Udaipur Times: Strategy of a Hyperlocal News Website SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Leadership & Managing People
Strategy / MBA Resources
Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of Udaipur Times: Strategy of a Hyperlocal News Website
In August 2016, the director of UdaipurTimes.com, a hyperlocal news website, and his partner were faced with a problem. Their start-up venture had thus far grown without any explicit strategy. Despite a steady readership of nearly 200,000, achieving further revenue growth and sustained profitability were ongoing issues. UdaipurTimes.com needed to come up with a comprehensive strategy by evaluating various alternatives (such as creating a mobile app and soliciting user-generated content) to increase the frequency of customer visits and attract new readers to the website. Given its limited financial strength and its focus on speedily growing its customer base while leveraging current resources and capabilities, what strategy should UdaipurTimes.com choose? The authors Atul Arun Pathak and ShabbirHusain R.V. are affiliated with XLRI-Xavier School of Management.
Swot Analysis of "Udaipur Times: Strategy of a Hyperlocal News Website" written by Atul Arun Pathak, ShabbirHusain RV includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Udaipurtimes.com Hyperlocal facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Udaipur Times: Strategy of a Hyperlocal News Website case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Strategy and Leadership & Managing People.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Udaipur Times: Strategy of a Hyperlocal News Website casestudy better are - – competitive advantages are harder to sustain because of technology dispersion, there is increasing trade war between United States & China, digital marketing is dominated by two big players Facebook and Google, wage bills are increasing, central banks are concerned over increasing inflation, geopolitical disruptions, challanges to central banks by blockchain based private currencies,
increasing government debt because of Covid-19 spendings, increasing household debt because of falling income levels, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Udaipur Times: Strategy of a Hyperlocal News Website
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Udaipur Times: Strategy of a Hyperlocal News Website case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Udaipurtimes.com Hyperlocal, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Udaipurtimes.com Hyperlocal 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 Udaipur Times: Strategy of a Hyperlocal News Website can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Udaipur Times: Strategy of a Hyperlocal News Website case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Udaipurtimes.com Hyperlocal
3. Assessing feasibility of the new initiative in Leadership & Managing People field.
4. Making a Leadership & Managing People topic specific business decision
5. Set goals for the organization
6. Organizational restructuring of Udaipurtimes.com Hyperlocal
Strengths Udaipur Times: Strategy of a Hyperlocal News Website | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Udaipurtimes.com Hyperlocal in Udaipur Times: Strategy of a Hyperlocal News Website Harvard Business Review case study are -
High switching costs
– The high switching costs that Udaipurtimes.com Hyperlocal 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.
Ability to recruit top talent
– Udaipurtimes.com Hyperlocal is one of the leading recruiters in the industry. Managers in the Udaipur Times: Strategy of a Hyperlocal News Website are in a position to attract the best talent available. The firm has a robust talent identification program that helps in identifying the brightest.
Ability to lead change in Leadership & Managing People field
– Udaipurtimes.com Hyperlocal 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 Udaipurtimes.com Hyperlocal in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.
Strong track record of project management
– Udaipurtimes.com Hyperlocal is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.
Effective Research and Development (R&D)
– Udaipurtimes.com Hyperlocal 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 Udaipur Times: Strategy of a Hyperlocal News Website - staying ahead in the industry in terms of – new product launches, superior customer experience, highly competitive pricing strategies, and great returns to the shareholders.
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Leadership & Managing People industry
– Udaipur Times: Strategy of a Hyperlocal News Website firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Udaipurtimes.com Hyperlocal to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Leadership & Managing People industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Udaipurtimes.com Hyperlocal to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Analytics focus
– Udaipurtimes.com Hyperlocal 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 Atul Arun Pathak, ShabbirHusain RV 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.
Successful track record of launching new products
– Udaipurtimes.com Hyperlocal has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Udaipurtimes.com Hyperlocal 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.
Digital Transformation in Leadership & Managing People segment
- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For Udaipurtimes.com Hyperlocal digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Udaipurtimes.com Hyperlocal 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.
Diverse revenue streams
– Udaipurtimes.com Hyperlocal is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided firm in Udaipur Times: Strategy of a Hyperlocal News Website 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.
Organizational Resilience of Udaipurtimes.com Hyperlocal
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing that Udaipurtimes.com Hyperlocal does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
Learning organization
- Udaipurtimes.com Hyperlocal 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 Udaipurtimes.com Hyperlocal is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders in Udaipur Times: Strategy of a Hyperlocal News Website Harvard Business Review case study emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
Weaknesses Udaipur Times: Strategy of a Hyperlocal News Website | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Udaipur Times: Strategy of a Hyperlocal News Website are -
Skills based hiring
– The stress on hiring functional specialists at Udaipurtimes.com Hyperlocal 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.
Lack of clear differentiation of Udaipurtimes.com Hyperlocal products
– To increase the profitability and margins on the products, Udaipurtimes.com Hyperlocal needs to provide more differentiated products than what it is currently offering in the marketplace.
Ability to respond to the competition
– As the decision making is very deliberative, highlighted in the case study Udaipur Times: Strategy of a Hyperlocal News Website, in the dynamic environment Udaipurtimes.com Hyperlocal has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. Udaipurtimes.com Hyperlocal has reasonably good record with similar level competitors but it has struggled with new entrants taking away niches of its business.
