Telemetrix (A) - North-South Exports Lends a Helping Hand to Telemetrix: Mexico or Brazil? SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
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Case Study Description of Telemetrix (A) - North-South Exports Lends a Helping Hand to Telemetrix: Mexico or Brazil?
"Telemetrix" is a two-part case study; its parts can be used alone or in sequence. Case A "North-South Exports Lends a Helping Hand to Telemetrix: Mexico or Brazil?" showcases a young analyst at North-South Exports, a small Quebec-based export management firm that helps SMEs with international expansion. The analyst must make recommendations as to the best way for the company's client Telemetrix to rapidly achieve sales in Latin America, and whether to focus on Brazil or Mexico. Case B "Telemetrix in Brazil: Indirect Export, Outsourcing, or Licence?" focuses on the choice of an entry mode to penetrate a foreign market, in this case, Brazil, and, based on this choice, on the selection of a local business partner. It also addresses the difficulty of developing international supplier-customer relations. Just like Case A, Case B is a decision-making case. The analyst must determine the best entry mode and which partners will lead Telemetrix to success in Brazil and, subsequently, elsewhere in South America.
Swot Analysis of "Telemetrix (A) - North-South Exports Lends a Helping Hand to Telemetrix: Mexico or Brazil?" written by Aurelia Durand, Eleonore Kuentz includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Telemetrix Brazil facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Telemetrix (A) - North-South Exports Lends a Helping Hand to Telemetrix: Mexico or Brazil? case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, and Global Business.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Telemetrix (A) - North-South Exports Lends a Helping Hand to Telemetrix: Mexico or Brazil? casestudy better are - – challanges to central banks by blockchain based private currencies, there is increasing trade war between United States & China, central banks are concerned over increasing inflation, supply chains are disrupted by pandemic , competitive advantages are harder to sustain because of technology dispersion, technology disruption, increasing household debt because of falling income levels,
increasing inequality as vast percentage of new income is going to the top 1%, geopolitical disruptions, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Telemetrix (A) - North-South Exports Lends a Helping Hand to Telemetrix: Mexico or Brazil?
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Telemetrix (A) - North-South Exports Lends a Helping Hand to Telemetrix: Mexico or Brazil? case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Telemetrix Brazil, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Telemetrix Brazil 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 Telemetrix (A) - North-South Exports Lends a Helping Hand to Telemetrix: Mexico or Brazil? can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Telemetrix (A) - North-South Exports Lends a Helping Hand to Telemetrix: Mexico or Brazil? case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Telemetrix Brazil
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 Telemetrix Brazil
Strengths Telemetrix (A) - North-South Exports Lends a Helping Hand to Telemetrix: Mexico or Brazil? | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Telemetrix Brazil in Telemetrix (A) - North-South Exports Lends a Helping Hand to Telemetrix: Mexico or Brazil? Harvard Business Review case study are -
Cross disciplinary teams
– Horizontal connected teams at the Telemetrix Brazil 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.
Training and development
– Telemetrix Brazil has one of the best training and development program in the industry. The effectiveness of the training programs can be measured in Telemetrix (A) - North-South Exports Lends a Helping Hand to Telemetrix: Mexico or Brazil? 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 brand equity
– Telemetrix Brazil has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Telemetrix Brazil to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of Telemetrix Brazil in the sector have low bargaining power. Telemetrix (A) - North-South Exports Lends a Helping Hand to Telemetrix: Mexico or Brazil? has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Telemetrix Brazil to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
Effective Research and Development (R&D)
– Telemetrix Brazil 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 Telemetrix (A) - North-South Exports Lends a Helping Hand to Telemetrix: Mexico or Brazil? - staying ahead in the industry in terms of – new product launches, superior customer experience, highly competitive pricing strategies, and great returns to the shareholders.
High switching costs
– The high switching costs that Telemetrix Brazil 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.
Innovation driven organization
– Telemetrix Brazil is one of the most innovative firm in sector. Manager in Telemetrix (A) - North-South Exports Lends a Helping Hand to Telemetrix: Mexico or Brazil? Harvard Business Review case study can use Clayton Christensen Disruptive Innovation strategies to further increase the scale of innovtions in the organization.
Strong track record of project management
– Telemetrix Brazil is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.
Successful track record of launching new products
– Telemetrix Brazil has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Telemetrix Brazil 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 Telemetrix Brazil digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Telemetrix Brazil 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.
Diverse revenue streams
– Telemetrix Brazil is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided firm in Telemetrix (A) - North-South Exports Lends a Helping Hand to Telemetrix: Mexico or Brazil? case study a diverse revenue stream that has helped it to survive disruptions such as global pandemic in Covid-19, financial disruption of 2008, and supply chain disruption of 2021.
Learning organization
- Telemetrix Brazil 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 Telemetrix Brazil is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders in Telemetrix (A) - North-South Exports Lends a Helping Hand to Telemetrix: Mexico or Brazil? Harvard Business Review case study emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
Weaknesses Telemetrix (A) - North-South Exports Lends a Helping Hand to Telemetrix: Mexico or Brazil? | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Telemetrix (A) - North-South Exports Lends a Helping Hand to Telemetrix: Mexico or Brazil? are -
High dependence on star products
– The top 2 products and services of the firm as mentioned in the Telemetrix (A) - North-South Exports Lends a Helping Hand to Telemetrix: Mexico or Brazil? 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 Telemetrix Brazil has relatively successful track record of launching new products.
