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 - – digital marketing is dominated by two big players Facebook and Google, challanges to central banks by blockchain based private currencies, customer relationship management is fast transforming because of increasing concerns over data privacy, increasing commodity prices, geopolitical disruptions, banking and financial system is disrupted by Bitcoin and other crypto currencies, technology disruption,
wage bills are increasing, 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.
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.
Effective Research and Development (R&D)
– Tousignant Verizon 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 Verizon Reimagines Corporate Real Estate - staying ahead in the industry in terms of – new product launches, superior customer experience, highly competitive pricing strategies, and great returns to the shareholders.
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.
Ability to lead change in Innovation & Entrepreneurship field
– Tousignant Verizon 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 Tousignant Verizon in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.
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.
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.
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of Tousignant Verizon in the sector have low bargaining power. Verizon Reimagines Corporate Real Estate has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Tousignant Verizon to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
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.
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.
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.
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Innovation & Entrepreneurship industry
– Verizon Reimagines Corporate Real Estate firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Tousignant Verizon to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Innovation & Entrepreneurship industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Tousignant Verizon to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
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 -
No frontier risks strategy
– After analyzing the HBR case study Verizon Reimagines Corporate Real Estate, it seems that company is thinking about the frontier risks that can impact Innovation & Entrepreneurship 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.
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.
Lack of clear differentiation of Tousignant Verizon products
– To increase the profitability and margins on the products, Tousignant Verizon needs to provide more differentiated products than what it is currently offering in the marketplace.
High bargaining power of channel partners
– Because of the regulatory requirements, Josh Lehr, Pau Amigo, M. Julia Prats suggests that, Tousignant Verizon 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.
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.
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.
Employees’ incomplete understanding of strategy
– From the instances in the HBR case study Verizon Reimagines Corporate Real Estate, it seems that the employees of Tousignant Verizon 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 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.
Slow to harness new channels of communication
– Even though competitors are using new communication channels such as Instagram, Tiktok, and Snap, Tousignant Verizon is slow explore the new channels of communication. These new channels of communication mentioned in marketing section of case study Verizon Reimagines Corporate Real Estate can help to provide better information regarding products and services. It can also build an online community to further reach out to potential customers.
Slow to strategic competitive environment developments
– As Verizon Reimagines Corporate Real Estate HBR case study mentions - Tousignant Verizon 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.
Compensation and incentives
– The revenue per employee as mentioned in the HBR case study Verizon Reimagines Corporate Real Estate, is just above the industry average. Tousignant Verizon 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.
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 -
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.
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.
Leveraging digital technologies
– Tousignant Verizon 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.
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.
Increase in government spending
– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Tousignant Verizon can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Tousignant Verizon operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Innovation & Entrepreneurship sector.
Changes in consumer behavior post Covid-19
– Consumer behavior has changed in the Innovation & Entrepreneurship industry because of Covid-19 restrictions. Some of this behavior will stay once things get back to normal. Tousignant Verizon 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. Tousignant Verizon 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.
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.
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.
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.
Developing new processes and practices
– Tousignant Verizon can develop new processes and procedures in Innovation & Entrepreneurship 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.
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Tousignant Verizon has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Tousignant Verizon to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the Verizon Reimagines Corporate Real Estate case study. Tousignant Verizon can build new products and services such as - data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
Low interest rates
– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Tousignant Verizon 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.
Manufacturing automation
– Tousignant Verizon can use the latest technology developments to improve its manufacturing and designing process in Innovation & Entrepreneurship 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.
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 -
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. Tousignant Verizon 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.
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.
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 .
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.
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.
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 Tousignant Verizon.
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.
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.
Consumer confidence and its impact on Tousignant Verizon 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, 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 .
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.
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.