Mobile Telecommunications: Two Entrepreneurs Enter Africa SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Global Business
Strategy / MBA Resources
Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of Mobile Telecommunications: Two Entrepreneurs Enter Africa
In the 1990s, two entrepreneurs made daring, early entries into mobile telecommunications in Sub-Saharan Africa, both seeing great market opportunities there. One firm, Adesemi, would ultimately go bankrupt. The other firm, Celtel, would ultimately succeed and make its founder, Mo Ibrahim, a star of the global business community. Why the difference in outcome? Emerging markets often present weak rule of law, bringing many challenges to business success-from the demand for bribes to regulatory obstacles, hold-up problems, and even civil war. This case explores strategies that can limit these critical non-market risks in foreign direct investment and entrepreneurship. Students will step into the shoes of both companies by exploring their entry strategies, wrestling with the challenges they faced, and diagnosing the reasons why a shared insight about a new business opportunity turned out to be prescient-and led to extremely different endpoints.
Swot Analysis of "Mobile Telecommunications: Two Entrepreneurs Enter Africa" written by Benjamin Jones, Daniel D. Campbell includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Adesemi Endpoints facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Mobile Telecommunications: Two Entrepreneurs Enter Africa case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Competition, Cross-cultural management, IT, Leadership, Policy and Global Business.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Mobile Telecommunications: Two Entrepreneurs Enter Africa casestudy better are - – there is backlash against globalization, there is increasing trade war between United States & China, geopolitical disruptions, wage bills are increasing, competitive advantages are harder to sustain because of technology dispersion, banking and financial system is disrupted by Bitcoin and other crypto currencies, customer relationship management is fast transforming because of increasing concerns over data privacy,
technology disruption, digital marketing is dominated by two big players Facebook and Google, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Mobile Telecommunications: Two Entrepreneurs Enter Africa
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Mobile Telecommunications: Two Entrepreneurs Enter Africa case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Adesemi Endpoints, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Adesemi Endpoints 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 Mobile Telecommunications: Two Entrepreneurs Enter Africa can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Mobile Telecommunications: Two Entrepreneurs Enter Africa case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Adesemi Endpoints
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 Adesemi Endpoints
Strengths Mobile Telecommunications: Two Entrepreneurs Enter Africa | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Adesemi Endpoints in Mobile Telecommunications: Two Entrepreneurs Enter Africa Harvard Business Review case study are -
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of Adesemi Endpoints in the sector have low bargaining power. Mobile Telecommunications: Two Entrepreneurs Enter Africa has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Adesemi Endpoints to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
Highly skilled collaborators
– Adesemi Endpoints 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 Mobile Telecommunications: Two Entrepreneurs Enter Africa HBR case study have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
Innovation driven organization
– Adesemi Endpoints is one of the most innovative firm in sector. Manager in Mobile Telecommunications: Two Entrepreneurs Enter Africa 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)
– Adesemi Endpoints 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 Mobile Telecommunications: Two Entrepreneurs Enter Africa - staying ahead in the industry in terms of – new product launches, superior customer experience, highly competitive pricing strategies, and great returns to the shareholders.
Strong track record of project management
– Adesemi Endpoints is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.
High brand equity
– Adesemi Endpoints has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Adesemi Endpoints to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Operational resilience
– The operational resilience strategy in the Mobile Telecommunications: Two Entrepreneurs Enter Africa 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.
Training and development
– Adesemi Endpoints has one of the best training and development program in the industry. The effectiveness of the training programs can be measured in Mobile Telecommunications: Two Entrepreneurs Enter Africa 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.
High switching costs
– The high switching costs that Adesemi Endpoints 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.
Successful track record of launching new products
– Adesemi Endpoints has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Adesemi Endpoints 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.
Digital Transformation in Global Business segment
- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For Adesemi Endpoints digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Adesemi Endpoints 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.
Learning organization
- Adesemi Endpoints 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 Adesemi Endpoints is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders in Mobile Telecommunications: Two Entrepreneurs Enter Africa Harvard Business Review case study emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
Weaknesses Mobile Telecommunications: Two Entrepreneurs Enter Africa | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Mobile Telecommunications: Two Entrepreneurs Enter Africa are -
Increasing silos among functional specialists
– The organizational structure of Adesemi Endpoints is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Global Business segment. Adesemi Endpoints needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Adesemi Endpoints to focus more on services rather than just following the product oriented approach.
Ability to respond to the competition
– As the decision making is very deliberative, highlighted in the case study Mobile Telecommunications: Two Entrepreneurs Enter Africa, in the dynamic environment Adesemi Endpoints has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. Adesemi Endpoints has reasonably good record with similar level competitors but it has struggled with new entrants taking away niches of its business.
