SMR: United Against a Global Media Giant SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Global Business
Strategy / MBA Resources
Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of SMR: United Against a Global Media Giant
In 2014, recognizing that their leadership in the online media market was weakening, eight Korean television broadcasters severed their ties with YouTube and formed Smart Media Representative Co. Ltd. (SMR), an alliance to collectively distribute online television content and advertising on behalf of the broadcasters. SMR changed the nature of the online video market in Korea. The rights to advertising sales, programming, and distribution that were previously transferred to the platforms were retained by the broadcasters. The nature of distribution also changed to use a format that allowed the broadcasters to package their content and advertisements as one. The profit sharing from advertisements also changed, with broadcasters realizing a substantial increase. The structure had worked well and had been lucrative for the broadcasters and the Korean platform companies that partnered with SMR; however, in 2016, as SMR prepared to re-contract with the stakeholders, the varying goals of the stakeholders threatened to disrupt the structure. What did SMR need to do to maintain these fragile relationships and continue to grow?
Authors :: Sanghyeak Yoon, Hyung-Jin Kim, Young-Gul Kim
Swot Analysis of "SMR: United Against a Global Media Giant" written by Sanghyeak Yoon, Hyung-Jin Kim, Young-Gul Kim includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Smr Broadcasters facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in SMR: United Against a Global Media Giant case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Joint ventures and Global Business.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the SMR: United Against a Global Media Giant casestudy better are - – technology disruption, increasing inequality as vast percentage of new income is going to the top 1%, central banks are concerned over increasing inflation, customer relationship management is fast transforming because of increasing concerns over data privacy, there is increasing trade war between United States & China, increasing transportation and logistics costs, geopolitical disruptions,
there is backlash against globalization, digital marketing is dominated by two big players Facebook and Google, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of SMR: United Against a Global Media Giant
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in SMR: United Against a Global Media Giant case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Smr Broadcasters, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Smr Broadcasters 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 SMR: United Against a Global Media Giant can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in SMR: United Against a Global Media Giant case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Smr Broadcasters
3. Assessing feasibility of the new initiative in Global Business field.
4. Making a Global Business topic specific business decision
5. Set goals for the organization
6. Organizational restructuring of Smr Broadcasters
Strengths SMR: United Against a Global Media Giant | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Smr Broadcasters in SMR: United Against a Global Media Giant Harvard Business Review case study are -
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Global Business industry
– SMR: United Against a Global Media Giant firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Smr Broadcasters to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Global Business industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Smr Broadcasters to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Strong track record of project management
– Smr Broadcasters is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.
Ability to lead change in Global Business field
– Smr Broadcasters 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 Smr Broadcasters in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.
Operational resilience
– The operational resilience strategy in the SMR: United Against a Global Media Giant 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.
Learning organization
- Smr Broadcasters 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 Smr Broadcasters is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders in SMR: United Against a Global Media Giant Harvard Business Review case study emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
Diverse revenue streams
– Smr Broadcasters is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided firm in SMR: United Against a Global Media Giant 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.
Training and development
– Smr Broadcasters has one of the best training and development program in the industry. The effectiveness of the training programs can be measured in SMR: United Against a Global Media Giant 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.
High brand equity
– Smr Broadcasters has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Smr Broadcasters to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Superior customer experience
– The customer experience strategy of Smr Broadcasters in the segment is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.
Innovation driven organization
– Smr Broadcasters is one of the most innovative firm in sector. Manager in SMR: United Against a Global Media Giant Harvard Business Review case study can use Clayton Christensen Disruptive Innovation strategies to further increase the scale of innovtions in the organization.
Digital Transformation in Global Business segment
- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For Smr Broadcasters digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Smr Broadcasters 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.
Ability to recruit top talent
– Smr Broadcasters is one of the leading recruiters in the industry. Managers in the SMR: United Against a Global Media Giant 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 SMR: United Against a Global Media Giant | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of SMR: United Against a Global Media Giant are -
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 Smr Broadcasters supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes mentioned in the HBR case study - SMR: United Against a Global Media Giant, it is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left Smr Broadcasters vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.
Interest costs
– Compare to the competition, Smr Broadcasters 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.
Aligning sales with marketing
– It come across in the case study SMR: United Against a Global Media Giant 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 SMR: United Against a Global Media Giant can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Smr Broadcasters is planning to shift buying processes online.
