Mekong Capital and Mobile World (B): Bob Willett SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Strategy & Execution
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Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of Mekong Capital and Mobile World (B): Bob Willett
Supplement to case W18285. In late 2009, Mobile World consulted with the former chief executive officer of Best Buy about its operations in Vietnam. Should Mobile World take his advice? Should Mobile World's senior management team visit other companies with more experience in the electronics industry? How could Mobile World and Mekong Capital conquer the challenges they faced in 2012? Use with 9B18M078. Andrew Karl Delios is affiliated with National University of Singapore. Markus Taussig is affiliated with Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey.
Swot Analysis of "Mekong Capital and Mobile World (B): Bob Willett" written by Andrew Karl Delios, Markus Taussig includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Mobile Mekong facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Mekong Capital and Mobile World (B): Bob Willett case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Emerging markets and Strategy & Execution.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Mekong Capital and Mobile World (B): Bob Willett casestudy better are - – geopolitical disruptions, increasing household debt because of falling income levels, central banks are concerned over increasing inflation, challanges to central banks by blockchain based private currencies, increasing government debt because of Covid-19 spendings, talent flight as more people leaving formal jobs, increasing inequality as vast percentage of new income is going to the top 1%,
increasing energy prices, cloud computing is disrupting traditional business models, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Mekong Capital and Mobile World (B): Bob Willett
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Mekong Capital and Mobile World (B): Bob Willett case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Mobile Mekong, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Mobile Mekong 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 Mekong Capital and Mobile World (B): Bob Willett can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Mekong Capital and Mobile World (B): Bob Willett case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Mobile Mekong
3. Assessing feasibility of the new initiative in Strategy & Execution field.
4. Making a Strategy & Execution topic specific business decision
5. Set goals for the organization
6. Organizational restructuring of Mobile Mekong
Strengths Mekong Capital and Mobile World (B): Bob Willett | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Mobile Mekong in Mekong Capital and Mobile World (B): Bob Willett Harvard Business Review case study are -
Strong track record of project management
– Mobile Mekong is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of Mobile Mekong in the sector have low bargaining power. Mekong Capital and Mobile World (B): Bob Willett has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Mobile Mekong to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
Analytics focus
– Mobile Mekong 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 Andrew Karl Delios, Markus Taussig 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.
Effective Research and Development (R&D)
– Mobile Mekong 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 Mekong Capital and Mobile World (B): Bob Willett - staying ahead in the industry in terms of – new product launches, superior customer experience, highly competitive pricing strategies, and great returns to the shareholders.
Successful track record of launching new products
– Mobile Mekong has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Mobile Mekong 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.
Cross disciplinary teams
– Horizontal connected teams at the Mobile Mekong 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.
High switching costs
– The high switching costs that Mobile Mekong 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.
Superior customer experience
– The customer experience strategy of Mobile Mekong in the segment is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.
Operational resilience
– The operational resilience strategy in the Mekong Capital and Mobile World (B): Bob Willett 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.
Innovation driven organization
– Mobile Mekong is one of the most innovative firm in sector. Manager in Mekong Capital and Mobile World (B): Bob Willett Harvard Business Review case study can use Clayton Christensen Disruptive Innovation strategies to further increase the scale of innovtions in the organization.
Training and development
– Mobile Mekong has one of the best training and development program in the industry. The effectiveness of the training programs can be measured in Mekong Capital and Mobile World (B): Bob Willett 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.
Highly skilled collaborators
– Mobile Mekong has highly efficient outsourcing and offshoring strategy. It has resulted in greater operational flexibility and bringing down the costs in highly price sensitive segment. Secondly the value chain collaborators of the firm in Mekong Capital and Mobile World (B): Bob Willett HBR case study have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
Weaknesses Mekong Capital and Mobile World (B): Bob Willett | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Mekong Capital and Mobile World (B): Bob Willett are -
Aligning sales with marketing
– It come across in the case study Mekong Capital and Mobile World (B): Bob Willett 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 Mekong Capital and Mobile World (B): Bob Willett can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Mobile Mekong is planning to shift buying processes online.
Interest costs
– Compare to the competition, Mobile Mekong 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.
High dependence on star products
– The top 2 products and services of the firm as mentioned in the Mekong Capital and Mobile World (B): Bob Willett 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 Mobile Mekong has relatively successful track record of launching new products.