Workers concerns about automation
– As automation is fast increasing in the segment, Udaipurtimes.com Hyperlocal 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.
High cash cycle compare to competitors
Udaipurtimes.com Hyperlocal 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.
Low market penetration in new markets
– Outside its home market of Udaipurtimes.com Hyperlocal, firm in the HBR case study Udaipur Times: Strategy of a Hyperlocal News Website needs to spend more promotional, marketing, and advertising efforts to penetrate international markets.
No frontier risks strategy
– After analyzing the HBR case study Udaipur Times: Strategy of a Hyperlocal News Website, it seems that company is thinking about the frontier risks that can impact Leadership & Managing People 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.
Slow to strategic competitive environment developments
– As Udaipur Times: Strategy of a Hyperlocal News Website HBR case study mentions - Udaipurtimes.com Hyperlocal 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.
Need for greater diversity
– Udaipurtimes.com Hyperlocal 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.
High bargaining power of channel partners
– Because of the regulatory requirements, Atul Arun Pathak, ShabbirHusain RV suggests that, Udaipurtimes.com Hyperlocal 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.
Products dominated business model
– Even though Udaipurtimes.com Hyperlocal 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 - Udaipur Times: Strategy of a Hyperlocal News Website should strive to include more intangible value offerings along with its core products and services.
Opportunities Udaipur Times: Strategy of a Hyperlocal News Website | 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 Udaipur Times: Strategy of a Hyperlocal News Website are -
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. Udaipurtimes.com Hyperlocal can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.
Developing new processes and practices
– Udaipurtimes.com Hyperlocal can develop new processes and procedures in Leadership & Managing People 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.
Buying journey improvements
– Udaipurtimes.com Hyperlocal can improve the customer journey of consumers in the industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. Udaipur Times: Strategy of a Hyperlocal News Website 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 Udaipurtimes.com Hyperlocal to increase its market reach. Udaipurtimes.com Hyperlocal 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.
Changes in consumer behavior post Covid-19
– Consumer behavior has changed in the Leadership & Managing People industry because of Covid-19 restrictions. Some of this behavior will stay once things get back to normal. Udaipurtimes.com Hyperlocal 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. Udaipurtimes.com Hyperlocal 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.
Redefining models of collaboration and team work
– As explained in the weaknesses section, Udaipurtimes.com Hyperlocal is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. Udaipur Times: Strategy of a Hyperlocal News Website 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.
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 Udaipurtimes.com Hyperlocal in the consumer business. Now Udaipurtimes.com Hyperlocal can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.
Leveraging digital technologies
– Udaipurtimes.com Hyperlocal 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.
Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities
– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Udaipurtimes.com Hyperlocal 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 Udaipurtimes.com Hyperlocal to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
Low interest rates
– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Udaipurtimes.com Hyperlocal can still utilize the low interest rates to borrow money for capital investment. Secondly it can also use the increase of government spending in infrastructure projects to get new business.
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Udaipurtimes.com Hyperlocal has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Udaipurtimes.com Hyperlocal to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the Udaipur Times: Strategy of a Hyperlocal News Website case study. Udaipurtimes.com Hyperlocal can build new products and services such as - data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– Udaipurtimes.com Hyperlocal 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 Udaipur Times: Strategy of a Hyperlocal News Website - to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Udaipurtimes.com Hyperlocal to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains
– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Udaipurtimes.com Hyperlocal 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, Udaipur Times: Strategy of a Hyperlocal News Website, to buy more products closer to the markets, and it can leverage its size and influence to get better deal from the local markets.
Threats Udaipur Times: Strategy of a Hyperlocal News Website External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Udaipur Times: Strategy of a Hyperlocal News Website are -
Regulatory challenges
– Udaipurtimes.com Hyperlocal 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 Leadership & Managing People industry regulations.
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Udaipurtimes.com Hyperlocal is facing in Leadership & Managing People sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, 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.
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry in the industry are lowering. It can presents Udaipurtimes.com Hyperlocal with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the sector.
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 Udaipurtimes.com Hyperlocal 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. Udaipurtimes.com Hyperlocal needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Leadership & Managing People industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
Increasing wage structure of Udaipurtimes.com Hyperlocal
– 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 Udaipurtimes.com Hyperlocal.
Consumer confidence and its impact on Udaipurtimes.com Hyperlocal demand
– There is a high probability of declining consumer confidence, given – high inflammation rate, rise of gig economy, lower job stability, increasing cost of living, higher interest rates, and aging demography. All the factors contribute to people saving higher rate of their income, resulting in lower consumer demand in the industry and other sectors.
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Udaipurtimes.com Hyperlocal 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.
Easy access to finance
– Easy access to finance in Leadership & Managing People field will also reduce the barriers to entry in the industry, thus putting downward pressure on the prices because of increasing competition. Udaipurtimes.com Hyperlocal can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
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. Udaipurtimes.com Hyperlocal 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 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.
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 Udaipurtimes.com Hyperlocal.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Udaipur Times: Strategy of a Hyperlocal News Website 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 Udaipur Times: Strategy of a Hyperlocal News Website 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 Udaipur Times: Strategy of a Hyperlocal News Website 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 Udaipur Times: Strategy of a Hyperlocal News Website 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 Udaipur Times: Strategy of a Hyperlocal News Website 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 Udaipurtimes.com Hyperlocal needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.