A Bomb in Your Pocket? Crisis Leadership at Nokia India (A) SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Global Business
Strategy / MBA Resources
Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of A Bomb in Your Pocket? Crisis Leadership at Nokia India (A)
This case addresses the theme of crisis leadership in a multinational enterprise in a powerful way, to help students internalize the critical challenges of a multinational company in an emerging market. In August 2007, a routine product feedback and defect analysis process identified a defective batch of batteries supplied by a Japanese vendor, Matsushita. India happened to be the recipient of the largest proportion of the defective batch. Nokia's corporate communications team, based in Finland, in cooperation with the Indian team, responded with a customary global product advisory. Instructions were made available on the Internet for customers to diagnose a defective battery and get a free replacement. Nokia was shocked to see the antagonistic response from the Indian press to the product advisory and the ensuing mayhem that spread quickly through the country. The head of Nokia India and his team had to act swiftly to preserve the company's hard-earned reputation and market share.Case A is set at a midnight strategy session at Nokia's Indian headquarters to chart the way forward. Case B is a short version of what actually happened: how Nokia and the team successfully steered the organization through the crisis and not only survived but also used the situation to create new organizational capabilities.
Authors :: Charles Dhanaraj, Monidipa Mukherjee, Hima Bindu
Swot Analysis of "A Bomb in Your Pocket? Crisis Leadership at Nokia India (A)" written by Charles Dhanaraj, Monidipa Mukherjee, Hima Bindu includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Nokia Defective facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in A Bomb in Your Pocket? Crisis Leadership at Nokia India (A) case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Crisis management and Global Business.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the A Bomb in Your Pocket? Crisis Leadership at Nokia India (A) casestudy better are - – there is backlash against globalization, cloud computing is disrupting traditional business models, customer relationship management is fast transforming because of increasing concerns over data privacy, digital marketing is dominated by two big players Facebook and Google, increasing household debt because of falling income levels, there is increasing trade war between United States & China, challanges to central banks by blockchain based private currencies,
central banks are concerned over increasing inflation, increasing commodity prices, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of A Bomb in Your Pocket? Crisis Leadership at Nokia India (A)
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in A Bomb in Your Pocket? Crisis Leadership at Nokia India (A) case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Nokia Defective, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Nokia Defective 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 A Bomb in Your Pocket? Crisis Leadership at Nokia India (A) can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in A Bomb in Your Pocket? Crisis Leadership at Nokia India (A) case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Nokia Defective
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 Nokia Defective
Strengths A Bomb in Your Pocket? Crisis Leadership at Nokia India (A) | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Nokia Defective in A Bomb in Your Pocket? Crisis Leadership at Nokia India (A) Harvard Business Review case study are -
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of Nokia Defective in the sector have low bargaining power. A Bomb in Your Pocket? Crisis Leadership at Nokia India (A) has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Nokia Defective to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
Strong track record of project management
– Nokia Defective is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.
High brand equity
– Nokia Defective has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Nokia Defective to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Organizational Resilience of Nokia Defective
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing that Nokia Defective does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
Effective Research and Development (R&D)
– Nokia Defective 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 A Bomb in Your Pocket? Crisis Leadership at Nokia India (A) - staying ahead in the industry in terms of – new product launches, superior customer experience, highly competitive pricing strategies, and great returns to the shareholders.
Highly skilled collaborators
– Nokia Defective 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 A Bomb in Your Pocket? Crisis Leadership at Nokia India (A) HBR case study have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
Superior customer experience
– The customer experience strategy of Nokia Defective in the segment is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.
Analytics focus
– Nokia Defective 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 Charles Dhanaraj, Monidipa Mukherjee, Hima Bindu 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.
Cross disciplinary teams
– Horizontal connected teams at the Nokia Defective 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.
Ability to recruit top talent
– Nokia Defective is one of the leading recruiters in the industry. Managers in the A Bomb in Your Pocket? Crisis Leadership at Nokia India (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.
Diverse revenue streams
– Nokia Defective is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided firm in A Bomb in Your Pocket? Crisis Leadership at Nokia India (A) 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.
Digital Transformation in Global Business segment
- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For Nokia Defective digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Nokia Defective 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.
Weaknesses A Bomb in Your Pocket? Crisis Leadership at Nokia India (A) | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of A Bomb in Your Pocket? Crisis Leadership at Nokia India (A) are -
Ability to respond to the competition
– As the decision making is very deliberative, highlighted in the case study A Bomb in Your Pocket? Crisis Leadership at Nokia India (A), in the dynamic environment Nokia Defective has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. Nokia Defective has reasonably good record with similar level competitors but it has struggled with new entrants taking away niches of its business.
Slow to strategic competitive environment developments
– As A Bomb in Your Pocket? Crisis Leadership at Nokia India (A) HBR case study mentions - Nokia Defective 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.
