Case Study Description of Verizon Reimagines Corporate Real Estate
In late October 2015 James Tousignant, Director of Transactions and Real Estate Development for Verizon Global Real Estate, was sitting in his office at Verizon?s headquarters in Basking Ridge, NJ' a sprawling 1.4 MM square foot megaplex of 80's construction. The compound was made up of nine building-wings and a central core to serve food to over 5,000 employees each day. As he looked out his office window he pondered what he should do. Verizon had spent significant resources and energy developing their campus master plan and Verizon's new way to work within them, but had overlooked a large share of the administrative portfolio (small offices under 50K square feet) which made up two thirds of Verizon's portfolio by count, housed over 8,500 employees, and represented $62 million in annual operating cost.The next morning Tousignant would present a plan to John Vasquez, Verizon's Global Head of Real Estate, that should solve the problems with the small office portfolio as well as align the portfolio with the greater enterprise's strategic goals. Tousignant wondered if he should move forward with the plan or reconsider if the risks outweigh the benefits. Tousignant knew that if he did, the strategy would mean a strong departure from traditional corporate real estate. He would spend the rest of the night carefully reviewing the strategy, implementation, and of course the benefits, risks, and alternatives. It would be a night of Keurig and energy bars.
Swot Analysis of "Verizon Reimagines Corporate Real Estate" written by Josh Lehr, Pau Amigo, M. Julia Prats includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Tousignant Verizon facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Verizon Reimagines Corporate Real Estate case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Decision making and Innovation & Entrepreneurship.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Verizon Reimagines Corporate Real Estate casestudy better are - – cloud computing is disrupting traditional business models, supply chains are disrupted by pandemic , talent flight as more people leaving formal jobs, geopolitical disruptions, competitive advantages are harder to sustain because of technology dispersion, increasing commodity prices, increasing household debt because of falling income levels,
there is increasing trade war between United States & China, increasing government debt because of Covid-19 spendings, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Verizon Reimagines Corporate Real Estate
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Verizon Reimagines Corporate Real Estate case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Tousignant Verizon, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Tousignant Verizon 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 Verizon Reimagines Corporate Real Estate can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Verizon Reimagines Corporate Real Estate case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Tousignant Verizon
3. Assessing feasibility of the new initiative in Innovation & Entrepreneurship field.
4. Making a Innovation & Entrepreneurship topic specific business decision
5. Set goals for the organization
6. Organizational restructuring of Tousignant Verizon
Strengths Verizon Reimagines Corporate Real Estate | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Tousignant Verizon in Verizon Reimagines Corporate Real Estate Harvard Business Review case study are -
High switching costs
– The high switching costs that Tousignant Verizon 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.
Ability to recruit top talent
– Tousignant Verizon is one of the leading recruiters in the industry. Managers in the Verizon Reimagines Corporate Real Estate are in a position to attract the best talent available. The firm has a robust talent identification program that helps in identifying the brightest.
Successful track record of launching new products
– Tousignant Verizon has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Tousignant Verizon 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.
Diverse revenue streams
– Tousignant Verizon is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided firm in Verizon Reimagines Corporate Real Estate 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.
Digital Transformation in Innovation & Entrepreneurship segment
- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For Tousignant Verizon digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Tousignant Verizon 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.
Analytics focus
– Tousignant Verizon 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 Josh Lehr, Pau Amigo, M. Julia Prats 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 Tousignant Verizon
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing that Tousignant Verizon does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
Strong track record of project management
– Tousignant Verizon is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.
High brand equity
– Tousignant Verizon has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Tousignant Verizon to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Operational resilience
– The operational resilience strategy in the Verizon Reimagines Corporate Real Estate 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
- Tousignant Verizon 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 Tousignant Verizon is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders in Verizon Reimagines Corporate Real Estate Harvard Business Review case study emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
Innovation driven organization
– Tousignant Verizon is one of the most innovative firm in sector. Manager in Verizon Reimagines Corporate Real Estate Harvard Business Review case study can use Clayton Christensen Disruptive Innovation strategies to further increase the scale of innovtions in the organization.
Weaknesses Verizon Reimagines Corporate Real Estate | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Verizon Reimagines Corporate Real Estate are -
Interest costs
– Compare to the competition, Tousignant Verizon 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.
Increasing silos among functional specialists
– The organizational structure of Tousignant Verizon is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Innovation & Entrepreneurship segment. Tousignant Verizon needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Tousignant Verizon to focus more on services rather than just following the product oriented approach.
