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Motorola and Japan (A) SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis

Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution

Case Study Description of Motorola and Japan (A)


In 1981, Motorola was reevaluating its strategy towards Japan. The firm had been successful in penetrating the Japanese market, and it was confronting increased Japanese competition at home. How it should respond and with what kind of organization were the central questions confronting management.

Authors :: David B. Yoffie, John J. Coleman

Topics :: Global Business

Tags :: Competitive strategy, Government, International business, Marketing, SWOT Analysis, SWOT Matrix, TOWS, Weighted SWOT Analysis

Swot Analysis of "Motorola and Japan (A)" written by David B. Yoffie, John J. Coleman includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Motorola Confronting facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Motorola and Japan (A) case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Competitive strategy, Government, International business, Marketing and Global Business.


Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Motorola and Japan (A) casestudy better are - – geopolitical disruptions, increasing energy prices, increasing commodity prices, central banks are concerned over increasing inflation, increasing government debt because of Covid-19 spendings, there is backlash against globalization, digital marketing is dominated by two big players Facebook and Google, cloud computing is disrupting traditional business models, wage bills are increasing, etc



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Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Motorola and Japan (A)


SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Motorola and Japan (A) case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Motorola Confronting, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Motorola Confronting 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 Motorola and Japan (A) can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Motorola and Japan (A) case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Motorola Confronting
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 Motorola Confronting




Strengths Motorola and Japan (A) | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis

The strengths of Motorola Confronting in Motorola and Japan (A) Harvard Business Review case study are -

Organizational Resilience of Motorola Confronting

– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing that Motorola Confronting does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.

Cross disciplinary teams

– Horizontal connected teams at the Motorola Confronting are driving operational speed, building greater agility, and keeping the organization nimble to compete with new competitors. It helps are organization to ideate new ideas, and execute them swiftly in the marketplace.

Training and development

– Motorola Confronting has one of the best training and development program in the industry. The effectiveness of the training programs can be measured in Motorola and Japan (A) 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.

Sustainable margins compare to other players in Global Business industry

– Motorola and Japan (A) firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Motorola Confronting to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Global Business industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Motorola Confronting to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.

Strong track record of project management

– Motorola Confronting is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.

Analytics focus

– Motorola Confronting 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 David B. Yoffie, John J. Coleman 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.

Learning organization

- Motorola Confronting 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 Motorola Confronting is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders in Motorola and Japan (A) Harvard Business Review case study emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.

Highly skilled collaborators

– Motorola Confronting 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 Motorola and Japan (A) HBR case study have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.

Superior customer experience

– The customer experience strategy of Motorola Confronting in the segment is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.

Innovation driven organization

– Motorola Confronting is one of the most innovative firm in sector. Manager in Motorola and Japan (A) Harvard Business Review case study can use Clayton Christensen Disruptive Innovation strategies to further increase the scale of innovtions in the organization.

Low bargaining power of suppliers

– Suppliers of Motorola Confronting in the sector have low bargaining power. Motorola and Japan (A) has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Motorola Confronting to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.

Digital Transformation in Global Business segment

- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For Motorola Confronting digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Motorola Confronting 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 Motorola and Japan (A) | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis

The weaknesses of Motorola and Japan (A) are -

Need for greater diversity

– Motorola Confronting 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.

Skills based hiring

– The stress on hiring functional specialists at Motorola Confronting 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.

Products dominated business model

– Even though Motorola Confronting 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 - Motorola and Japan (A) should strive to include more intangible value offerings along with its core products and services.

High cash cycle compare to competitors

Motorola Confronting 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.

Increasing silos among functional specialists

– The organizational structure of Motorola Confronting is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Global Business segment. Motorola Confronting needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Motorola Confronting to focus more on services rather than just following the product oriented approach.

Lack of clear differentiation of Motorola Confronting products

– To increase the profitability and margins on the products, Motorola Confronting needs to provide more differentiated products than what it is currently offering in the marketplace.

No frontier risks strategy

– After analyzing the HBR case study Motorola and Japan (A), 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.

Slow to strategic competitive environment developments

– As Motorola and Japan (A) HBR case study mentions - Motorola Confronting 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.

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 Motorola Confronting supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes mentioned in the HBR case study - Motorola and Japan (A), it is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left Motorola Confronting vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.

Capital Spending Reduction

– Even during the low interest decade, Motorola Confronting 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.

Compensation and incentives

– The revenue per employee as mentioned in the HBR case study Motorola and Japan (A), is just above the industry average. Motorola Confronting 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 Motorola and Japan (A) | 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 Motorola and Japan (A) are -

Redefining models of collaboration and team work

– As explained in the weaknesses section, Motorola Confronting is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. Motorola and Japan (A) 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 Global Business industry because of Covid-19 restrictions. Some of this behavior will stay once things get back to normal. Motorola Confronting 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. Motorola Confronting 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.

Creating value in data economy

– The success of analytics program of Motorola Confronting has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Motorola Confronting to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the Motorola and Japan (A) case study. Motorola Confronting can build new products and services such as - data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.

Better consumer reach

– The expansion of the 5G network will help Motorola Confronting to increase its market reach. Motorola Confronting 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.

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 Motorola Confronting 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.

Manufacturing automation

– Motorola Confronting can use the latest technology developments to improve its manufacturing and designing process in Global Business 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 Motorola Confronting can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.

Increase in government spending

– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Motorola Confronting can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Motorola Confronting operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Global Business sector.

Leveraging digital technologies

– Motorola Confronting 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.

Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains

– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Motorola Confronting 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, Motorola and Japan (A), 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 Motorola Confronting 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 Motorola Confronting to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.

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 Motorola Confronting in the consumer business. Now Motorola Confronting can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.

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. Motorola Confronting can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.




Threats Motorola and Japan (A) External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis


The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Motorola and Japan (A) are -

Regulatory challenges

– Motorola Confronting 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.

Environmental challenges

– Motorola Confronting 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. Motorola Confronting can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Global Business industry.

Technology disruption because of hacks, piracy etc

– The colonial pipeline illustrated, how vulnerable modern organization are to international hackers, miscreants, and disruptors. The cyber security interruption, data leaks, etc can seriously jeopardize the future growth of the organization.

Aging population

– As the populations of most advanced economies are aging, it will lead to high social security costs, higher savings among population, and lower demand for goods and services in the economy. The household savings in US, France, UK, Germany, and Japan are growing faster than predicted because of uncertainty caused by pandemic.

Barriers of entry lowering

– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry in the industry are lowering. It can presents Motorola Confronting with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the sector.

High dependence on third party suppliers

– Motorola Confronting 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.

Increasing wage structure of Motorola Confronting

– 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 Motorola Confronting.

Easy access to finance

– Easy access to finance in Global Business field will also reduce the barriers to entry in the industry, thus putting downward pressure on the prices because of increasing competition. Motorola Confronting can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.

Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution

– Motorola Confronting has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Global Business industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Motorola Confronting needs to keep up with the evolution of technology in the Global Business 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.

Stagnating economy with rate increase

– Motorola Confronting 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.

Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins

– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Motorola Confronting 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 Motorola and Japan (A) .

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 Motorola Confronting.

Shortening product life cycle

– it is one of the major threat that Motorola Confronting is facing in Global Business sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.




Weighted SWOT Analysis of Motorola and Japan (A) 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 Motorola and Japan (A) 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 Motorola and Japan (A) 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 Motorola and Japan (A) 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 Motorola and Japan (A) 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 Motorola Confronting needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.



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