Note on Deregulation and Social Obligations: Universal Service, Access Pricing, and Competitive Dynamics in U.S. Telecommunications SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Global Business
Strategy / MBA Resources
Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of Note on Deregulation and Social Obligations: Universal Service, Access Pricing, and Competitive Dynamics in U.S. Telecommunications
Can deregulation and the unleashing of competitive forces be combined with continued social obligations such as a duty to serve? This note uses the experience of U.S. telecommunications to illustrate the existence and influence of social obligations. Recognizing these obligations enhances understanding of the dynamics of deregulation. Finishes with a discussion of recent issues in telecom deregulation and how social obligations continue to play a part in determining regulatory responses. Focuses exclusively on telecommunications, although the same points--that social obligations exist in regulated industries and that finding a way to continue to address these obligations in a more competitive environment is a major element of regulatory reforms--apply to many other regulated industries.
Swot Analysis of "Note on Deregulation and Social Obligations: Universal Service, Access Pricing, and Competitive Dynamics in U.S. Telecommunications" written by Alexander Dyck, Indra A. Reinbergs includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Obligations Deregulation facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Note on Deregulation and Social Obligations: Universal Service, Access Pricing, and Competitive Dynamics in U.S. Telecommunications case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Social responsibility and Global Business.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Note on Deregulation and Social Obligations: Universal Service, Access Pricing, and Competitive Dynamics in U.S. Telecommunications casestudy better are - – there is increasing trade war between United States & China, there is backlash against globalization, central banks are concerned over increasing inflation, talent flight as more people leaving formal jobs, wage bills are increasing, increasing energy prices, supply chains are disrupted by pandemic ,
increasing transportation and logistics costs, cloud computing is disrupting traditional business models, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Note on Deregulation and Social Obligations: Universal Service, Access Pricing, and Competitive Dynamics in U.S. Telecommunications
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Note on Deregulation and Social Obligations: Universal Service, Access Pricing, and Competitive Dynamics in U.S. Telecommunications case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Obligations Deregulation, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Obligations Deregulation 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 Note on Deregulation and Social Obligations: Universal Service, Access Pricing, and Competitive Dynamics in U.S. Telecommunications can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Note on Deregulation and Social Obligations: Universal Service, Access Pricing, and Competitive Dynamics in U.S. Telecommunications case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Obligations Deregulation
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 Obligations Deregulation
Strengths Note on Deregulation and Social Obligations: Universal Service, Access Pricing, and Competitive Dynamics in U.S. Telecommunications | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Obligations Deregulation in Note on Deregulation and Social Obligations: Universal Service, Access Pricing, and Competitive Dynamics in U.S. Telecommunications Harvard Business Review case study are -
High switching costs
– The high switching costs that Obligations Deregulation 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.
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of Obligations Deregulation in the sector have low bargaining power. Note on Deregulation and Social Obligations: Universal Service, Access Pricing, and Competitive Dynamics in U.S. Telecommunications has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Obligations Deregulation to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
High brand equity
– Obligations Deregulation has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Obligations Deregulation to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Global Business industry
– Note on Deregulation and Social Obligations: Universal Service, Access Pricing, and Competitive Dynamics in U.S. Telecommunications firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Obligations Deregulation to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Global Business industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Obligations Deregulation to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Ability to recruit top talent
– Obligations Deregulation is one of the leading recruiters in the industry. Managers in the Note on Deregulation and Social Obligations: Universal Service, Access Pricing, and Competitive Dynamics in U.S. Telecommunications are in a position to attract the best talent available. The firm has a robust talent identification program that helps in identifying the brightest.
Highly skilled collaborators
– Obligations Deregulation 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 Note on Deregulation and Social Obligations: Universal Service, Access Pricing, and Competitive Dynamics in U.S. Telecommunications 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
– Obligations Deregulation has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Obligations Deregulation 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.
Effective Research and Development (R&D)
– Obligations Deregulation 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 Note on Deregulation and Social Obligations: Universal Service, Access Pricing, and Competitive Dynamics in U.S. Telecommunications - staying ahead in the industry in terms of – new product launches, superior customer experience, highly competitive pricing strategies, and great returns to the shareholders.
Diverse revenue streams
– Obligations Deregulation is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided firm in Note on Deregulation and Social Obligations: Universal Service, Access Pricing, and Competitive Dynamics in U.S. Telecommunications 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.
Organizational Resilience of Obligations Deregulation
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing that Obligations Deregulation 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 Obligations Deregulation 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.
Superior customer experience
– The customer experience strategy of Obligations Deregulation in the segment is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.
Weaknesses Note on Deregulation and Social Obligations: Universal Service, Access Pricing, and Competitive Dynamics in U.S. Telecommunications | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Note on Deregulation and Social Obligations: Universal Service, Access Pricing, and Competitive Dynamics in U.S. Telecommunications are -
High bargaining power of channel partners
– Because of the regulatory requirements, Alexander Dyck, Indra A. Reinbergs suggests that, Obligations Deregulation 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.
Compensation and incentives
– The revenue per employee as mentioned in the HBR case study Note on Deregulation and Social Obligations: Universal Service, Access Pricing, and Competitive Dynamics in U.S. Telecommunications, is just above the industry average. Obligations Deregulation 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.
Ability to respond to the competition
– As the decision making is very deliberative, highlighted in the case study Note on Deregulation and Social Obligations: Universal Service, Access Pricing, and Competitive Dynamics in U.S. Telecommunications, in the dynamic environment Obligations Deregulation has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. Obligations Deregulation has reasonably good record with similar level competitors but it has struggled with new entrants taking away niches of its business.
