MTN Cameroon, The Competitive Advantage of Being African SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Global Business
Strategy / MBA Resources
Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of MTN Cameroon, The Competitive Advantage of Being African
This case series is designed to illustrate the specificities of competition in poor and developing economies and, more specifically, competition at the Base of the Pyramid. It is composed of four documents: two company cases, a country note, and an industry note. The company cases describe the competitive dynamics between two international telecom companies, Orange and MTN, in the Cameroonian telecom market. Each company case begins with a brief history of the company, followed by a description of the company's global strategy and of its entry into Cameroon. It goes on to describe the competitive dynamics in Cameroon from the company's perspective, and, particularly, the moves and counter-moves undertaken by each competitor to gain market share. Finally, the case describes the company's Corporate Social Responsibility initiatives, globally and in Cameroon. The case series also includes two background notes. The first note describes the evolution and the basic technical characteristics of the cell phone industry. The second note provides an introduction to the geography, history, and economy of Cameroon, with a particular focus on the socio-economic conditions of the country's population. Taken together, this case series allows a discussion of competition at the Base of the Pyramid, including both business and ethical aspects.
Authors :: Miguel Rivera-Santos, Carlos Rufin
Topics :: Global Business
Tags :: Ethics, International business, Social responsibility, SWOT Analysis, SWOT Matrix, TOWS, Weighted SWOT Analysis
Swot Analysis of "MTN Cameroon, The Competitive Advantage of Being African" written by Miguel Rivera-Santos, Carlos Rufin includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Cameroon Mtn facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in MTN Cameroon, The Competitive Advantage of Being African case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Ethics, International business, Social responsibility and Global Business.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the MTN Cameroon, The Competitive Advantage of Being African casestudy better are - – customer relationship management is fast transforming because of increasing concerns over data privacy, digital marketing is dominated by two big players Facebook and Google, banking and financial system is disrupted by Bitcoin and other crypto currencies, wage bills are increasing, increasing government debt because of Covid-19 spendings, cloud computing is disrupting traditional business models, supply chains are disrupted by pandemic ,
talent flight as more people leaving formal jobs, central banks are concerned over increasing inflation, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of MTN Cameroon, The Competitive Advantage of Being African
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in MTN Cameroon, The Competitive Advantage of Being African case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Cameroon Mtn, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Cameroon Mtn 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 MTN Cameroon, The Competitive Advantage of Being African can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in MTN Cameroon, The Competitive Advantage of Being African case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Cameroon Mtn
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 Cameroon Mtn
Strengths MTN Cameroon, The Competitive Advantage of Being African | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Cameroon Mtn in MTN Cameroon, The Competitive Advantage of Being African Harvard Business Review case study are -
Superior customer experience
– The customer experience strategy of Cameroon Mtn in the segment is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.
Digital Transformation in Global Business segment
- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For Cameroon Mtn digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Cameroon Mtn 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.
High switching costs
– The high switching costs that Cameroon Mtn 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.
Highly skilled collaborators
– Cameroon Mtn 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 MTN Cameroon, The Competitive Advantage of Being African HBR case study have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
Cross disciplinary teams
– Horizontal connected teams at the Cameroon Mtn 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.
Innovation driven organization
– Cameroon Mtn is one of the most innovative firm in sector. Manager in MTN Cameroon, The Competitive Advantage of Being African Harvard Business Review case study can use Clayton Christensen Disruptive Innovation strategies to further increase the scale of innovtions in the organization.
Learning organization
- Cameroon Mtn 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 Cameroon Mtn is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders in MTN Cameroon, The Competitive Advantage of Being African Harvard Business Review case study emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
Successful track record of launching new products
– Cameroon Mtn has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Cameroon Mtn 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)
– Cameroon Mtn 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 MTN Cameroon, The Competitive Advantage of Being African - staying ahead in the industry in terms of – new product launches, superior customer experience, highly competitive pricing strategies, and great returns to the shareholders.
Training and development
– Cameroon Mtn has one of the best training and development program in the industry. The effectiveness of the training programs can be measured in MTN Cameroon, The Competitive Advantage of Being African 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
– MTN Cameroon, The Competitive Advantage of Being African firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Cameroon Mtn to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Global Business industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Cameroon Mtn to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Analytics focus
– Cameroon Mtn 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 Miguel Rivera-Santos, Carlos Rufin 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.
Weaknesses MTN Cameroon, The Competitive Advantage of Being African | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of MTN Cameroon, The Competitive Advantage of Being African are -
Products dominated business model
– Even though Cameroon Mtn 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 - MTN Cameroon, The Competitive Advantage of Being African should strive to include more intangible value offerings along with its core products and services.
Slow to harness new channels of communication
– Even though competitors are using new communication channels such as Instagram, Tiktok, and Snap, Cameroon Mtn is slow explore the new channels of communication. These new channels of communication mentioned in marketing section of case study MTN Cameroon, The Competitive Advantage of Being African can help to provide better information regarding products and services. It can also build an online community to further reach out to potential customers.
