This case is available in only hard copy format (HBP does not have digital distribution rights to the content). As a result, a digital Educator Copy of the case is not available through this web site.Supplements the (A) case.
Swot Analysis of "AT&T Canada (C)" written by Andre F. Perold, Kwame C. Van Leeuwen includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Copy Site.supplements facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in AT&T Canada (C) case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Financial markets, Mergers & acquisitions, Risk management and Finance & Accounting.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the AT&T Canada (C) casestudy better are - – increasing inequality as vast percentage of new income is going to the top 1%, banking and financial system is disrupted by Bitcoin and other crypto currencies, wage bills are increasing, cloud computing is disrupting traditional business models, increasing government debt because of Covid-19 spendings, there is increasing trade war between United States & China, geopolitical disruptions,
increasing energy prices, increasing transportation and logistics costs, etc
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in AT&T Canada (C) case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Copy Site.supplements, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Copy Site.supplements 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 AT&T Canada (C) can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in AT&T Canada (C) case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Copy Site.supplements
3. Assessing feasibility of the new initiative in Finance & Accounting field.
4. Making a Finance & Accounting topic specific business decision
5. Set goals for the organization
6. Organizational restructuring of Copy Site.supplements
Strengths AT&T Canada (C) | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Copy Site.supplements in AT&T Canada (C) Harvard Business Review case study are -
Organizational Resilience of Copy Site.supplements
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing that Copy Site.supplements does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
Analytics focus
– Copy Site.supplements 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 Andre F. Perold, Kwame C. Van Leeuwen 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.
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Finance & Accounting industry
– AT&T Canada (C) firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Copy Site.supplements to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Finance & Accounting industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Copy Site.supplements to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
High brand equity
– Copy Site.supplements has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Copy Site.supplements to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Learning organization
- Copy Site.supplements 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 Copy Site.supplements is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders in AT&T Canada (C) Harvard Business Review case study emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
Operational resilience
– The operational resilience strategy in the AT&T Canada (C) 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.
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of Copy Site.supplements in the sector have low bargaining power. AT&T Canada (C) has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Copy Site.supplements to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
Superior customer experience
– The customer experience strategy of Copy Site.supplements in the segment is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.
Training and development
– Copy Site.supplements has one of the best training and development program in the industry. The effectiveness of the training programs can be measured in AT&T Canada (C) 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.
Digital Transformation in Finance & Accounting segment
- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For Copy Site.supplements digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Copy Site.supplements 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.
Highly skilled collaborators
– Copy Site.supplements 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 AT&T Canada (C) HBR case study have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
Ability to lead change in Finance & Accounting field
– Copy Site.supplements 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 Copy Site.supplements in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.
Weaknesses AT&T Canada (C) | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of AT&T Canada (C) are -
Skills based hiring
– The stress on hiring functional specialists at Copy Site.supplements 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.
High cash cycle compare to competitors
Copy Site.supplements 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.
High bargaining power of channel partners
– Because of the regulatory requirements, Andre F. Perold, Kwame C. Van Leeuwen suggests that, Copy Site.supplements 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.
Aligning sales with marketing
– It come across in the case study AT&T Canada (C) 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 AT&T Canada (C) can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Copy Site.supplements is planning to shift buying processes online.
High dependence on star products
– The top 2 products and services of the firm as mentioned in the AT&T Canada (C) 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 Copy Site.supplements has relatively successful track record of launching new products.
Workers concerns about automation
– As automation is fast increasing in the segment, Copy Site.supplements 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.
Slow to harness new channels of communication
– Even though competitors are using new communication channels such as Instagram, Tiktok, and Snap, Copy Site.supplements is slow explore the new channels of communication. These new channels of communication mentioned in marketing section of case study AT&T Canada (C) can help to provide better information regarding products and services. It can also build an online community to further reach out to potential customers.
Interest costs
– Compare to the competition, Copy Site.supplements 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.
Ability to respond to the competition
– As the decision making is very deliberative, highlighted in the case study AT&T Canada (C), in the dynamic environment Copy Site.supplements has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. Copy Site.supplements has reasonably good record with similar level competitors but it has struggled with new entrants taking away niches of its business.
Lack of clear differentiation of Copy Site.supplements products
– To increase the profitability and margins on the products, Copy Site.supplements needs to provide more differentiated products than what it is currently offering in the marketplace.
Products dominated business model
– Even though Copy Site.supplements 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 - AT&T Canada (C) should strive to include more intangible value offerings along with its core products and services.
Opportunities AT&T Canada (C) | 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 AT&T Canada (C) are -
Redefining models of collaboration and team work
– As explained in the weaknesses section, Copy Site.supplements is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. AT&T Canada (C) 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.
Developing new processes and practices
– Copy Site.supplements can develop new processes and procedures in Finance & Accounting 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.
Better consumer reach
– The expansion of the 5G network will help Copy Site.supplements to increase its market reach. Copy Site.supplements 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.
Loyalty marketing
– Copy Site.supplements 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.
Reforming the budgeting process
- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects Copy Site.supplements can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.
Building a culture of innovation
– managers at Copy Site.supplements 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 Finance & Accounting segment.
Changes in consumer behavior post Covid-19
– Consumer behavior has changed in the Finance & Accounting industry because of Covid-19 restrictions. Some of this behavior will stay once things get back to normal. Copy Site.supplements 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. Copy Site.supplements 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.
Leveraging digital technologies
– Copy Site.supplements 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.
Manufacturing automation
– Copy Site.supplements can use the latest technology developments to improve its manufacturing and designing process in Finance & Accounting 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.
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 Copy Site.supplements 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.
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Copy Site.supplements has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Copy Site.supplements to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the AT&T Canada (C) case study. Copy Site.supplements can build new products and services such as - data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
Low interest rates
– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Copy Site.supplements 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.
Increase in government spending
– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Copy Site.supplements can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Copy Site.supplements operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Finance & Accounting sector.
Threats AT&T Canada (C) External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study AT&T Canada (C) are -
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 Copy Site.supplements in the Finance & Accounting sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Copy Site.supplements in the Finance & Accounting industry. The Finance & Accounting 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.
Consumer confidence and its impact on Copy Site.supplements 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. Copy Site.supplements 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.
Regulatory challenges
– Copy Site.supplements 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 Finance & Accounting industry regulations.
Increasing wage structure of Copy Site.supplements
– 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 Copy Site.supplements.
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 Copy Site.supplements.
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Copy Site.supplements 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.
Easy access to finance
– Easy access to finance in Finance & Accounting field will also reduce the barriers to entry in the industry, thus putting downward pressure on the prices because of increasing competition. Copy Site.supplements can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Copy Site.supplements is facing in Finance & Accounting sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, as highlighted in case study AT&T Canada (C), Copy Site.supplements may face longer learning curve for training and development of existing employees. This can open space for more nimble competitors in the field of Finance & Accounting .
High dependence on third party suppliers
– Copy Site.supplements 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.
Technology disruption because of hacks, piracy etc
– The colonial pipeline illustrated, how vulnerable modern organization are to international hackers, miscreants, and disruptors. The cyber security interruption, data leaks, etc can seriously jeopardize the future growth of the organization.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of AT&T Canada (C) 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 AT&T Canada (C) 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 AT&T Canada (C) 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 AT&T Canada (C) 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 AT&T Canada (C) 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 Copy Site.supplements needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.
