Describes the growth and development of Fuji Xerox, Xerox's joint venture in Japan, and the evolving relationship between Fuji Xerox and Xerox. Focuses on the technological development of Fuji Xerox, and on the contributions that Fuji Xerox has made to Xerox's competitive position worldwide. Presents a number of options for modifying the relationship between Xerox and Fuji Xerox in the future, when the two firms will face increasingly serious competition from global competitors. Fuji Xerox is a $4 billion company and arguably one of the most successful joint ventures ever between an American and Japanese firm. In some ways the evolution of Fuji Xerox has been a microcosm of the broader United States-Japan relationship.
Authors :: Benjamin Gomes-Casseres, Krista McQuade
Swot Analysis of "Xerox and Fuji Xerox" written by Benjamin Gomes-Casseres, Krista McQuade includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Xerox Fuji facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Xerox and Fuji Xerox case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, International business, Joint ventures, Technology and Global Business.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Xerox and Fuji Xerox casestudy better are - – geopolitical disruptions, challanges to central banks by blockchain based private currencies, there is backlash against globalization, cloud computing is disrupting traditional business models, increasing household debt because of falling income levels, competitive advantages are harder to sustain because of technology dispersion, customer relationship management is fast transforming because of increasing concerns over data privacy,
increasing transportation and logistics costs, increasing inequality as vast percentage of new income is going to the top 1%, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Xerox and Fuji Xerox
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Xerox and Fuji Xerox case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Xerox Fuji, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Xerox Fuji 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 Xerox and Fuji Xerox can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Xerox and Fuji Xerox case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Xerox Fuji
3. Assessing feasibility of the new initiative in Global Business field.
4. Making a Global Business topic specific business decision
5. Set goals for the organization
6. Organizational restructuring of Xerox Fuji
Strengths Xerox and Fuji Xerox | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Xerox Fuji in Xerox and Fuji Xerox Harvard Business Review case study are -
Strong track record of project management
– Xerox Fuji 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
- Xerox Fuji 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 Xerox Fuji is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders in Xerox and Fuji Xerox Harvard Business Review case study emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of Xerox Fuji in the sector have low bargaining power. Xerox and Fuji Xerox has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Xerox Fuji to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
Superior customer experience
– The customer experience strategy of Xerox Fuji in the segment is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.
Effective Research and Development (R&D)
– Xerox Fuji 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 Xerox and Fuji Xerox - staying ahead in the industry in terms of – new product launches, superior customer experience, highly competitive pricing strategies, and great returns to the shareholders.
Highly skilled collaborators
– Xerox Fuji 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 Xerox and Fuji Xerox HBR case study have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
Successful track record of launching new products
– Xerox Fuji has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Xerox Fuji 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.
High brand equity
– Xerox Fuji has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Xerox Fuji to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Operational resilience
– The operational resilience strategy in the Xerox and Fuji Xerox 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.
Diverse revenue streams
– Xerox Fuji is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided firm in Xerox and Fuji Xerox 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
– Xerox Fuji is one of the leading recruiters in the industry. Managers in the Xerox and Fuji Xerox are in a position to attract the best talent available. The firm has a robust talent identification program that helps in identifying the brightest.
Digital Transformation in Global Business segment
- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For Xerox Fuji digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Xerox Fuji 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.
Weaknesses Xerox and Fuji Xerox | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Xerox and Fuji Xerox are -
High dependence on star products
– The top 2 products and services of the firm as mentioned in the Xerox and Fuji Xerox 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 Xerox Fuji has relatively successful track record of launching new products.
Lack of clear differentiation of Xerox Fuji products
– To increase the profitability and margins on the products, Xerox Fuji needs to provide more differentiated products than what it is currently offering in the marketplace.
Products dominated business model
– Even though Xerox Fuji 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 - Xerox and Fuji Xerox should strive to include more intangible value offerings along with its core products and services.
Need for greater diversity
– Xerox Fuji 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.
