Competing for the Free Newspaper Industry in Spain: Metro vs Que SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Strategy & Execution
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Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of Competing for the Free Newspaper Industry in Spain: Metro vs Que
In the last few years, Metro News has successfully developed a position as one of the most important newspapers in Spain, at the same time enjoying an expansion into 16 countries worldwide. A new business model, sustained entirely by publicity revenues, and a fast-paced expansion, can, at least partially, explain this success. However, at the present moment, Metro has to defend its positioning against the traditional press groups and other new entrants in the free press. Focuses on Spain, where Recoletos, one of the largest Spanish media groups, is planning to launch a free newspaper, Que, in 15 cities. Such a launch could represent a major threat to Metro's further expansion and positioning in Spain.
Swot Analysis of "Competing for the Free Newspaper Industry in Spain: Metro vs Que" written by Josep Valor, Luis Vives includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Spain Metro facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Competing for the Free Newspaper Industry in Spain: Metro vs Que case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Innovation, Technology and Strategy & Execution.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Competing for the Free Newspaper Industry in Spain: Metro vs Que casestudy better are - – there is backlash against globalization, technology disruption, increasing government debt because of Covid-19 spendings, customer relationship management is fast transforming because of increasing concerns over data privacy, there is increasing trade war between United States & China, talent flight as more people leaving formal jobs, challanges to central banks by blockchain based private currencies,
increasing transportation and logistics costs, increasing energy prices, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Competing for the Free Newspaper Industry in Spain: Metro vs Que
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Competing for the Free Newspaper Industry in Spain: Metro vs Que case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Spain Metro, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Spain Metro 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 Competing for the Free Newspaper Industry in Spain: Metro vs Que can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Competing for the Free Newspaper Industry in Spain: Metro vs Que case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Spain Metro
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 Spain Metro
Strengths Competing for the Free Newspaper Industry in Spain: Metro vs Que | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Spain Metro in Competing for the Free Newspaper Industry in Spain: Metro vs Que Harvard Business Review case study are -
Analytics focus
– Spain Metro 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 Josep Valor, Luis Vives 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.
Highly skilled collaborators
– Spain Metro 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 Competing for the Free Newspaper Industry in Spain: Metro vs Que HBR case study have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
High brand equity
– Spain Metro has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Spain Metro to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Ability to recruit top talent
– Spain Metro is one of the leading recruiters in the industry. Managers in the Competing for the Free Newspaper Industry in Spain: Metro vs Que are in a position to attract the best talent available. The firm has a robust talent identification program that helps in identifying the brightest.
Training and development
– Spain Metro has one of the best training and development program in the industry. The effectiveness of the training programs can be measured in Competing for the Free Newspaper Industry in Spain: Metro vs Que 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.
Organizational Resilience of Spain Metro
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing that Spain Metro does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
Superior customer experience
– The customer experience strategy of Spain Metro in the segment is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Strategy & Execution industry
– Competing for the Free Newspaper Industry in Spain: Metro vs Que firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Spain Metro to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Strategy & Execution industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Spain Metro to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Strong track record of project management
– Spain Metro is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.
Diverse revenue streams
– Spain Metro is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided firm in Competing for the Free Newspaper Industry in Spain: Metro vs Que 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.
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of Spain Metro in the sector have low bargaining power. Competing for the Free Newspaper Industry in Spain: Metro vs Que has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Spain Metro to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
Ability to lead change in Strategy & Execution field
– Spain Metro 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 Spain Metro in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.
Weaknesses Competing for the Free Newspaper Industry in Spain: Metro vs Que | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Competing for the Free Newspaper Industry in Spain: Metro vs Que are -
Slow to harness new channels of communication
– Even though competitors are using new communication channels such as Instagram, Tiktok, and Snap, Spain Metro is slow explore the new channels of communication. These new channels of communication mentioned in marketing section of case study Competing for the Free Newspaper Industry in Spain: Metro vs Que can help to provide better information regarding products and services. It can also build an online community to further reach out to potential customers.
High operating costs
– Compare to the competitors, firm in the HBR case study Competing for the Free Newspaper Industry in Spain: Metro vs Que 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 Spain Metro 's lucrative customers.
