Case Study Description of Newstar Magazine Exercise: Publisher Role
In the Newstar Magazine exercise, participants are assigned one of three roles-managing editor, publisher, or board chair-and provided with information about personnel difficulties that have emerged at the independent Canadian magazine. The organization is small, financially strapped, and conflict has appeared within the magazine's leadership. The objective of the exercise is to understand the source of this conflict and ultimately to resolve it. Use with 9B17C050 and 9B17C052.
Swot Analysis of "Newstar Magazine Exercise: Publisher Role" written by Andrew Stevens, Ann C. Frost includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Magazine Newstar facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Newstar Magazine Exercise: Publisher Role case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Labor, Negotiations and Organizational Development.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Newstar Magazine Exercise: Publisher Role casestudy better are - – there is increasing trade war between United States & China, talent flight as more people leaving formal jobs, banking and financial system is disrupted by Bitcoin and other crypto currencies, increasing government debt because of Covid-19 spendings, challanges to central banks by blockchain based private currencies, cloud computing is disrupting traditional business models, customer relationship management is fast transforming because of increasing concerns over data privacy,
increasing transportation and logistics costs, wage bills are increasing, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Newstar Magazine Exercise: Publisher Role
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Newstar Magazine Exercise: Publisher Role case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Magazine Newstar, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Magazine Newstar 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 Newstar Magazine Exercise: Publisher Role can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Newstar Magazine Exercise: Publisher Role case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Magazine Newstar
3. Assessing feasibility of the new initiative in Organizational Development field.
4. Making a Organizational Development topic specific business decision
5. Set goals for the organization
6. Organizational restructuring of Magazine Newstar
Strengths Newstar Magazine Exercise: Publisher Role | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Magazine Newstar in Newstar Magazine Exercise: Publisher Role Harvard Business Review case study are -
Analytics focus
– Magazine Newstar 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 Stevens, Ann C. Frost 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.
Organizational Resilience of Magazine Newstar
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing that Magazine Newstar does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
Ability to lead change in Organizational Development field
– Magazine Newstar 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 Magazine Newstar in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.
Strong track record of project management
– Magazine Newstar is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.
Superior customer experience
– The customer experience strategy of Magazine Newstar in the segment is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.
Digital Transformation in Organizational Development segment
- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For Magazine Newstar digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Magazine Newstar 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.
High brand equity
– Magazine Newstar has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Magazine Newstar to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Successful track record of launching new products
– Magazine Newstar has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Magazine Newstar 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
– Magazine Newstar has one of the best training and development program in the industry. The effectiveness of the training programs can be measured in Newstar Magazine Exercise: Publisher Role 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.
Diverse revenue streams
– Magazine Newstar is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided firm in Newstar Magazine Exercise: Publisher Role 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.
Ability to recruit top talent
– Magazine Newstar is one of the leading recruiters in the industry. Managers in the Newstar Magazine Exercise: Publisher Role 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 Magazine Newstar in the sector have low bargaining power. Newstar Magazine Exercise: Publisher Role has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Magazine Newstar to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
Weaknesses Newstar Magazine Exercise: Publisher Role | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Newstar Magazine Exercise: Publisher Role 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 Magazine Newstar supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes mentioned in the HBR case study - Newstar Magazine Exercise: Publisher Role, it is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left Magazine Newstar vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.
Slow to strategic competitive environment developments
– As Newstar Magazine Exercise: Publisher Role HBR case study mentions - Magazine Newstar 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.
Aligning sales with marketing
– It come across in the case study Newstar Magazine Exercise: Publisher Role 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 Newstar Magazine Exercise: Publisher Role can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Magazine Newstar is planning to shift buying processes online.
High bargaining power of channel partners
– Because of the regulatory requirements, Andrew Stevens, Ann C. Frost suggests that, Magazine Newstar is facing high bargaining power of the channel partners. So far it has not able to streamline the operations to reduce the bargaining power of the value chain partners in the industry.
Increasing silos among functional specialists
– The organizational structure of Magazine Newstar is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Organizational Development segment. Magazine Newstar needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Magazine Newstar to focus more on services rather than just following the product oriented approach.
High cash cycle compare to competitors
Magazine Newstar 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.
