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Sony Broadcast and Professional Europe: Becoming a Virtual Company SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis

Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution

Case Study Description of Sony Broadcast and Professional Europe: Becoming a Virtual Company


In April 1997, senior management at Sony Broadcast and Professional Europe (BPE) was focused on making the virtual company concept a reality. BPE was moving away from a confederation of national sales companies toward a number of geographically dispersed business teams serving all of Europe. An infrastructure was being put in place to support the teams. Immediate operational opportunities and challenges lay in the implementation of SAP System R/3, due to go live in a matter of weeks, and the radical re-engineering of BPE's supply chain. Key considerations were the increased use of air freight between Sony factories in Japan and BPE, the consolidation of BPE inventories in fewer locations, and the choice of a global logistics provider to partner with Sony BPE in the direct delivery of BPE products from its distribution centers to dealers within Europe. The case serves as a vehicle to discuss the transformation of bricks and mortar distribution systems to those needed to support e-business. A 2000 EFMD award winner.

Authors :: Robert S. Collins, Kimberly A. Bechler

Topics :: Technology & Operations

Tags :: Leading teams, Marketing, Strategy execution, Supply chain, SWOT Analysis, SWOT Matrix, TOWS, Weighted SWOT Analysis

Swot Analysis of "Sony Broadcast and Professional Europe: Becoming a Virtual Company" written by Robert S. Collins, Kimberly A. Bechler includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Bpe Sony facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Sony Broadcast and Professional Europe: Becoming a Virtual Company case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Leading teams, Marketing, Strategy execution, Supply chain and Technology & Operations.


Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Sony Broadcast and Professional Europe: Becoming a Virtual Company casestudy better are - – geopolitical disruptions, increasing energy prices, supply chains are disrupted by pandemic , increasing commodity prices, there is increasing trade war between United States & China, technology disruption, increasing government debt because of Covid-19 spendings, digital marketing is dominated by two big players Facebook and Google, increasing transportation and logistics costs, etc



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Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Sony Broadcast and Professional Europe: Becoming a Virtual Company


SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Sony Broadcast and Professional Europe: Becoming a Virtual Company case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Bpe Sony, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Bpe Sony 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 Sony Broadcast and Professional Europe: Becoming a Virtual Company can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Sony Broadcast and Professional Europe: Becoming a Virtual Company case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Bpe Sony
3. Assessing feasibility of the new initiative in Technology & Operations field.
4. Making a Technology & Operations topic specific business decision
5. Set goals for the organization
6. Organizational restructuring of Bpe Sony




Strengths Sony Broadcast and Professional Europe: Becoming a Virtual Company | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis

The strengths of Bpe Sony in Sony Broadcast and Professional Europe: Becoming a Virtual Company Harvard Business Review case study are -

Organizational Resilience of Bpe Sony

– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing that Bpe Sony does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.

High brand equity

– Bpe Sony has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Bpe Sony to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.

Superior customer experience

– The customer experience strategy of Bpe Sony in the segment is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.

Innovation driven organization

– Bpe Sony is one of the most innovative firm in sector. Manager in Sony Broadcast and Professional Europe: Becoming a Virtual Company Harvard Business Review case study can use Clayton Christensen Disruptive Innovation strategies to further increase the scale of innovtions in the organization.

Strong track record of project management

– Bpe Sony is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.

High switching costs

– The high switching costs that Bpe Sony 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.

Sustainable margins compare to other players in Technology & Operations industry

– Sony Broadcast and Professional Europe: Becoming a Virtual Company firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Bpe Sony to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Technology & Operations industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Bpe Sony to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.

Digital Transformation in Technology & Operations segment

- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For Bpe Sony digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Bpe Sony 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

– Bpe Sony has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Bpe Sony 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.

Learning organization

- Bpe Sony 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 Bpe Sony is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders in Sony Broadcast and Professional Europe: Becoming a Virtual Company Harvard Business Review case study emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.

Operational resilience

– The operational resilience strategy in the Sony Broadcast and Professional Europe: Becoming a Virtual Company 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

– Bpe Sony 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 Robert S. Collins, Kimberly A. Bechler 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.






Weaknesses Sony Broadcast and Professional Europe: Becoming a Virtual Company | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis

The weaknesses of Sony Broadcast and Professional Europe: Becoming a Virtual Company are -

Slow to strategic competitive environment developments

– As Sony Broadcast and Professional Europe: Becoming a Virtual Company HBR case study mentions - Bpe Sony takes time to assess the upcoming competitions. This has led to missing out on atleast 2-3 big opportunities in the industry in last five years.

Lack of clear differentiation of Bpe Sony products

– To increase the profitability and margins on the products, Bpe Sony needs to provide more differentiated products than what it is currently offering in the marketplace.

Employees’ incomplete understanding of strategy

– From the instances in the HBR case study Sony Broadcast and Professional Europe: Becoming a Virtual Company, it seems that the employees of Bpe Sony 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.

High cash cycle compare to competitors

Bpe Sony 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.