Products dominated business model
– Even though Telemetrix Brazil 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 - Telemetrix (A) - North-South Exports Lends a Helping Hand to Telemetrix: Mexico or Brazil? should strive to include more intangible value offerings along with its core products and services.
Interest costs
– Compare to the competition, Telemetrix Brazil 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.
Need for greater diversity
– Telemetrix Brazil 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.
Compensation and incentives
– The revenue per employee as mentioned in the HBR case study Telemetrix (A) - North-South Exports Lends a Helping Hand to Telemetrix: Mexico or Brazil?, is just above the industry average. Telemetrix Brazil 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.
Low market penetration in new markets
– Outside its home market of Telemetrix Brazil, firm in the HBR case study Telemetrix (A) - North-South Exports Lends a Helping Hand to Telemetrix: Mexico or Brazil? needs to spend more promotional, marketing, and advertising efforts to penetrate international markets.
High bargaining power of channel partners
– Because of the regulatory requirements, Aurelia Durand, Eleonore Kuentz suggests that, Telemetrix Brazil 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.
Skills based hiring
– The stress on hiring functional specialists at Telemetrix Brazil 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
Telemetrix Brazil 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 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 Telemetrix Brazil supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes mentioned in the HBR case study - Telemetrix (A) - North-South Exports Lends a Helping Hand to Telemetrix: Mexico or Brazil?, it is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left Telemetrix Brazil vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.
Employees’ incomplete understanding of strategy
– From the instances in the HBR case study Telemetrix (A) - North-South Exports Lends a Helping Hand to Telemetrix: Mexico or Brazil?, it seems that the employees of Telemetrix Brazil 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 Telemetrix (A) - North-South Exports Lends a Helping Hand to Telemetrix: Mexico or Brazil? | 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 Telemetrix (A) - North-South Exports Lends a Helping Hand to Telemetrix: Mexico or Brazil? are -
Redefining models of collaboration and team work
– As explained in the weaknesses section, Telemetrix Brazil is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. Telemetrix (A) - North-South Exports Lends a Helping Hand to Telemetrix: Mexico or Brazil? 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.
Building a culture of innovation
– managers at Telemetrix Brazil 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.
Reforming the budgeting process
- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects Telemetrix Brazil can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.
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 Telemetrix Brazil 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.
Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains
– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Telemetrix Brazil 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, Telemetrix (A) - North-South Exports Lends a Helping Hand to Telemetrix: Mexico or Brazil?, to buy more products closer to the markets, and it can leverage its size and influence to get better deal from the local markets.
Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities
– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Telemetrix Brazil 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 Telemetrix Brazil to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
Low interest rates
– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Telemetrix Brazil 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.
Learning at scale
– Online learning technologies has now opened space for Telemetrix Brazil to conduct training and development for its employees across the world. This will result in not only reducing the cost of training but also help employees in different part of the world to integrate with the headquarter work culture, ethos, and standards.
Leveraging digital technologies
– Telemetrix Brazil 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.
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– Telemetrix Brazil 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 Telemetrix (A) - North-South Exports Lends a Helping Hand to Telemetrix: Mexico or Brazil? - to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Telemetrix Brazil to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
Manufacturing automation
– Telemetrix Brazil 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. Telemetrix Brazil can tie-up with other value chain partners to explore new opportunities regarding meeting customer demands and building a rewarding and engaging relationship.
Buying journey improvements
– Telemetrix Brazil can improve the customer journey of consumers in the industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. Telemetrix (A) - North-South Exports Lends a Helping Hand to Telemetrix: Mexico or Brazil? 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.
Threats Telemetrix (A) - North-South Exports Lends a Helping Hand to Telemetrix: Mexico or Brazil? External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Telemetrix (A) - North-South Exports Lends a Helping Hand to Telemetrix: Mexico or Brazil? are -
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. Telemetrix Brazil 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. Telemetrix Brazil can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Telemetrix Brazil has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Global Business industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Telemetrix Brazil 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.
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 Telemetrix Brazil.
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Telemetrix Brazil 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.
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.
Environmental challenges
– Telemetrix Brazil needs to have a robust strategy against the disruptions arising from climate change and energy requirements. EU has identified it as key priority area and spending 30% of its 880 billion Euros European post Covid-19 recovery funds on green technology. Telemetrix Brazil can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Global Business industry.
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. Telemetrix Brazil needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Global Business industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry in the industry are lowering. It can presents Telemetrix Brazil with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the sector.
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Telemetrix Brazil 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 Telemetrix (A) - North-South Exports Lends a Helping Hand to Telemetrix: Mexico or Brazil? .
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, as highlighted in case study Telemetrix (A) - North-South Exports Lends a Helping Hand to Telemetrix: Mexico or Brazil?, Telemetrix Brazil 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 .
Consumer confidence and its impact on Telemetrix Brazil 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.
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 Telemetrix (A) - North-South Exports Lends a Helping Hand to Telemetrix: Mexico or Brazil? 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 Telemetrix (A) - North-South Exports Lends a Helping Hand to Telemetrix: Mexico or Brazil? 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 Telemetrix (A) - North-South Exports Lends a Helping Hand to Telemetrix: Mexico or Brazil? 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 Telemetrix (A) - North-South Exports Lends a Helping Hand to Telemetrix: Mexico or Brazil? 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 Telemetrix (A) - North-South Exports Lends a Helping Hand to Telemetrix: Mexico or Brazil? 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 Telemetrix Brazil needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.
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