FOX Sports and News Corp.'s Sports Empire SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Strategy & Execution
Strategy / MBA Resources
Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of FOX Sports and News Corp.'s Sports Empire
By 2003, Rupert Murdoch and his team had built an impressive global sports regime within News Corp., while transforming the industry with innovative strategies, implementation, and technologies. Murdoch had used FOX's acquisition of the National Football League (NFL) rights in 1993 to launch an attack on the entrenched Big Three broadcasters--CBS, ABC, and NBC. On the cable side of the business, FOX had identified a gap in the market where unbranded and ungrouped regional sports networks aired local team games. FOX believed in the increasing regional emphasis of America and set out to bring the regional networks together. Despite these successful moves, Murdoch was aware of the ever-changing nature of the sports industry and knew that many key decisions lay ahead.
Swot Analysis of "FOX Sports and News Corp.'s Sports Empire" written by George Foster, Victoria Chang includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Sports Murdoch facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in FOX Sports and News Corp.'s Sports Empire case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Innovation, International business and Strategy & Execution.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the FOX Sports and News Corp.'s Sports Empire casestudy better are - – customer relationship management is fast transforming because of increasing concerns over data privacy, competitive advantages are harder to sustain because of technology dispersion, increasing energy prices, supply chains are disrupted by pandemic , digital marketing is dominated by two big players Facebook and Google, increasing government debt because of Covid-19 spendings, wage bills are increasing,
increasing household debt because of falling income levels, central banks are concerned over increasing inflation, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of FOX Sports and News Corp.'s Sports Empire
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in FOX Sports and News Corp.'s Sports Empire case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Sports Murdoch, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Sports Murdoch 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 FOX Sports and News Corp.'s Sports Empire can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in FOX Sports and News Corp.'s Sports Empire case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Sports Murdoch
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 Sports Murdoch
Strengths FOX Sports and News Corp.'s Sports Empire | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Sports Murdoch in FOX Sports and News Corp.'s Sports Empire Harvard Business Review case study are -
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of Sports Murdoch in the sector have low bargaining power. FOX Sports and News Corp.'s Sports Empire has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Sports Murdoch to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
High switching costs
– The high switching costs that Sports Murdoch 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.
Superior customer experience
– The customer experience strategy of Sports Murdoch in the segment is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.
Innovation driven organization
– Sports Murdoch is one of the most innovative firm in sector. Manager in FOX Sports and News Corp.'s Sports Empire Harvard Business Review case study can use Clayton Christensen Disruptive Innovation strategies to further increase the scale of innovtions in the organization.
Training and development
– Sports Murdoch has one of the best training and development program in the industry. The effectiveness of the training programs can be measured in FOX Sports and News Corp.'s Sports Empire 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.
Highly skilled collaborators
– Sports Murdoch 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 FOX Sports and News Corp.'s Sports Empire HBR case study have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
Ability to lead change in Strategy & Execution field
– Sports Murdoch 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 Sports Murdoch in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.
Analytics focus
– Sports Murdoch 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 Foster, Victoria Chang 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.
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Strategy & Execution industry
– FOX Sports and News Corp.'s Sports Empire firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Sports Murdoch to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Strategy & Execution industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Sports Murdoch to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Digital Transformation in Strategy & Execution segment
- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For Sports Murdoch digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Sports Murdoch 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.
Successful track record of launching new products
– Sports Murdoch has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Sports Murdoch 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.
Diverse revenue streams
– Sports Murdoch is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided firm in FOX Sports and News Corp.'s Sports Empire 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 FOX Sports and News Corp.'s Sports Empire | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of FOX Sports and News Corp.'s Sports Empire are -
Need for greater diversity
– Sports Murdoch 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.
Products dominated business model
– Even though Sports Murdoch 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 - FOX Sports and News Corp.'s Sports Empire should strive to include more intangible value offerings along with its core products and services.
High bargaining power of channel partners
– Because of the regulatory requirements, George Foster, Victoria Chang suggests that, Sports Murdoch 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.
Interest costs
– Compare to the competition, Sports Murdoch 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.
High cash cycle compare to competitors
Sports Murdoch 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.
No frontier risks strategy
– After analyzing the HBR case study FOX Sports and News Corp.'s Sports Empire, 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.
Workers concerns about automation
– As automation is fast increasing in the segment, Sports Murdoch 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.
Aligning sales with marketing
– It come across in the case study FOX Sports and News Corp.'s Sports Empire 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 FOX Sports and News Corp.'s Sports Empire can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Sports Murdoch is planning to shift buying processes online.
High dependence on star products
– The top 2 products and services of the firm as mentioned in the FOX Sports and News Corp.'s Sports Empire 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 Sports Murdoch has relatively successful track record of launching new products.
Increasing silos among functional specialists
– The organizational structure of Sports Murdoch is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Strategy & Execution segment. Sports Murdoch needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Sports Murdoch to focus more on services rather than just following the product oriented approach.
Capital Spending Reduction
– Even during the low interest decade, Sports Murdoch 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.
Opportunities FOX Sports and News Corp.'s Sports Empire | 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 FOX Sports and News Corp.'s Sports Empire are -
Increase in government spending
– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Sports Murdoch can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Sports Murdoch operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Strategy & Execution sector.
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 Sports Murdoch in the consumer business. Now Sports Murdoch can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.
Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities
– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Sports Murdoch 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 Sports Murdoch to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
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. Sports Murdoch can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.
Reforming the budgeting process
- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects Sports Murdoch can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– Sports Murdoch 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 FOX Sports and News Corp.'s Sports Empire - to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Sports Murdoch to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
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 Sports Murdoch 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 Sports Murdoch 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.
Learning at scale
– Online learning technologies has now opened space for Sports Murdoch 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.
Leveraging digital technologies
– Sports Murdoch can leverage digital technologies such as artificial intelligence and machine learning to automate the production process, customer analytics to get better insights into consumer behavior, realtime digital dashboards to get better sales tracking, logistics and transportation, product tracking, etc.
Better consumer reach
– The expansion of the 5G network will help Sports Murdoch to increase its market reach. Sports Murdoch 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.
Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains
– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Sports Murdoch 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, FOX Sports and News Corp.'s Sports Empire, to buy more products closer to the markets, and it can leverage its size and influence to get better deal from the local markets.
Buying journey improvements
– Sports Murdoch can improve the customer journey of consumers in the industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. FOX Sports and News Corp.'s Sports Empire 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.
Threats FOX Sports and News Corp.'s Sports Empire External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study FOX Sports and News Corp.'s Sports Empire are -
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Sports Murdoch has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Strategy & Execution industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Sports Murdoch 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.
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, as highlighted in case study FOX Sports and News Corp.'s Sports Empire, Sports Murdoch 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 .
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Sports Murdoch is facing in Strategy & Execution sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Sports Murdoch 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.
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry in the industry are lowering. It can presents Sports Murdoch with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the sector.
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 Sports Murdoch in the Strategy & Execution sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
Regulatory challenges
– Sports Murdoch 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.
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Sports Murdoch 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.
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. Sports Murdoch 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.
Environmental challenges
– Sports Murdoch 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. Sports Murdoch can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Strategy & Execution industry.
Increasing wage structure of Sports Murdoch
– 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 Sports Murdoch.
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. Sports Murdoch needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Strategy & Execution industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of FOX Sports and News Corp.'s Sports Empire 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 FOX Sports and News Corp.'s Sports Empire 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 FOX Sports and News Corp.'s Sports Empire 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 FOX Sports and News Corp.'s Sports Empire 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 FOX Sports and News Corp.'s Sports Empire 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 Sports Murdoch needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.