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 - – increasing energy prices, talent flight as more people leaving formal jobs, digital marketing is dominated by two big players Facebook and Google, technology disruption, banking and financial system is disrupted by Bitcoin and other crypto currencies, wage bills are increasing, increasing inequality as vast percentage of new income is going to the top 1%,
supply chains are disrupted by pandemic , geopolitical disruptions, 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 -
Cross disciplinary teams
– Horizontal connected teams at the Smr Broadcasters 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.
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.
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of Smr Broadcasters in the sector have low bargaining power. SMR: United Against a Global Media Giant has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Smr Broadcasters to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
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.
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.
Analytics focus
– Smr Broadcasters 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 Sanghyeak Yoon, Hyung-Jin Kim, Young-Gul Kim 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.
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.
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.
High switching costs
– The high switching costs that Smr Broadcasters 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.
Organizational Resilience of Smr Broadcasters
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing that Smr Broadcasters does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
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.
Successful track record of launching new products
– Smr Broadcasters has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Smr Broadcasters 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.
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 -
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.
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.
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.
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.
No frontier risks strategy
– After analyzing the HBR case study SMR: United Against a Global Media Giant, it seems that company is thinking about the frontier risks that can impact Global Business 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.
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.
Need for greater diversity
– Smr Broadcasters 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 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.
Ability to respond to the competition
– As the decision making is very deliberative, highlighted in the case study SMR: United Against a Global Media Giant, in the dynamic environment Smr Broadcasters has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. Smr Broadcasters has reasonably good record with similar level competitors but it has struggled with new entrants taking away niches of its business.
High cash cycle compare to competitors
Smr Broadcasters 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.
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.
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 -
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.
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.
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.
Loyalty marketing
– Smr Broadcasters 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.
Redefining models of collaboration and team work
– As explained in the weaknesses section, Smr Broadcasters is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. SMR: United Against a Global Media Giant 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.
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Smr Broadcasters has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Smr Broadcasters to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the SMR: United Against a Global Media Giant case study. Smr Broadcasters can build new products and services such as - data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, 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. Smr Broadcasters can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.
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.
Building a culture of innovation
– managers at Smr Broadcasters 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 Global Business segment.
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.
Better consumer reach
– The expansion of the 5G network will help Smr Broadcasters to increase its market reach. Smr Broadcasters 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.
Learning at scale
– Online learning technologies has now opened space for Smr Broadcasters to conduct training and development for its employees across the world. This will result in not only reducing the cost of training but also help employees in different part of the world to integrate with the headquarter work culture, ethos, and standards.
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.
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 -
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 .
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 dependence on third party suppliers
– Smr Broadcasters 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.
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 Smr Broadcasters business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Consumer confidence and its impact on Smr Broadcasters 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 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 Smr Broadcasters.
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.
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.