Workers concerns about automation

– As automation is fast increasing in the segment, Bpe Sony 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 to harness new channels of communication

– Even though competitors are using new communication channels such as Instagram, Tiktok, and Snap, Bpe Sony is slow explore the new channels of communication. These new channels of communication mentioned in marketing section of case study Sony Broadcast and Professional Europe: Becoming a Virtual Company 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 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 Bpe Sony supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes mentioned in the HBR case study - Sony Broadcast and Professional Europe: Becoming a Virtual Company, it is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left Bpe Sony vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.

Aligning sales with marketing

– It come across in the case study Sony Broadcast and Professional Europe: Becoming a Virtual Company 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 Sony Broadcast and Professional Europe: Becoming a Virtual Company can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Bpe Sony is planning to shift buying processes online.

Compensation and incentives

– The revenue per employee as mentioned in the HBR case study Sony Broadcast and Professional Europe: Becoming a Virtual Company, is just above the industry average. Bpe Sony 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.

Products dominated business model

– Even though Bpe Sony 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 - Sony Broadcast and Professional Europe: Becoming a Virtual Company should strive to include more intangible value offerings along with its core products and services.

Interest costs

– Compare to the competition, Bpe Sony 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.




Opportunities Sony Broadcast and Professional Europe: Becoming a Virtual Company | 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 Sony Broadcast and Professional Europe: Becoming a Virtual Company are -

Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains

– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Bpe Sony 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, Sony Broadcast and Professional Europe: Becoming a Virtual Company, to buy more products closer to the markets, and it can leverage its size and influence to get better deal from the local markets.

Redefining models of collaboration and team work

– As explained in the weaknesses section, Bpe Sony is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. Sony Broadcast and Professional Europe: Becoming a Virtual Company 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.

Using analytics as competitive advantage

– Bpe Sony 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 Sony Broadcast and Professional Europe: Becoming a Virtual Company - to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Bpe Sony to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.

Lowering marketing communication costs

– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Bpe Sony in the field of marketing communication. It will bring down the cost of doing business, provide technology platform to build new products in the Technology & Operations segment, and it will provide faster access to the consumers.

Reforming the budgeting process

- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects Bpe Sony can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.

Loyalty marketing

– Bpe Sony 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.

Creating value in data economy

– The success of analytics program of Bpe Sony has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Bpe Sony to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the Sony Broadcast and Professional Europe: Becoming a Virtual Company case study. Bpe Sony can build new products and services such as - data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.

Developing new processes and practices

– Bpe Sony can develop new processes and procedures in Technology & Operations 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.

Low interest rates

– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Bpe Sony 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.

Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities

– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Bpe Sony 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 Bpe Sony to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.

Building a culture of innovation

– managers at Bpe Sony 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 Technology & Operations segment.

Changes in consumer behavior post Covid-19

– Consumer behavior has changed in the Technology & Operations industry because of Covid-19 restrictions. Some of this behavior will stay once things get back to normal. Bpe Sony 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. Bpe Sony 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.

Manufacturing automation

– Bpe Sony can use the latest technology developments to improve its manufacturing and designing process in Technology & Operations 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.




Threats Sony Broadcast and Professional Europe: Becoming a Virtual Company External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis


The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Sony Broadcast and Professional Europe: Becoming a Virtual Company are -

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.

Barriers of entry lowering

– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry in the industry are lowering. It can presents Bpe Sony with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the sector.

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. Bpe Sony needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Technology & Operations industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.

Easy access to finance

– Easy access to finance in Technology & Operations field will also reduce the barriers to entry in the industry, thus putting downward pressure on the prices because of increasing competition. Bpe Sony can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.

Regulatory challenges

– Bpe Sony 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 Technology & Operations industry regulations.

Increasing wage structure of Bpe Sony

– 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 Bpe Sony.

Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins

– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Bpe Sony 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 Sony Broadcast and Professional Europe: Becoming a Virtual Company .

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.

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. Bpe Sony 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.

Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution

– Bpe Sony has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Technology & Operations industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Bpe Sony needs to keep up with the evolution of technology in the Technology & Operations 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.

Environmental challenges

– Bpe Sony 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. Bpe Sony can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Technology & Operations industry.

Shortening product life cycle

– it is one of the major threat that Bpe Sony is facing in Technology & Operations sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.

Capital market disruption

– During the Covid-19, Dow Jones has touched record high. The valuations of a number of companies are way beyond their existing business model potential. This can lead to capital market correction which can put a number of suppliers, collaborators, value chain partners in great financial difficulty. It will directly impact the business of Bpe Sony.




Weighted SWOT Analysis of Sony Broadcast and Professional Europe: Becoming a Virtual Company 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 Sony Broadcast and Professional Europe: Becoming a Virtual Company 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 Sony Broadcast and Professional Europe: Becoming a Virtual Company 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 Sony Broadcast and Professional Europe: Becoming a Virtual Company 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 Sony Broadcast and Professional Europe: Becoming a Virtual Company 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 Bpe Sony needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.



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