No frontier risks strategy
– After analyzing the HBR case study MTN Cameroon, The Competitive Advantage of Being African, 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.
Workers concerns about automation
– As automation is fast increasing in the segment, Cameroon Mtn 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.
Skills based hiring
– The stress on hiring functional specialists at Cameroon Mtn 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.
Aligning sales with marketing
– It come across in the case study MTN Cameroon, The Competitive Advantage of Being African 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 MTN Cameroon, The Competitive Advantage of Being African can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Cameroon Mtn is planning to shift buying processes online.
Slow decision making process
– As mentioned earlier in the report, Cameroon Mtn has a very deliberative decision making approach. This approach has resulted in prudent decisions, but it has also resulted in missing opportunities in the industry over the last five years. Cameroon Mtn even though has strong showing on digital transformation primary two stages, it has struggled to capitalize the power of digital transformation in marketing efforts and new venture efforts.
Low market penetration in new markets
– Outside its home market of Cameroon Mtn, firm in the HBR case study MTN Cameroon, The Competitive Advantage of Being African needs to spend more promotional, marketing, and advertising efforts to penetrate international markets.
Lack of clear differentiation of Cameroon Mtn products
– To increase the profitability and margins on the products, Cameroon Mtn needs to provide more differentiated products than what it is currently offering in the marketplace.
Compensation and incentives
– The revenue per employee as mentioned in the HBR case study MTN Cameroon, The Competitive Advantage of Being African, is just above the industry average. Cameroon Mtn 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.
Employees’ incomplete understanding of strategy
– From the instances in the HBR case study MTN Cameroon, The Competitive Advantage of Being African, it seems that the employees of Cameroon Mtn 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.
Opportunities MTN Cameroon, The Competitive Advantage of Being African | 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 MTN Cameroon, The Competitive Advantage of Being African are -
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. Cameroon Mtn can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.
Building a culture of innovation
– managers at Cameroon Mtn 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.
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Cameroon Mtn has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Cameroon Mtn to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the MTN Cameroon, The Competitive Advantage of Being African case study. Cameroon Mtn can build new products and services such as - data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– Cameroon Mtn 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 MTN Cameroon, The Competitive Advantage of Being African - to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Cameroon Mtn to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
Loyalty marketing
– Cameroon Mtn 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.
Increase in government spending
– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Cameroon Mtn can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Cameroon Mtn operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Global Business sector.
Low interest rates
– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Cameroon Mtn 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.
Redefining models of collaboration and team work
– As explained in the weaknesses section, Cameroon Mtn is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. MTN Cameroon, The Competitive Advantage of Being African 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
– Cameroon Mtn 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.
Developing new processes and practices
– Cameroon Mtn can develop new processes and procedures in Global Business industry using technology such as automation using artificial intelligence, real time transportation and products tracking, 3D modeling for concept development and new products pilot testing etc.
Buying journey improvements
– Cameroon Mtn can improve the customer journey of consumers in the industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. MTN Cameroon, The Competitive Advantage of Being African 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.
Better consumer reach
– The expansion of the 5G network will help Cameroon Mtn to increase its market reach. Cameroon Mtn will be able to reach out to new customers. Secondly 5G will also provide technology framework to build new tools and products that can help more immersive consumer experience and faster consumer journey.
Finding new ways to collaborate
– Covid-19 has not only transformed business models of companies in Global Business industry, but it has also influenced the consumer preferences. Cameroon Mtn can tie-up with other value chain partners to explore new opportunities regarding meeting customer demands and building a rewarding and engaging relationship.
Threats MTN Cameroon, The Competitive Advantage of Being African External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study MTN Cameroon, The Competitive Advantage of Being African are -
Regulatory challenges
– Cameroon Mtn 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 MTN Cameroon, The Competitive Advantage of Being African, Cameroon Mtn 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. Cameroon Mtn 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.
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Cameroon Mtn 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 MTN Cameroon, The Competitive Advantage of Being African .
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 Cameroon Mtn in the Global Business sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
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. Cameroon Mtn needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Global Business industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
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 Cameroon Mtn.
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry in the industry are lowering. It can presents Cameroon Mtn with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the sector.
Increasing wage structure of Cameroon Mtn
– 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 Cameroon Mtn.
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Cameroon Mtn 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.
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Cameroon Mtn has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Global Business industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Cameroon Mtn 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.
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Cameroon Mtn 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 MTN Cameroon, The Competitive Advantage of Being African 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 MTN Cameroon, The Competitive Advantage of Being African 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 MTN Cameroon, The Competitive Advantage of Being African 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 MTN Cameroon, The Competitive Advantage of Being African 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 MTN Cameroon, The Competitive Advantage of Being African 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 Cameroon Mtn needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.
