. It helps are organization to ideate new ideas, and execute them swiftly in the marketplace.
Learning organization
- Colonial Movies 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 Colonial Movies is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders in Colonial Broadcasting Co. Harvard Business Review case study emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
Training and development
– Colonial Movies has one of the best training and development program in the industry. The effectiveness of the training programs can be measured in Colonial Broadcasting Co. 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.
High brand equity
– Colonial Movies has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Colonial Movies to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Weaknesses Colonial Broadcasting Co. | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Colonial Broadcasting Co. are -
Low market penetration in new markets
– Outside its home market of Colonial Movies, firm in the HBR case study Colonial Broadcasting Co. needs to spend more promotional, marketing, and advertising efforts to penetrate international markets.
Increasing silos among functional specialists
– The organizational structure of Colonial Movies is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Strategy & Execution segment. Colonial Movies needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Colonial Movies to focus more on services rather than just following the product oriented approach.
Compensation and incentives
– The revenue per employee as mentioned in the HBR case study Colonial Broadcasting Co., is just above the industry average. Colonial Movies 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.
High operating costs
– Compare to the competitors, firm in the HBR case study Colonial Broadcasting Co. 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 Colonial Movies 's lucrative customers.
Ability to respond to the competition
– As the decision making is very deliberative, highlighted in the case study Colonial Broadcasting Co., in the dynamic environment Colonial Movies has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. Colonial Movies has reasonably good record with similar level competitors but it has struggled with new entrants taking away niches of its business.
Aligning sales with marketing
– It come across in the case study Colonial Broadcasting Co. 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 Colonial Broadcasting Co. can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Colonial Movies is planning to shift buying processes online.
High bargaining power of channel partners
– Because of the regulatory requirements, George Wu suggests that, Colonial Movies 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.
Need for greater diversity
– Colonial Movies 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.
Interest costs
– Compare to the competition, Colonial Movies 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.
Capital Spending Reduction
– Even during the low interest decade, Colonial Movies 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 cash cycle compare to competitors
Colonial Movies 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.
Opportunities Colonial Broadcasting Co. | 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 Colonial Broadcasting Co. are -
Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains
– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Colonial Movies 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, Colonial Broadcasting Co., to buy more products closer to the markets, and it can leverage its size and influence to get better deal from the local markets.
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. Colonial Movies 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. Colonial Movies 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.
Loyalty marketing
– Colonial Movies 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.
Manufacturing automation
– Colonial Movies 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.
Buying journey improvements
– Colonial Movies can improve the customer journey of consumers in the industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. Colonial Broadcasting Co. 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.
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 Colonial Movies in the consumer business. Now Colonial Movies can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.
Developing new processes and practices
– Colonial Movies 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.
Leveraging digital technologies
– Colonial Movies 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 Colonial Movies 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.
Low interest rates
– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Colonial Movies 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 Colonial Movies has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Colonial Movies to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the Colonial Broadcasting Co. case study. Colonial Movies can build new products and services such as - data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
Lowering marketing communication costs
– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Colonial Movies 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.
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. Colonial Movies can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.
Threats Colonial Broadcasting Co. External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Colonial Broadcasting Co. are -
Easy access to finance
– Easy access to finance in Strategy & Execution field will also reduce the barriers to entry in the industry, thus putting downward pressure on the prices because of increasing competition. Colonial Movies can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
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 Colonial Movies business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
Increasing wage structure of Colonial Movies
– 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 Colonial Movies.
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, as highlighted in case study Colonial Broadcasting Co., Colonial Movies 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 .
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.
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 Colonial Movies in the Strategy & Execution sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
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. Colonial Movies needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Strategy & Execution industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Colonial Movies is facing in Strategy & Execution sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.
Consumer confidence and its impact on Colonial Movies 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.
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Colonial Movies 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.
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Colonial Movies 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.
High dependence on third party suppliers
– Colonial Movies 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.
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry in the industry are lowering. It can presents Colonial Movies with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the sector.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Colonial Broadcasting Co. 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 Colonial Broadcasting Co. 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 Colonial Broadcasting Co. 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 Colonial Broadcasting Co. 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 Colonial Broadcasting Co. 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 Colonial Movies needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.