Skills based hiring
– The stress on hiring functional specialists at Obligations Deregulation 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.
Low market penetration in new markets
– Outside its home market of Obligations Deregulation, firm in the HBR case study Note on Deregulation and Social Obligations: Universal Service, Access Pricing, and Competitive Dynamics in U.S. Telecommunications needs to spend more promotional, marketing, and advertising efforts to penetrate international markets.
Interest costs
– Compare to the competition, Obligations Deregulation 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.
Capital Spending Reduction
– Even during the low interest decade, Obligations Deregulation 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.
Employees’ incomplete understanding of strategy
– From the instances in the HBR case study Note on Deregulation and Social Obligations: Universal Service, Access Pricing, and Competitive Dynamics in U.S. Telecommunications, it seems that the employees of Obligations Deregulation 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.
Workers concerns about automation
– As automation is fast increasing in the segment, Obligations Deregulation 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.
Increasing silos among functional specialists
– The organizational structure of Obligations Deregulation is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Global Business segment. Obligations Deregulation needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Obligations Deregulation to focus more on services rather than just following the product oriented approach.
High dependence on star products
– The top 2 products and services of the firm as mentioned in the Note on Deregulation and Social Obligations: Universal Service, Access Pricing, and Competitive Dynamics in U.S. Telecommunications 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 Obligations Deregulation has relatively successful track record of launching new products.
Opportunities Note on Deregulation and Social Obligations: Universal Service, Access Pricing, and Competitive Dynamics in U.S. Telecommunications | 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 Note on Deregulation and Social Obligations: Universal Service, Access Pricing, and Competitive Dynamics in U.S. Telecommunications are -
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– Obligations Deregulation 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 Note on Deregulation and Social Obligations: Universal Service, Access Pricing, and Competitive Dynamics in U.S. Telecommunications - to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Obligations Deregulation to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
Lowering marketing communication costs
– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Obligations Deregulation in the field of marketing communication. It will bring down the cost of doing business, provide technology platform to build new products in the Global Business segment, and it will provide faster access to the consumers.
Leveraging digital technologies
– Obligations Deregulation 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.
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 Obligations Deregulation 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
– Obligations Deregulation 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.
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. Obligations Deregulation can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.
Reforming the budgeting process
- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects Obligations Deregulation can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.
Finding new ways to collaborate
– Covid-19 has not only transformed business models of companies in Global Business industry, but it has also influenced the consumer preferences. Obligations Deregulation can tie-up with other value chain partners to explore new opportunities regarding meeting customer demands and building a rewarding and engaging relationship.
Building a culture of innovation
– managers at Obligations Deregulation 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.
Redefining models of collaboration and team work
– As explained in the weaknesses section, Obligations Deregulation is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. Note on Deregulation and Social Obligations: Universal Service, Access Pricing, and Competitive Dynamics in U.S. Telecommunications 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.
Better consumer reach
– The expansion of the 5G network will help Obligations Deregulation to increase its market reach. Obligations Deregulation 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.
Buying journey improvements
– Obligations Deregulation can improve the customer journey of consumers in the industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. Note on Deregulation and Social Obligations: Universal Service, Access Pricing, and Competitive Dynamics in U.S. Telecommunications 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.
Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains
– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Obligations Deregulation 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, Note on Deregulation and Social Obligations: Universal Service, Access Pricing, and Competitive Dynamics in U.S. Telecommunications, to buy more products closer to the markets, and it can leverage its size and influence to get better deal from the local markets.
Threats Note on Deregulation and Social Obligations: Universal Service, Access Pricing, and Competitive Dynamics in U.S. Telecommunications External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Note on Deregulation and Social Obligations: Universal Service, Access Pricing, and Competitive Dynamics in U.S. Telecommunications are -
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Obligations Deregulation 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.
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. Obligations Deregulation 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 Obligations Deregulation business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Obligations Deregulation 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.
Regulatory challenges
– Obligations Deregulation 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.
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. Obligations Deregulation can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
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. Obligations Deregulation 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.
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Obligations Deregulation has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Global Business industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Obligations Deregulation 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.
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, as highlighted in case study Note on Deregulation and Social Obligations: Universal Service, Access Pricing, and Competitive Dynamics in U.S. Telecommunications, Obligations Deregulation 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 .
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry in the industry are lowering. It can presents Obligations Deregulation with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the sector.
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.
Consumer confidence and its impact on Obligations Deregulation 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.
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Obligations Deregulation 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 Note on Deregulation and Social Obligations: Universal Service, Access Pricing, and Competitive Dynamics in U.S. Telecommunications 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 Note on Deregulation and Social Obligations: Universal Service, Access Pricing, and Competitive Dynamics in U.S. Telecommunications 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 Note on Deregulation and Social Obligations: Universal Service, Access Pricing, and Competitive Dynamics in U.S. Telecommunications 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 Note on Deregulation and Social Obligations: Universal Service, Access Pricing, and Competitive Dynamics in U.S. Telecommunications 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 Note on Deregulation and Social Obligations: Universal Service, Access Pricing, and Competitive Dynamics in U.S. Telecommunications 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 Obligations Deregulation needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.
Feel free to connect with us if you need business research.
You can download Excel Template of Case Study Solution & Analysis of Note on Deregulation and Social Obligations: Universal Service, Access Pricing, and Competitive Dynamics in U.S. Telecommunications