Lack of clear differentiation of Smr Broadcasters products
– To increase the profitability and margins on the products, Smr Broadcasters needs to provide more differentiated products than what it is currently offering in the marketplace.
Increasing silos among functional specialists
– The organizational structure of Smr Broadcasters is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Global Business segment. Smr Broadcasters needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Smr Broadcasters to focus more on services rather than just following the product oriented approach.
Compensation and incentives
– The revenue per employee as mentioned in the HBR case study SMR: United Against a Global Media Giant, is just above the industry average. Smr Broadcasters 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.
Slow decision making process
– As mentioned earlier in the report, Smr Broadcasters has a very deliberative decision making approach. This approach has resulted in prudent decisions, but it has also resulted in missing opportunities in the industry over the last five years. Smr Broadcasters even though has strong showing on digital transformation primary two stages, it has struggled to capitalize the power of digital transformation in marketing efforts and new venture efforts.
Skills based hiring
– The stress on hiring functional specialists at Smr Broadcasters 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.
Workers concerns about automation
– As automation is fast increasing in the segment, Smr Broadcasters 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.
Employees’ incomplete understanding of strategy
– From the instances in the HBR case study SMR: United Against a Global Media Giant, it seems that the employees of Smr Broadcasters 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.
Capital Spending Reduction
– Even during the low interest decade, Smr Broadcasters has not been able to do capital spending to the tune of the competition. This has resulted into fewer innovations and company facing stiff competition from both existing competitors and new entrants who are disrupting the industry using digital technology.
Opportunities SMR: United Against a Global Media Giant | 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 SMR: United Against a Global Media Giant are -
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 Smr Broadcasters in the consumer business. Now Smr Broadcasters can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.
Buying journey improvements
– Smr Broadcasters can improve the customer journey of consumers in the industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. SMR: United Against a Global Media Giant 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.
Low interest rates
– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Smr Broadcasters 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 Smr Broadcasters 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.
Reforming the budgeting process
- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects Smr Broadcasters can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.
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. Smr Broadcasters can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– Smr Broadcasters 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 SMR: United Against a Global Media Giant - to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Smr Broadcasters 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 Smr Broadcasters in the field of marketing communication. It will bring down the cost of doing business, provide technology platform to build new products in the Global Business segment, and it will provide faster access to the consumers.
Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains
– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Smr Broadcasters 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, SMR: United Against a Global Media Giant, to buy more products closer to the markets, and it can leverage its size and influence to get better deal from the local markets.
Leveraging digital technologies
– Smr Broadcasters 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 Global Business industry, but it has also influenced the consumer preferences. Smr Broadcasters can tie-up with other value chain partners to explore new opportunities regarding meeting customer demands and building a rewarding and engaging relationship.
Increase in government spending
– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Smr Broadcasters can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Smr Broadcasters operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Global Business sector.
Changes in consumer behavior post Covid-19
– Consumer behavior has changed in the Global Business industry because of Covid-19 restrictions. Some of this behavior will stay once things get back to normal. Smr Broadcasters 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. Smr Broadcasters 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.
Threats SMR: United Against a Global Media Giant External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study SMR: United Against a Global Media Giant are -
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry in the industry are lowering. It can presents Smr Broadcasters with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the sector.
Increasing wage structure of Smr Broadcasters
– 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 Smr Broadcasters.
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.
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Smr Broadcasters 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.
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Smr Broadcasters 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 SMR: United Against a Global Media Giant .
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. Smr Broadcasters 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.
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.
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Smr Broadcasters is facing in Global Business sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.
Regulatory challenges
– Smr Broadcasters 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 Global Business industry regulations.
Environmental challenges
– Smr Broadcasters 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. Smr Broadcasters can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Global Business industry.
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, as highlighted in case study SMR: United Against a Global Media Giant, Smr Broadcasters may face longer learning curve for training and development of existing employees. This can open space for more nimble competitors in the field of Global Business .
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Smr Broadcasters has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Global Business industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Smr Broadcasters needs to keep up with the evolution of technology in the Global Business 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.
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. Smr Broadcasters needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Global Business industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of SMR: United Against a Global Media Giant 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 SMR: United Against a Global Media Giant 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 SMR: United Against a Global Media Giant 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 SMR: United Against a Global Media Giant 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 SMR: United Against a Global Media Giant 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 Smr Broadcasters needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.