The Biggest Auction Ever: 3G Licensing in Western Europe (A) SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Global Business
Strategy / MBA Resources
Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of The Biggest Auction Ever: 3G Licensing in Western Europe (A)
In the spring of 2000, nine Western European governments were preparing for the sale of licenses that would allow private operators of 3G networks to use certain blocks in the spectrum of radio frequencies. The governments' objectives included the competitiveness of the resulting telephony market, an efficient allocation of licenses, and the generation of revenues to supplement governmental budgets. Most governments were considering the use of auctions to sell their licenses in the private market. Different countries faced different market conditions, and differed in their preferred choice of auction format.
Swot Analysis of "The Biggest Auction Ever: 3G Licensing in Western Europe (A)" written by Matthias Hild includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Licenses Governments facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in The Biggest Auction Ever: 3G Licensing in Western Europe (A) case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Negotiations, Technology and Global Business.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the The Biggest Auction Ever: 3G Licensing in Western Europe (A) casestudy better are - – technology disruption, supply chains are disrupted by pandemic , there is increasing trade war between United States & China, geopolitical disruptions, increasing inequality as vast percentage of new income is going to the top 1%, increasing transportation and logistics costs, challanges to central banks by blockchain based private currencies,
cloud computing is disrupting traditional business models, increasing government debt because of Covid-19 spendings, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of The Biggest Auction Ever: 3G Licensing in Western Europe (A)
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in The Biggest Auction Ever: 3G Licensing in Western Europe (A) case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Licenses Governments, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Licenses Governments 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 The Biggest Auction Ever: 3G Licensing in Western Europe (A) can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in The Biggest Auction Ever: 3G Licensing in Western Europe (A) case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Licenses Governments
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 Licenses Governments
Strengths The Biggest Auction Ever: 3G Licensing in Western Europe (A) | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Licenses Governments in The Biggest Auction Ever: 3G Licensing in Western Europe (A) Harvard Business Review case study are -
Innovation driven organization
– Licenses Governments is one of the most innovative firm in sector. Manager in The Biggest Auction Ever: 3G Licensing in Western Europe (A) Harvard Business Review case study can use Clayton Christensen Disruptive Innovation strategies to further increase the scale of innovtions in the organization.
Superior customer experience
– The customer experience strategy of Licenses Governments in the segment is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of Licenses Governments in the sector have low bargaining power. The Biggest Auction Ever: 3G Licensing in Western Europe (A) has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Licenses Governments to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
Ability to recruit top talent
– Licenses Governments is one of the leading recruiters in the industry. Managers in the The Biggest Auction Ever: 3G Licensing in Western Europe (A) are in a position to attract the best talent available. The firm has a robust talent identification program that helps in identifying the brightest.
Learning organization
- Licenses Governments 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 Licenses Governments is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders in The Biggest Auction Ever: 3G Licensing in Western Europe (A) Harvard Business Review case study emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
Operational resilience
– The operational resilience strategy in the The Biggest Auction Ever: 3G Licensing in Western Europe (A) 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.
Strong track record of project management
– Licenses Governments is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Global Business industry
– The Biggest Auction Ever: 3G Licensing in Western Europe (A) firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Licenses Governments to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Global Business industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Licenses Governments to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
High brand equity
– Licenses Governments has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Licenses Governments to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Analytics focus
– Licenses Governments 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 Matthias Hild 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.
Ability to lead change in Global Business field
– Licenses Governments is one of the leading players in its industry. Over the years it has not only transformed the business landscape in its segment but also across the whole industry. The ability to lead change has enabled Licenses Governments in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.
Cross disciplinary teams
– Horizontal connected teams at the Licenses Governments 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.
Weaknesses The Biggest Auction Ever: 3G Licensing in Western Europe (A) | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of The Biggest Auction Ever: 3G Licensing in Western Europe (A) are -
No frontier risks strategy
– After analyzing the HBR case study The Biggest Auction Ever: 3G Licensing in Western Europe (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.
