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 - – increasing transportation and logistics costs, increasing household debt because of falling income levels, central banks are concerned over increasing inflation, increasing government debt because of Covid-19 spendings, there is backlash against globalization, increasing commodity prices, banking and financial system is disrupted by Bitcoin and other crypto currencies,
supply chains are disrupted by pandemic , competitive advantages are harder to sustain because of technology dispersion, 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 -
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.
Superior customer experience
– The customer experience strategy of Cord Shaving in the segment is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.
Effective Research and Development (R&D)
– Cord Shaving 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 Keep It, Shave It, Cut It: A Closer Look into Consumers' Video Viewing Behavior - staying ahead in the industry in terms of – new product launches, superior customer experience, highly competitive pricing strategies, and great returns to the shareholders.
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.
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of Cord Shaving in the sector have low bargaining power. Keep It, Shave It, Cut It: A Closer Look into Consumers' Video Viewing Behavior has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Cord Shaving to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
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.
Organizational Resilience of Cord Shaving
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing that Cord Shaving does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
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.
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.
Successful track record of launching new products
– Cord Shaving has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Cord Shaving 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.
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.
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.
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 -
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.
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.
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.
Slow to strategic competitive environment developments
– As Keep It, Shave It, Cut It: A Closer Look into Consumers' Video Viewing Behavior HBR case study mentions - Cord Shaving 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.
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.
Compensation and incentives
– The revenue per employee as mentioned in the HBR case study Keep It, Shave It, Cut It: A Closer Look into Consumers' Video Viewing Behavior, is just above the industry average. Cord Shaving 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.
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 Cord Shaving supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes mentioned in the HBR case study - Keep It, Shave It, Cut It: A Closer Look into Consumers' Video Viewing Behavior, it is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left Cord Shaving vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.
High dependence on star products
– The top 2 products and services of the firm as mentioned in the Keep It, Shave It, Cut It: A Closer Look into Consumers' Video Viewing Behavior 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 Cord Shaving has relatively successful track record of launching new products.
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.
High operating costs
– Compare to the competitors, firm in the HBR case study Keep It, Shave It, Cut It: A Closer Look into Consumers' Video Viewing Behavior has high operating costs in the. This can be harder to sustain given the new emerging competition from nimble players who are using technology to attract Cord Shaving 's lucrative customers.
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 -
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.
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.
Finding new ways to collaborate
– Covid-19 has not only transformed business models of companies in Technology & Operations industry, but it has also influenced the consumer preferences. Cord Shaving can tie-up with other value chain partners to explore new opportunities regarding meeting customer demands and building a rewarding and engaging relationship.
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Cord Shaving has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Cord Shaving to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the Keep It, Shave It, Cut It: A Closer Look into Consumers' Video Viewing Behavior case study. Cord Shaving can build new products and services such as - data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
Better consumer reach
– The expansion of the 5G network will help Cord Shaving to increase its market reach. Cord Shaving 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.
Reforming the budgeting process
- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects Cord Shaving can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.
Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities
– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for 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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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 Cord Shaving in the consumer business. Now Cord Shaving can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.
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 -
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.
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 Cord Shaving business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
Environmental challenges
– Cord Shaving 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. Cord Shaving can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Technology & Operations industry.
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.
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.
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.
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.
High dependence on third party suppliers
– Cord Shaving high dependence on third party suppliers can disrupt its processes and delivery mechanism. For example -the current troubles of car makers because of chip shortage is because the chip companies started producing chips for electronic companies rather than car manufacturers.
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.
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.
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.
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 .
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.
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.