Capital Spending Reduction
– Even during the low interest decade, Nokia Defective has not been able to do capital spending to the tune of the competition. This has resulted into fewer innovations and company facing stiff competition from both existing competitors and new entrants who are disrupting the industry using digital technology.
Need for greater diversity
– Nokia Defective 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.
High cash cycle compare to competitors
Nokia Defective 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.
Aligning sales with marketing
– It come across in the case study A Bomb in Your Pocket? Crisis Leadership at Nokia India (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 A Bomb in Your Pocket? Crisis Leadership at Nokia India (A) can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Nokia Defective is planning to shift buying processes online.
Lack of clear differentiation of Nokia Defective products
– To increase the profitability and margins on the products, Nokia Defective needs to provide more differentiated products than what it is currently offering in the marketplace.
No frontier risks strategy
– After analyzing the HBR case study A Bomb in Your Pocket? Crisis Leadership at Nokia India (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.
Slow decision making process
– As mentioned earlier in the report, Nokia Defective 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. Nokia Defective 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 Nokia Defective, firm in the HBR case study A Bomb in Your Pocket? Crisis Leadership at Nokia India (A) needs to spend more promotional, marketing, and advertising efforts to penetrate international markets.
Slow to harness new channels of communication
– Even though competitors are using new communication channels such as Instagram, Tiktok, and Snap, Nokia Defective is slow explore the new channels of communication. These new channels of communication mentioned in marketing section of case study A Bomb in Your Pocket? Crisis Leadership at Nokia India (A) can help to provide better information regarding products and services. It can also build an online community to further reach out to potential customers.
Opportunities A Bomb in Your Pocket? Crisis Leadership at Nokia India (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 A Bomb in Your Pocket? Crisis Leadership at Nokia India (A) are -
Lowering marketing communication costs
– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Nokia Defective 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.
Buying journey improvements
– Nokia Defective can improve the customer journey of consumers in the industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. A Bomb in Your Pocket? Crisis Leadership at Nokia India (A) 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.
Manufacturing automation
– Nokia Defective 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.
Increase in government spending
– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Nokia Defective can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Nokia Defective operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Global Business sector.
Redefining models of collaboration and team work
– As explained in the weaknesses section, Nokia Defective is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. A Bomb in Your Pocket? Crisis Leadership at Nokia India (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.
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 Nokia Defective 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.
Developing new processes and practices
– Nokia Defective 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.
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Nokia Defective has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Nokia Defective to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the A Bomb in Your Pocket? Crisis Leadership at Nokia India (A) case study. Nokia Defective can build new products and services such as - data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
Use of Bitcoin and other crypto currencies for transactions
– The popularity of Bitcoin and other crypto currencies as asset class and medium of transaction has opened new opportunities for Nokia Defective in the consumer business. Now Nokia Defective can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– Nokia Defective 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 A Bomb in Your Pocket? Crisis Leadership at Nokia India (A) - to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Nokia Defective to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains
– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Nokia Defective 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, A Bomb in Your Pocket? Crisis Leadership at Nokia India (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.
Loyalty marketing
– Nokia Defective 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.
Learning at scale
– Online learning technologies has now opened space for Nokia Defective 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.
Threats A Bomb in Your Pocket? Crisis Leadership at Nokia India (A) External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study A Bomb in Your Pocket? Crisis Leadership at Nokia India (A) are -
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Nokia Defective 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 A Bomb in Your Pocket? Crisis Leadership at Nokia India (A) .
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Nokia Defective has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Global Business industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Nokia Defective 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.
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. Nokia Defective 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.
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Nokia Defective 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.
Increasing wage structure of Nokia Defective
– 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 Nokia Defective.
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, as highlighted in case study A Bomb in Your Pocket? Crisis Leadership at Nokia India (A), Nokia Defective 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 .
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.
Consumer confidence and its impact on Nokia Defective demand
– There is a high probability of declining consumer confidence, given – high inflammation rate, rise of gig economy, lower job stability, increasing cost of living, higher interest rates, and aging demography. All the factors contribute to people saving higher rate of their income, resulting in lower consumer demand in the industry and other sectors.
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry in the industry are lowering. It can presents Nokia Defective with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the sector.
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Nokia Defective is facing in Global Business sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.
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. Nokia Defective needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Global Business industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
Regulatory challenges
– Nokia Defective 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.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of A Bomb in Your Pocket? Crisis Leadership at Nokia India (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 A Bomb in Your Pocket? Crisis Leadership at Nokia India (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 A Bomb in Your Pocket? Crisis Leadership at Nokia India (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 A Bomb in Your Pocket? Crisis Leadership at Nokia India (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 A Bomb in Your Pocket? Crisis Leadership at Nokia India (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 Nokia Defective needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.