iFLYTEK: Leading Chinese Speech Technology SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Strategy & Execution
Strategy / MBA Resources
Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of iFLYTEK: Leading Chinese Speech Technology
By 2014, iFLYTEK was a proven leader in the Chinese speech technology industry with over 70 per cent of the domestic market; however, the company's growth had become stagnant. As competitive pressures were rising, iFLYTEK's chief executive officer needed to determine whether the company should continue to pursue its current business-to-business strategy or instead adopt new opportunities in the business-to-consumer market. Jingui Xie is affiliated with School of Management. Zhiying Liu is affiliated with School of Management.
Swot Analysis of "iFLYTEK: Leading Chinese Speech Technology" written by Jingui Xie, Zhiying Liu, Muhammad Adnan Zahid Chudhery, Renzhi Yu includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Iflytek Speech facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in iFLYTEK: Leading Chinese Speech Technology case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Design, Entrepreneurship, International business, Marketing, Mobile and Strategy & Execution.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the iFLYTEK: Leading Chinese Speech Technology casestudy better are - – increasing government debt because of Covid-19 spendings, competitive advantages are harder to sustain because of technology dispersion, there is backlash against globalization, increasing commodity prices, supply chains are disrupted by pandemic , talent flight as more people leaving formal jobs, there is increasing trade war between United States & China,
increasing energy prices, increasing household debt because of falling income levels, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of iFLYTEK: Leading Chinese Speech Technology
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in iFLYTEK: Leading Chinese Speech Technology case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Iflytek Speech, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Iflytek Speech 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 iFLYTEK: Leading Chinese Speech Technology can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in iFLYTEK: Leading Chinese Speech Technology case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Iflytek Speech
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 Iflytek Speech
Strengths iFLYTEK: Leading Chinese Speech Technology | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Iflytek Speech in iFLYTEK: Leading Chinese Speech Technology Harvard Business Review case study are -
Organizational Resilience of Iflytek Speech
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing that Iflytek Speech does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
High switching costs
– The high switching costs that Iflytek Speech 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.
Highly skilled collaborators
– Iflytek Speech 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 iFLYTEK: Leading Chinese Speech Technology HBR case study have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
Innovation driven organization
– Iflytek Speech is one of the most innovative firm in sector. Manager in iFLYTEK: Leading Chinese Speech Technology Harvard Business Review case study can use Clayton Christensen Disruptive Innovation strategies to further increase the scale of innovtions in the organization.
Effective Research and Development (R&D)
– Iflytek Speech 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 iFLYTEK: Leading Chinese Speech Technology - staying ahead in the industry in terms of – new product launches, superior customer experience, highly competitive pricing strategies, and great returns to the shareholders.
Ability to recruit top talent
– Iflytek Speech is one of the leading recruiters in the industry. Managers in the iFLYTEK: Leading Chinese Speech Technology are in a position to attract the best talent available. The firm has a robust talent identification program that helps in identifying the brightest.
Analytics focus
– Iflytek Speech 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 Jingui Xie, Zhiying Liu, Muhammad Adnan Zahid Chudhery, Renzhi Yu 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
- Iflytek Speech 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 Iflytek Speech is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders in iFLYTEK: Leading Chinese Speech Technology Harvard Business Review case study emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
Ability to lead change in Strategy & Execution field
– Iflytek Speech 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 Iflytek Speech in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.
Cross disciplinary teams
– Horizontal connected teams at the Iflytek Speech 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.
Strong track record of project management
– Iflytek Speech is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of Iflytek Speech in the sector have low bargaining power. iFLYTEK: Leading Chinese Speech Technology has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Iflytek Speech to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
Weaknesses iFLYTEK: Leading Chinese Speech Technology | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of iFLYTEK: Leading Chinese Speech Technology are -
Interest costs
– Compare to the competition, Iflytek Speech 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.
Slow decision making process
– As mentioned earlier in the report, Iflytek Speech 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. Iflytek Speech 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.
Ability to respond to the competition
– As the decision making is very deliberative, highlighted in the case study iFLYTEK: Leading Chinese Speech Technology, in the dynamic environment Iflytek Speech has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. Iflytek Speech 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 iFLYTEK: Leading Chinese Speech Technology 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 iFLYTEK: Leading Chinese Speech Technology can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Iflytek Speech is planning to shift buying processes online.