Ability to respond to the competition
– As the decision making is very deliberative, highlighted in the case study Verizon Reimagines Corporate Real Estate, in the dynamic environment Tousignant Verizon has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. Tousignant Verizon has reasonably good record with similar level competitors but it has struggled with new entrants taking away niches of its business.
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 Tousignant Verizon supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes mentioned in the HBR case study - Verizon Reimagines Corporate Real Estate, it is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left Tousignant Verizon vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.
Skills based hiring
– The stress on hiring functional specialists at Tousignant Verizon 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.
Aligning sales with marketing
– It come across in the case study Verizon Reimagines Corporate Real Estate 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 Verizon Reimagines Corporate Real Estate can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Tousignant Verizon is planning to shift buying processes online.
Products dominated business model
– Even though Tousignant Verizon 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 - Verizon Reimagines Corporate Real Estate should strive to include more intangible value offerings along with its core products and services.
Capital Spending Reduction
– Even during the low interest decade, Tousignant Verizon 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.
Workers concerns about automation
– As automation is fast increasing in the segment, Tousignant Verizon 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
– Tousignant Verizon 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 cash cycle compare to competitors
Tousignant Verizon 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.
Opportunities Verizon Reimagines Corporate Real Estate | 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 Verizon Reimagines Corporate Real Estate are -
Loyalty marketing
– Tousignant Verizon 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.
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 Tousignant Verizon 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.
Building a culture of innovation
– managers at Tousignant Verizon 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 Innovation & Entrepreneurship segment.
Learning at scale
– Online learning technologies has now opened space for Tousignant Verizon 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.
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 Tousignant Verizon in the consumer business. Now Tousignant Verizon can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.
Finding new ways to collaborate
– Covid-19 has not only transformed business models of companies in Innovation & Entrepreneurship industry, but it has also influenced the consumer preferences. Tousignant Verizon can tie-up with other value chain partners to explore new opportunities regarding meeting customer demands and building a rewarding and engaging relationship.
Better consumer reach
– The expansion of the 5G network will help Tousignant Verizon to increase its market reach. Tousignant Verizon 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.
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. Tousignant Verizon can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.
Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains
– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Tousignant Verizon 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, Verizon Reimagines Corporate Real Estate, to buy more products closer to the markets, and it can leverage its size and influence to get better deal from the local markets.
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– Tousignant Verizon 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 Verizon Reimagines Corporate Real Estate - to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Tousignant Verizon to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
Buying journey improvements
– Tousignant Verizon can improve the customer journey of consumers in the industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. Verizon Reimagines Corporate Real Estate 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.
Reforming the budgeting process
- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects Tousignant Verizon can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.
Lowering marketing communication costs
– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Tousignant Verizon in the field of marketing communication. It will bring down the cost of doing business, provide technology platform to build new products in the Innovation & Entrepreneurship segment, and it will provide faster access to the consumers.
Threats Verizon Reimagines Corporate Real Estate External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Verizon Reimagines Corporate Real Estate are -
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Tousignant Verizon 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 Verizon Reimagines Corporate Real Estate .
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 Tousignant Verizon business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
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. Tousignant Verizon needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Innovation & Entrepreneurship industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Tousignant Verizon 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.
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry in the industry are lowering. It can presents Tousignant Verizon 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 Tousignant Verizon
– 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 Tousignant Verizon.
High dependence on third party suppliers
– Tousignant Verizon 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.
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Tousignant Verizon has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Innovation & Entrepreneurship industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Tousignant Verizon needs to keep up with the evolution of technology in the Innovation & Entrepreneurship 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.
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Tousignant Verizon is facing in Innovation & Entrepreneurship 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.
New competition
– After the dotcom bust of 2001, financial crisis of 2008-09, the business formation in US economy had declined. But in 2020 alone, there are more than 1.5 million new business applications in United States. This can lead to greater competition for Tousignant Verizon in the Innovation & Entrepreneurship sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, as highlighted in case study Verizon Reimagines Corporate Real Estate, Tousignant Verizon may face longer learning curve for training and development of existing employees. This can open space for more nimble competitors in the field of Innovation & Entrepreneurship .
Regulatory challenges
– Tousignant Verizon 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 Innovation & Entrepreneurship industry regulations.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Verizon Reimagines Corporate Real Estate 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 Verizon Reimagines Corporate Real Estate 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 Verizon Reimagines Corporate Real Estate 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 Verizon Reimagines Corporate Real Estate 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 Verizon Reimagines Corporate Real Estate 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 Tousignant Verizon needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.