Employees’ incomplete understanding of strategy
– From the instances in the HBR case study Mobile Telecommunications: Two Entrepreneurs Enter Africa, it seems that the employees of Adesemi Endpoints 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 Adesemi Endpoints supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes mentioned in the HBR case study - Mobile Telecommunications: Two Entrepreneurs Enter Africa, it is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left Adesemi Endpoints vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.
No frontier risks strategy
– After analyzing the HBR case study Mobile Telecommunications: Two Entrepreneurs Enter Africa, 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.
Capital Spending Reduction
– Even during the low interest decade, Adesemi Endpoints 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.
High operating costs
– Compare to the competitors, firm in the HBR case study Mobile Telecommunications: Two Entrepreneurs Enter Africa has high operating costs in the. This can be harder to sustain given the new emerging competition from nimble players who are using technology to attract Adesemi Endpoints 's lucrative customers.
Aligning sales with marketing
– It come across in the case study Mobile Telecommunications: Two Entrepreneurs Enter Africa 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 Mobile Telecommunications: Two Entrepreneurs Enter Africa can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Adesemi Endpoints is planning to shift buying processes online.
Compensation and incentives
– The revenue per employee as mentioned in the HBR case study Mobile Telecommunications: Two Entrepreneurs Enter Africa, is just above the industry average. Adesemi Endpoints 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.
High cash cycle compare to competitors
Adesemi Endpoints 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.
Skills based hiring
– The stress on hiring functional specialists at Adesemi Endpoints 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.
Opportunities Mobile Telecommunications: Two Entrepreneurs Enter Africa | 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 Mobile Telecommunications: Two Entrepreneurs Enter Africa are -
Increase in government spending
– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Adesemi Endpoints can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Adesemi Endpoints operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Global Business sector.
Redefining models of collaboration and team work
– As explained in the weaknesses section, Adesemi Endpoints is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. Mobile Telecommunications: Two Entrepreneurs Enter Africa 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.
Leveraging digital technologies
– Adesemi Endpoints 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.
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 Adesemi Endpoints in the consumer business. Now Adesemi Endpoints can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.
Reforming the budgeting process
- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects Adesemi Endpoints can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.
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. Adesemi Endpoints 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. Adesemi Endpoints 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 Adesemi Endpoints has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Adesemi Endpoints to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the Mobile Telecommunications: Two Entrepreneurs Enter Africa case study. Adesemi Endpoints can build new products and services such as - data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
Manufacturing automation
– Adesemi Endpoints 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.
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. Adesemi Endpoints can tie-up with other value chain partners to explore new opportunities regarding meeting customer demands and building a rewarding and engaging relationship.
Loyalty marketing
– Adesemi Endpoints 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.
Low interest rates
– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Adesemi Endpoints 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.
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– Adesemi Endpoints 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 Mobile Telecommunications: Two Entrepreneurs Enter Africa - to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Adesemi Endpoints to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities
– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Adesemi Endpoints 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 Adesemi Endpoints to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
Threats Mobile Telecommunications: Two Entrepreneurs Enter Africa External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Mobile Telecommunications: Two Entrepreneurs Enter Africa are -
Consumer confidence and its impact on Adesemi Endpoints 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.
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry in the industry are lowering. It can presents Adesemi Endpoints with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the sector.
Regulatory challenges
– Adesemi Endpoints 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.
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 Adesemi Endpoints business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
Aging population
– As the populations of most advanced economies are aging, it will lead to high social security costs, higher savings among population, and lower demand for goods and services in the economy. The household savings in US, France, UK, Germany, and Japan are growing faster than predicted because of uncertainty caused by pandemic.
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, as highlighted in case study Mobile Telecommunications: Two Entrepreneurs Enter Africa, Adesemi Endpoints 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 .
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Adesemi Endpoints is facing in Global Business sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.
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. Adesemi Endpoints 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.
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. Adesemi Endpoints can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
New competition
– After the dotcom bust of 2001, financial crisis of 2008-09, the business formation in US economy had declined. But in 2020 alone, there are more than 1.5 million new business applications in United States. This can lead to greater competition for Adesemi Endpoints in the Global Business sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Adesemi Endpoints 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 Mobile Telecommunications: Two Entrepreneurs Enter Africa .
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 Adesemi Endpoints.
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Adesemi Endpoints has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Global Business industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Adesemi Endpoints 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.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Mobile Telecommunications: Two Entrepreneurs Enter Africa 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 Mobile Telecommunications: Two Entrepreneurs Enter Africa 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 Mobile Telecommunications: Two Entrepreneurs Enter Africa 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 Mobile Telecommunications: Two Entrepreneurs Enter Africa 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 Mobile Telecommunications: Two Entrepreneurs Enter Africa 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 Adesemi Endpoints needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.