Skills based hiring
– The stress on hiring functional specialists at Iflytek Speech 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 Iflytek Speech is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Strategy & Execution segment. Iflytek Speech needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Iflytek Speech to focus more on services rather than just following the product oriented approach.
Employees’ incomplete understanding of strategy
– From the instances in the HBR case study iFLYTEK: Leading Chinese Speech Technology, it seems that the employees of Iflytek Speech 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.
Low market penetration in new markets
– Outside its home market of Iflytek Speech, firm in the HBR case study iFLYTEK: Leading Chinese Speech Technology needs to spend more promotional, marketing, and advertising efforts to penetrate international markets.
No frontier risks strategy
– After analyzing the HBR case study iFLYTEK: Leading Chinese Speech Technology, 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.
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 Iflytek Speech supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes mentioned in the HBR case study - iFLYTEK: Leading Chinese Speech Technology, it is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left Iflytek Speech vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.
High operating costs
– Compare to the competitors, firm in the HBR case study iFLYTEK: Leading Chinese Speech Technology 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 Iflytek Speech 's lucrative customers.
Opportunities iFLYTEK: Leading Chinese Speech Technology | 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 iFLYTEK: Leading Chinese Speech Technology are -
Buying journey improvements
– Iflytek Speech can improve the customer journey of consumers in the industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. iFLYTEK: Leading Chinese Speech Technology 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.
Better consumer reach
– The expansion of the 5G network will help Iflytek Speech to increase its market reach. Iflytek Speech 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.
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– Iflytek Speech 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 iFLYTEK: Leading Chinese Speech Technology - to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Iflytek Speech to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
Redefining models of collaboration and team work
– As explained in the weaknesses section, Iflytek Speech is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. iFLYTEK: Leading Chinese Speech Technology 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.
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. Iflytek Speech 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. Iflytek Speech 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.
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Iflytek Speech has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Iflytek Speech to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the iFLYTEK: Leading Chinese Speech Technology case study. Iflytek Speech can build new products and services such as - data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
Reforming the budgeting process
- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects Iflytek Speech can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.
Developing new processes and practices
– Iflytek Speech 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.
Reconfiguring business model
– The expansion of digital payment system, the bringing down of international transactions costs using Bitcoin and other blockchain based currencies, etc can help Iflytek Speech to reconfigure its entire business model. For example it can used blockchain based technologies to reduce piracy of its products in the big markets such as China. Secondly it can use the popularity of e-commerce in various developing markets to build a Direct to Customer business model rather than the current Channel Heavy distribution network.
Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains
– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Iflytek Speech 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, iFLYTEK: Leading Chinese Speech Technology, to buy more products closer to the markets, and it can leverage its size and influence to get better deal from the local markets.
Loyalty marketing
– Iflytek Speech 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.
Increase in government spending
– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Iflytek Speech can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Iflytek Speech operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Strategy & Execution sector.
Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities
– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Iflytek Speech 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 Iflytek Speech to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
Threats iFLYTEK: Leading Chinese Speech Technology External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study iFLYTEK: Leading Chinese Speech Technology are -
Environmental challenges
– Iflytek Speech 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. Iflytek Speech can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Strategy & Execution industry.
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, as highlighted in case study iFLYTEK: Leading Chinese Speech Technology, Iflytek Speech 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 .
Consumer confidence and its impact on Iflytek Speech 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.
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Iflytek Speech is facing in Strategy & Execution sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, 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. Iflytek Speech 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.
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 Iflytek Speech in the Strategy & Execution sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Iflytek Speech 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.
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Iflytek Speech 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 iFLYTEK: Leading Chinese Speech Technology .
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. Iflytek Speech 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 Iflytek Speech business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
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.
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 Iflytek Speech.
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Iflytek Speech 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.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of iFLYTEK: Leading Chinese Speech Technology 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 iFLYTEK: Leading Chinese Speech Technology 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 iFLYTEK: Leading Chinese Speech Technology 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 iFLYTEK: Leading Chinese Speech Technology 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 iFLYTEK: Leading Chinese Speech Technology 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 Iflytek Speech needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.