No frontier risks strategy
– After analyzing the HBR case study Xerox and Fuji Xerox, it seems that company is thinking about the frontier risks that can impact Global Business strategy. But it has very little resources allocation to manage the risks emerging from events such as natural disasters, climate change, melting of permafrost, tacking the rise of artificial intelligence, opportunities and threats emerging from commercialization of space etc.
Ability to respond to the competition
– As the decision making is very deliberative, highlighted in the case study Xerox and Fuji Xerox, in the dynamic environment Xerox Fuji has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. Xerox Fuji has reasonably good record with similar level competitors but it has struggled with new entrants taking away niches of its business.
High bargaining power of channel partners
– Because of the regulatory requirements, Benjamin Gomes-Casseres, Krista McQuade suggests that, Xerox Fuji 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.
Aligning sales with marketing
– It come across in the case study Xerox and Fuji Xerox 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 Xerox and Fuji Xerox can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Xerox Fuji is planning to shift buying processes online.
Employees’ incomplete understanding of strategy
– From the instances in the HBR case study Xerox and Fuji Xerox, it seems that the employees of Xerox Fuji 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.
Compensation and incentives
– The revenue per employee as mentioned in the HBR case study Xerox and Fuji Xerox, is just above the industry average. Xerox Fuji 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.
Capital Spending Reduction
– Even during the low interest decade, Xerox Fuji 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.
Opportunities Xerox and Fuji Xerox | 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 Xerox and Fuji Xerox are -
Redefining models of collaboration and team work
– As explained in the weaknesses section, Xerox Fuji is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. Xerox and Fuji Xerox 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.
Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities
– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Xerox Fuji 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 Xerox Fuji to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
Low interest rates
– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Xerox Fuji 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.
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 Xerox Fuji 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.
Reforming the budgeting process
- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects Xerox Fuji can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.
Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains
– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Xerox Fuji 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, Xerox and Fuji Xerox, to buy more products closer to the markets, and it can leverage its size and influence to get better deal from the local markets.
Leveraging digital technologies
– Xerox Fuji 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.
Buying journey improvements
– Xerox Fuji can improve the customer journey of consumers in the industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. Xerox and Fuji Xerox 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.
Learning at scale
– Online learning technologies has now opened space for Xerox Fuji 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.
Building a culture of innovation
– managers at Xerox Fuji can make experimentation a productive activity and build a culture of innovation using approaches such as – mining transaction data, A/B testing of websites and selling platforms, engaging potential customers over various needs, and building on small ideas in the Global Business segment.
Better consumer reach
– The expansion of the 5G network will help Xerox Fuji to increase its market reach. Xerox Fuji 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.
Loyalty marketing
– Xerox Fuji 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.
Changes in consumer behavior post Covid-19
– Consumer behavior has changed in the Global Business industry because of Covid-19 restrictions. Some of this behavior will stay once things get back to normal. Xerox Fuji 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. Xerox Fuji 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.
Threats Xerox and Fuji Xerox External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Xerox and Fuji Xerox are -
Regulatory challenges
– Xerox Fuji 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 Global Business industry regulations.
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 Xerox and Fuji Xerox, Xerox Fuji may face longer learning curve for training and development of existing employees. This can open space for more nimble competitors in the field of Global Business .
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. Xerox Fuji 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.
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Xerox Fuji is facing in Global Business sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, 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. Xerox Fuji needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Global Business industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
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 Xerox Fuji business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
Increasing wage structure of Xerox Fuji
– 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 Xerox Fuji.
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.
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Xerox Fuji in the Global Business industry. The Global Business industry is already at various protected from local competition in China, with the rise of trade war the protection levels may go up. This presents a clear threat of current business model in Chinese market.
Consumer confidence and its impact on Xerox Fuji 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.
Environmental challenges
– Xerox Fuji 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. Xerox Fuji can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Global Business industry.
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 Xerox Fuji.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Xerox and Fuji Xerox 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 Xerox and Fuji Xerox 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 Xerox and Fuji Xerox 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 Xerox and Fuji Xerox 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 Xerox and Fuji Xerox 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 Xerox Fuji needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.
