Keep It, Shave It, Cut It: A Closer Look into Consumers' Video Viewing Behavior SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Technology & Operations
Strategy / MBA Resources
Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of Keep It, Shave It, Cut It: A Closer Look into Consumers' Video Viewing Behavior
The convergence of communications, information, entertainment, commerce, and computing-combined with a rising number of new services-has caused changes in the way people access and consume media. In recent months, the phenomenon of viewing audiences shifting wholly or partially from cable TV providers to over-the-top (OTT) media, also known as cord cutting or cord shaving respectively, has gained much attention. Despite anecdotal evidence of cord cutting and cord shaving presented in the trade press and industry conferences, there has been little rigorous examination of the true effect that cord cutting or cord shaving may have on TV networks and the media industry at large. In this article, we use behavioral data from a leading cable operator in the U.S. to identify and describe the key viewer segments. We also conduct simulations to examine the effects and implications of cord cutting and cord shaving from a CLV perspective for content providers, content distributors, and advertisers.
Authors :: Morana Fuduric, Edward C. Malthouse, Vijay Viswanathan
Swot Analysis of "Keep It, Shave It, Cut It: A Closer Look into Consumers' Video Viewing Behavior" written by Morana Fuduric, Edward C. Malthouse, Vijay Viswanathan includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Cord Shaving facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Keep It, Shave It, Cut It: A Closer Look into Consumers' Video Viewing Behavior case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, IT and Technology & Operations.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Keep It, Shave It, Cut It: A Closer Look into Consumers' Video Viewing Behavior casestudy better are - – geopolitical disruptions, increasing energy prices, increasing commodity prices, supply chains are disrupted by pandemic , wage bills are increasing, increasing household debt because of falling income levels, technology disruption,
talent flight as more people leaving formal jobs, there is increasing trade war between United States & China, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Keep It, Shave It, Cut It: A Closer Look into Consumers' Video Viewing Behavior
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Keep It, Shave It, Cut It: A Closer Look into Consumers' Video Viewing Behavior case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Cord Shaving, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Cord Shaving 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 Keep It, Shave It, Cut It: A Closer Look into Consumers' Video Viewing Behavior can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Keep It, Shave It, Cut It: A Closer Look into Consumers' Video Viewing Behavior case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Cord Shaving
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 Cord Shaving
Strengths Keep It, Shave It, Cut It: A Closer Look into Consumers' Video Viewing Behavior | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Cord Shaving in Keep It, Shave It, Cut It: A Closer Look into Consumers' Video Viewing Behavior Harvard Business Review case study are -
Training and development
– Cord Shaving has one of the best training and development program in the industry. The effectiveness of the training programs can be measured in Keep It, Shave It, Cut It: A Closer Look into Consumers' Video Viewing Behavior 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.
Strong track record of project management
– Cord Shaving is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.
Digital Transformation in Technology & Operations segment
- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For Cord Shaving digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Cord Shaving 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.
Analytics focus
– Cord Shaving 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 Morana Fuduric, Edward C. Malthouse, Vijay Viswanathan 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.
Cross disciplinary teams
– Horizontal connected teams at the Cord Shaving are driving operational speed, building greater agility, and keeping the organization nimble to compete with new competitors. It helps are organization to ideate new ideas, and execute them swiftly in the marketplace.
Operational resilience
– The operational resilience strategy in the Keep It, Shave It, Cut It: A Closer Look into Consumers' Video Viewing Behavior 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.
Diverse revenue streams
– Cord Shaving is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided firm in Keep It, Shave It, Cut It: A Closer Look into Consumers' Video Viewing Behavior 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.
Innovation driven organization
– Cord Shaving is one of the most innovative firm in sector. Manager in Keep It, Shave It, Cut It: A Closer Look into Consumers' Video Viewing Behavior Harvard Business Review case study can use Clayton Christensen Disruptive Innovation strategies to further increase the scale of innovtions in the organization.
Learning organization
- Cord Shaving 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 Cord Shaving is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders in Keep It, Shave It, Cut It: A Closer Look into Consumers' Video Viewing Behavior Harvard Business Review case study emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
High brand equity
– Cord Shaving has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Cord Shaving to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Technology & Operations industry
– Keep It, Shave It, Cut It: A Closer Look into Consumers' Video Viewing Behavior firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Cord Shaving to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Technology & Operations industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Cord Shaving to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Ability to recruit top talent
– Cord Shaving is one of the leading recruiters in the industry. Managers in the Keep It, Shave It, Cut It: A Closer Look into Consumers' Video Viewing Behavior are in a position to attract the best talent available. The firm has a robust talent identification program that helps in identifying the brightest.
Weaknesses Keep It, Shave It, Cut It: A Closer Look into Consumers' Video Viewing Behavior | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Keep It, Shave It, Cut It: A Closer Look into Consumers' Video Viewing Behavior are -
Skills based hiring
– The stress on hiring functional specialists at Cord Shaving 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.