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 Mobile Mekong supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes mentioned in the HBR case study - Mekong Capital and Mobile World (B): Bob Willett, it is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left Mobile Mekong vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.
Lack of clear differentiation of Mobile Mekong products
– To increase the profitability and margins on the products, Mobile Mekong needs to provide more differentiated products than what it is currently offering in the marketplace.
Employees’ incomplete understanding of strategy
– From the instances in the HBR case study Mekong Capital and Mobile World (B): Bob Willett, it seems that the employees of Mobile Mekong 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.
High operating costs
– Compare to the competitors, firm in the HBR case study Mekong Capital and Mobile World (B): Bob Willett 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 Mobile Mekong 's lucrative customers.
Capital Spending Reduction
– Even during the low interest decade, Mobile Mekong 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.
Low market penetration in new markets
– Outside its home market of Mobile Mekong, firm in the HBR case study Mekong Capital and Mobile World (B): Bob Willett needs to spend more promotional, marketing, and advertising efforts to penetrate international markets.
Workers concerns about automation
– As automation is fast increasing in the segment, Mobile Mekong 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.
Need for greater diversity
– Mobile Mekong 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.
Opportunities Mekong Capital and Mobile World (B): Bob Willett | 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 Mekong Capital and Mobile World (B): Bob Willett 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 Mobile Mekong in the consumer business. Now Mobile Mekong can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– Mobile Mekong 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 Mekong Capital and Mobile World (B): Bob Willett - to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Mobile Mekong to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Mobile Mekong has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Mobile Mekong to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the Mekong Capital and Mobile World (B): Bob Willett case study. Mobile Mekong can build new products and services such as - data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
Increase in government spending
– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Mobile Mekong can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Mobile Mekong operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Strategy & Execution sector.
Lowering marketing communication costs
– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Mobile Mekong in the field of marketing communication. It will bring down the cost of doing business, provide technology platform to build new products in the Strategy & Execution segment, and it will provide faster access to the consumers.
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. Mobile Mekong can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.
Building a culture of innovation
– managers at Mobile Mekong 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 Strategy & Execution segment.
Low interest rates
– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Mobile Mekong 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.
Buying journey improvements
– Mobile Mekong can improve the customer journey of consumers in the industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. Mekong Capital and Mobile World (B): Bob Willett 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.
Redefining models of collaboration and team work
– As explained in the weaknesses section, Mobile Mekong is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. Mekong Capital and Mobile World (B): Bob Willett 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.
Changes in consumer behavior post Covid-19
– Consumer behavior has changed in the Strategy & Execution industry because of Covid-19 restrictions. Some of this behavior will stay once things get back to normal. Mobile Mekong 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. Mobile Mekong 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.
Better consumer reach
– The expansion of the 5G network will help Mobile Mekong to increase its market reach. Mobile Mekong 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.
Developing new processes and practices
– Mobile Mekong can develop new processes and procedures in Strategy & Execution 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.
Threats Mekong Capital and Mobile World (B): Bob Willett External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Mekong Capital and Mobile World (B): Bob Willett are -
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Mobile Mekong has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Strategy & Execution industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Mobile Mekong needs to keep up with the evolution of technology in the Strategy & Execution 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 Mekong Capital and Mobile World (B): Bob Willett, Mobile Mekong may face longer learning curve for training and development of existing employees. This can open space for more nimble competitors in the field of Strategy & Execution .
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 Mobile Mekong.
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Mobile Mekong is facing in Strategy & Execution sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.
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 Mobile Mekong business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, 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.
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.
Regulatory challenges
– Mobile Mekong 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 Strategy & Execution industry regulations.
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Mobile Mekong 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.
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. Mobile Mekong needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Strategy & Execution industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
Consumer confidence and its impact on Mobile Mekong 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.
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Mobile Mekong 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 Mekong Capital and Mobile World (B): Bob Willett .
Easy access to finance
– Easy access to finance in Strategy & Execution field will also reduce the barriers to entry in the industry, thus putting downward pressure on the prices because of increasing competition. Mobile Mekong can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Mekong Capital and Mobile World (B): Bob Willett 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 Mekong Capital and Mobile World (B): Bob Willett 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 Mekong Capital and Mobile World (B): Bob Willett 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 Mekong Capital and Mobile World (B): Bob Willett 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 Mekong Capital and Mobile World (B): Bob Willett 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 Mobile Mekong needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.