Low market penetration in new markets
– Outside its home market of Spain Metro, firm in the HBR case study Competing for the Free Newspaper Industry in Spain: Metro vs Que needs to spend more promotional, marketing, and advertising efforts to penetrate international markets.
Workers concerns about automation
– As automation is fast increasing in the segment, Spain Metro 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.
Slow decision making process
– As mentioned earlier in the report, Spain Metro 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. Spain Metro 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 Competing for the Free Newspaper Industry in Spain: Metro vs Que, in the dynamic environment Spain Metro has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. Spain Metro has reasonably good record with similar level competitors but it has struggled with new entrants taking away niches of its business.
No frontier risks strategy
– After analyzing the HBR case study Competing for the Free Newspaper Industry in Spain: Metro vs Que, 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 cash cycle compare to competitors
Spain Metro has a high cash cycle compare to other players in the industry. It needs to shorten the cash cycle by 12% to be more competitive in the marketplace, reduce inventory costs, and be more profitable.
High dependence on star products
– The top 2 products and services of the firm as mentioned in the Competing for the Free Newspaper Industry in Spain: Metro vs Que HBR case study still accounts for major business revenue. This dependence on star products in has resulted into insufficient focus on developing new products, even though Spain Metro has relatively successful track record of launching new products.
Aligning sales with marketing
– It come across in the case study Competing for the Free Newspaper Industry in Spain: Metro vs Que 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 Competing for the Free Newspaper Industry in Spain: Metro vs Que can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Spain Metro is planning to shift buying processes online.
Products dominated business model
– Even though Spain Metro 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 - Competing for the Free Newspaper Industry in Spain: Metro vs Que should strive to include more intangible value offerings along with its core products and services.
Opportunities Competing for the Free Newspaper Industry in Spain: Metro vs Que | 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 Competing for the Free Newspaper Industry in Spain: Metro vs Que are -
Better consumer reach
– The expansion of the 5G network will help Spain Metro to increase its market reach. Spain Metro 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.
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 Spain Metro 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.
Building a culture of innovation
– managers at Spain Metro 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.
Buying journey improvements
– Spain Metro can improve the customer journey of consumers in the industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. Competing for the Free Newspaper Industry in Spain: Metro vs Que 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.
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– Spain Metro 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 Competing for the Free Newspaper Industry in Spain: Metro vs Que - to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Spain Metro to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
Loyalty marketing
– Spain Metro 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, Spain Metro can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Spain Metro operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Strategy & Execution sector.
Finding new ways to collaborate
– Covid-19 has not only transformed business models of companies in Strategy & Execution industry, but it has also influenced the consumer preferences. Spain Metro can tie-up with other value chain partners to explore new opportunities regarding meeting customer demands and building a rewarding and engaging relationship.
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. Spain Metro can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.
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. Spain Metro 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. Spain Metro 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.
Reforming the budgeting process
- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects Spain Metro can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.
Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities
– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Spain Metro 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 Spain Metro to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
Learning at scale
– Online learning technologies has now opened space for Spain Metro 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.
Threats Competing for the Free Newspaper Industry in Spain: Metro vs Que External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Competing for the Free Newspaper Industry in Spain: Metro vs Que are -
High dependence on third party suppliers
– Spain Metro 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.
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 Spain Metro in the Strategy & Execution sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
Regulatory challenges
– Spain Metro 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.
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. Spain Metro can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
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.
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Spain Metro has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Strategy & Execution industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Spain Metro 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.
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Spain Metro 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.
Consumer confidence and its impact on Spain Metro 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.
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 Spain Metro business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
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. Spain Metro needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Strategy & Execution industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry in the industry are lowering. It can presents Spain Metro with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the sector.
Environmental challenges
– Spain Metro 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. Spain Metro 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 Competing for the Free Newspaper Industry in Spain: Metro vs Que, Spain Metro 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 Competing for the Free Newspaper Industry in Spain: Metro vs Que 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 Competing for the Free Newspaper Industry in Spain: Metro vs Que 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 Competing for the Free Newspaper Industry in Spain: Metro vs Que 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 Competing for the Free Newspaper Industry in Spain: Metro vs Que 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 Competing for the Free Newspaper Industry in Spain: Metro vs Que 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 Spain Metro needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.