No frontier risks strategy
– After analyzing the HBR case study Keep It, Shave It, Cut It: A Closer Look into Consumers' Video Viewing Behavior, it seems that company is thinking about the frontier risks that can impact Technology & Operations 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.
Low market penetration in new markets
– Outside its home market of Cord Shaving, firm in the HBR case study Keep It, Shave It, Cut It: A Closer Look into Consumers' Video Viewing Behavior needs to spend more promotional, marketing, and advertising efforts to penetrate international markets.
Need for greater diversity
– Cord Shaving 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, Morana Fuduric, Edward C. Malthouse, Vijay Viswanathan suggests that, Cord Shaving 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.
Lack of clear differentiation of Cord Shaving products
– To increase the profitability and margins on the products, Cord Shaving needs to provide more differentiated products than what it is currently offering in the marketplace.
Products dominated business model
– Even though Cord Shaving 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 - Keep It, Shave It, Cut It: A Closer Look into Consumers' Video Viewing Behavior should strive to include more intangible value offerings along with its core products and services.
Aligning sales with marketing
– It come across in the case study Keep It, Shave It, Cut It: A Closer Look into Consumers' Video Viewing Behavior 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 Keep It, Shave It, Cut It: A Closer Look into Consumers' Video Viewing Behavior can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Cord Shaving is planning to shift buying processes online.
Employees’ incomplete understanding of strategy
– From the instances in the HBR case study Keep It, Shave It, Cut It: A Closer Look into Consumers' Video Viewing Behavior, it seems that the employees of Cord Shaving 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.
Ability to respond to the competition
– As the decision making is very deliberative, highlighted in the case study Keep It, Shave It, Cut It: A Closer Look into Consumers' Video Viewing Behavior, in the dynamic environment Cord Shaving has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. Cord Shaving has reasonably good record with similar level competitors but it has struggled with new entrants taking away niches of its business.
Increasing silos among functional specialists
– The organizational structure of Cord Shaving is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Technology & Operations segment. Cord Shaving needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Cord Shaving to focus more on services rather than just following the product oriented approach.
Opportunities Keep It, Shave It, Cut It: A Closer Look into Consumers' Video Viewing Behavior | 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 Keep It, Shave It, Cut It: A Closer Look into Consumers' Video Viewing Behavior are -
Manufacturing automation
– Cord Shaving 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.
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. Cord Shaving 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. Cord Shaving 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.
Building a culture of innovation
– managers at Cord Shaving 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.
Leveraging digital technologies
– Cord Shaving 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.
Loyalty marketing
– Cord Shaving 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.
Buying journey improvements
– Cord Shaving can improve the customer journey of consumers in the industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. Keep It, Shave It, Cut It: A Closer Look into Consumers' Video Viewing Behavior 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
– Cord Shaving 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 Keep It, Shave It, Cut It: A Closer Look into Consumers' Video Viewing Behavior - to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Cord Shaving 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, Cord Shaving 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, Keep It, Shave It, Cut It: A Closer Look into Consumers' Video Viewing Behavior, to buy more products closer to the markets, and it can leverage its size and influence to get better deal from the local markets.
Low interest rates
– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Cord Shaving 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.
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 Cord Shaving 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.
Developing new processes and practices
– Cord Shaving 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.
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. Cord Shaving can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.
Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities
– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Cord Shaving 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 Cord Shaving to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
Threats Keep It, Shave It, Cut It: A Closer Look into Consumers' Video Viewing Behavior External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Keep It, Shave It, Cut It: A Closer Look into Consumers' Video Viewing Behavior are -
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 Cord Shaving in the Technology & Operations sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
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. Cord Shaving needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Technology & Operations industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
Regulatory challenges
– Cord Shaving 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 international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Cord Shaving 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 Keep It, Shave It, Cut It: A Closer Look into Consumers' Video Viewing Behavior .
Consumer confidence and its impact on Cord Shaving 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.
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Cord Shaving has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Technology & Operations industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Cord Shaving 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.
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, as highlighted in case study Keep It, Shave It, Cut It: A Closer Look into Consumers' Video Viewing Behavior, Cord Shaving may face longer learning curve for training and development of existing employees. This can open space for more nimble competitors in the field of Technology & Operations .
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Cord Shaving is facing in Technology & Operations sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Cord Shaving in the Technology & Operations industry. The Technology & Operations 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.
Increasing wage structure of Cord Shaving
– 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 Cord Shaving.
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry in the industry are lowering. It can presents Cord Shaving with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the sector.
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. Cord Shaving 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.
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Cord Shaving 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.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Keep It, Shave It, Cut It: A Closer Look into Consumers' Video Viewing Behavior 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 Keep It, Shave It, Cut It: A Closer Look into Consumers' Video Viewing Behavior 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 Keep It, Shave It, Cut It: A Closer Look into Consumers' Video Viewing Behavior 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 Keep It, Shave It, Cut It: A Closer Look into Consumers' Video Viewing Behavior 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 Keep It, Shave It, Cut It: A Closer Look into Consumers' Video Viewing Behavior 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 Cord Shaving needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.