Skills based hiring
– The stress on hiring functional specialists at Licenses Governments 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.
Interest costs
– Compare to the competition, Licenses Governments 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.
Slow to strategic competitive environment developments
– As The Biggest Auction Ever: 3G Licensing in Western Europe (A) HBR case study mentions - Licenses Governments 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.
Workers concerns about automation
– As automation is fast increasing in the segment, Licenses Governments 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.
High cash cycle compare to competitors
Licenses Governments 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.
Employees’ incomplete understanding of strategy
– From the instances in the HBR case study The Biggest Auction Ever: 3G Licensing in Western Europe (A), it seems that the employees of Licenses Governments 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.
Increasing silos among functional specialists
– The organizational structure of Licenses Governments is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Global Business segment. Licenses Governments needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Licenses Governments to focus more on services rather than just following the product oriented approach.
Lack of clear differentiation of Licenses Governments products
– To increase the profitability and margins on the products, Licenses Governments needs to provide more differentiated products than what it is currently offering in the marketplace.
Aligning sales with marketing
– It come across in the case study The Biggest Auction Ever: 3G Licensing in Western Europe (A) 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 The Biggest Auction Ever: 3G Licensing in Western Europe (A) can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Licenses Governments is planning to shift buying processes online.
Need for greater diversity
– Licenses Governments 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.
Opportunities The Biggest Auction Ever: 3G Licensing in Western Europe (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 The Biggest Auction Ever: 3G Licensing in Western Europe (A) are -
Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains
– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Licenses Governments 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, The Biggest Auction Ever: 3G Licensing in Western Europe (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.
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– Licenses Governments 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 The Biggest Auction Ever: 3G Licensing in Western Europe (A) - to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Licenses Governments to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
Building a culture of innovation
– managers at Licenses Governments 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.
Developing new processes and practices
– Licenses Governments 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.
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. Licenses Governments can tie-up with other value chain partners to explore new opportunities regarding meeting customer demands and building a rewarding and engaging relationship.
Increase in government spending
– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Licenses Governments can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Licenses Governments operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Global Business sector.
Leveraging digital technologies
– Licenses Governments 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.
Lowering marketing communication costs
– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Licenses Governments 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.
Low interest rates
– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Licenses Governments 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.
Loyalty marketing
– Licenses Governments 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.
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 Licenses Governments 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.
Redefining models of collaboration and team work
– As explained in the weaknesses section, Licenses Governments is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. The Biggest Auction Ever: 3G Licensing in Western Europe (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.
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Licenses Governments has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Licenses Governments to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the The Biggest Auction Ever: 3G Licensing in Western Europe (A) case study. Licenses Governments can build new products and services such as - data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
Threats The Biggest Auction Ever: 3G Licensing in Western Europe (A) External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study The Biggest Auction Ever: 3G Licensing in Western Europe (A) are -
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. Licenses Governments needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Global Business industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Licenses Governments 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 wage structure of Licenses Governments
– 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 Licenses Governments.
High dependence on third party suppliers
– Licenses Governments 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.
Regulatory challenges
– Licenses Governments 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.
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Licenses Governments 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 The Biggest Auction Ever: 3G Licensing in Western Europe (A) .
Consumer confidence and its impact on Licenses Governments 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.
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. Licenses Governments 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.
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 Licenses Governments in the Global Business sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, as highlighted in case study The Biggest Auction Ever: 3G Licensing in Western Europe (A), Licenses Governments 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 .
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 Licenses Governments.
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Licenses Governments has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Global Business industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Licenses Governments 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.
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.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of The Biggest Auction Ever: 3G Licensing in Western Europe (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 The Biggest Auction Ever: 3G Licensing in Western Europe (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 The Biggest Auction Ever: 3G Licensing in Western Europe (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 The Biggest Auction Ever: 3G Licensing in Western Europe (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 The Biggest Auction Ever: 3G Licensing in Western Europe (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 Licenses Governments needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.