Products dominated business model
– Even though Magazine Newstar 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 - Newstar Magazine Exercise: Publisher Role should strive to include more intangible value offerings along with its core products and services.
High dependence on star products
– The top 2 products and services of the firm as mentioned in the Newstar Magazine Exercise: Publisher Role 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 Magazine Newstar has relatively successful track record of launching new products.
No frontier risks strategy
– After analyzing the HBR case study Newstar Magazine Exercise: Publisher Role, it seems that company is thinking about the frontier risks that can impact Organizational Development 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.
Slow decision making process
– As mentioned earlier in the report, Magazine Newstar 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. Magazine Newstar 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.
High operating costs
– Compare to the competitors, firm in the HBR case study Newstar Magazine Exercise: Publisher Role 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 Magazine Newstar 's lucrative customers.
Opportunities Newstar Magazine Exercise: Publisher Role | 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 Newstar Magazine Exercise: Publisher Role are -
Loyalty marketing
– Magazine Newstar 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.
Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains
– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Magazine Newstar 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, Newstar Magazine Exercise: Publisher Role, to buy more products closer to the markets, and it can leverage its size and influence to get better deal from the local markets.
Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities
– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Magazine Newstar 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 Magazine Newstar to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
Manufacturing automation
– Magazine Newstar can use the latest technology developments to improve its manufacturing and designing process in Organizational Development segment. It can use CAD and 3D printing to build a quick prototype and pilot testing products. It can leverage automation using machine learning and artificial intelligence to do faster production at lowers costs, and it can leverage the growth in satellite and tracking technologies to improve inventory management, transportation, and shipping.
Reforming the budgeting process
- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects Magazine Newstar can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Magazine Newstar has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Magazine Newstar to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the Newstar Magazine Exercise: Publisher Role case study. Magazine Newstar can build new products and services such as - data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
Buying journey improvements
– Magazine Newstar can improve the customer journey of consumers in the industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. Newstar Magazine Exercise: Publisher Role 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.
Increase in government spending
– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Magazine Newstar can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Magazine Newstar operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Organizational Development sector.
Redefining models of collaboration and team work
– As explained in the weaknesses section, Magazine Newstar is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. Newstar Magazine Exercise: Publisher Role 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 Organizational Development industry because of Covid-19 restrictions. Some of this behavior will stay once things get back to normal. Magazine Newstar 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. Magazine Newstar 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.
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 Magazine Newstar in the consumer business. Now Magazine Newstar can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.
Leveraging digital technologies
– Magazine Newstar 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.
Low interest rates
– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Magazine Newstar 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.
Threats Newstar Magazine Exercise: Publisher Role External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Newstar Magazine Exercise: Publisher Role are -
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Magazine Newstar is facing in Organizational Development sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.
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.
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, as highlighted in case study Newstar Magazine Exercise: Publisher Role, Magazine Newstar may face longer learning curve for training and development of existing employees. This can open space for more nimble competitors in the field of Organizational Development .
Regulatory challenges
– Magazine Newstar 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 Organizational Development industry regulations.
Environmental challenges
– Magazine Newstar 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. Magazine Newstar can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Organizational Development industry.
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. Magazine Newstar will face different problems in different parts of Europe. For example it will face inflationary pressures in UK, France, and Germany, balance sheet expansion and demand challenges in Southern European countries, and geopolitical instability in the Eastern Europe.
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Magazine Newstar 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.
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 Magazine Newstar.
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 wage structure of Magazine Newstar
– 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 Magazine Newstar.
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Magazine Newstar has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Organizational Development industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Magazine Newstar needs to keep up with the evolution of technology in the Organizational Development 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.
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry in the industry are lowering. It can presents Magazine Newstar with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the sector.
Easy access to finance
– Easy access to finance in Organizational Development field will also reduce the barriers to entry in the industry, thus putting downward pressure on the prices because of increasing competition. Magazine Newstar 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 Newstar Magazine Exercise: Publisher Role 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 Newstar Magazine Exercise: Publisher Role 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 Newstar Magazine Exercise: Publisher Role 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 Newstar Magazine Exercise: Publisher Role 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 Newstar Magazine Exercise: Publisher Role 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 Magazine Newstar needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.
