Case Study Description of Mickey Maurer: IBJ Corp. and MyStar Communications
Mickey Maurer is a successful entrepreneur who retired in the late 1980s and then reentered the business world with the purchase of two media companies. In the radio industry he faces competition from large national players. In his publishing enterprise, Maurer assesses how he can grow his business and keep his key executives motivated.
Swot Analysis of "Mickey Maurer: IBJ Corp. and MyStar Communications" written by Paul W. Marshall, Jeremy B. Dann includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Maurer Mickey facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Mickey Maurer: IBJ Corp. and MyStar Communications case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Growth strategy and Innovation & Entrepreneurship.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Mickey Maurer: IBJ Corp. and MyStar Communications casestudy better are - – increasing household debt because of falling income levels, increasing energy prices, there is increasing trade war between United States & China, increasing commodity prices, banking and financial system is disrupted by Bitcoin and other crypto currencies, talent flight as more people leaving formal jobs, digital marketing is dominated by two big players Facebook and Google,
central banks are concerned over increasing inflation, technology disruption, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Mickey Maurer: IBJ Corp. and MyStar Communications
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Mickey Maurer: IBJ Corp. and MyStar Communications case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Maurer Mickey, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Maurer Mickey 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 Mickey Maurer: IBJ Corp. and MyStar Communications can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Mickey Maurer: IBJ Corp. and MyStar Communications case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Maurer Mickey
3. Assessing feasibility of the new initiative in Innovation & Entrepreneurship field.
4. Making a Innovation & Entrepreneurship topic specific business decision
5. Set goals for the organization
6. Organizational restructuring of Maurer Mickey
Strengths Mickey Maurer: IBJ Corp. and MyStar Communications | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Maurer Mickey in Mickey Maurer: IBJ Corp. and MyStar Communications Harvard Business Review case study are -
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of Maurer Mickey in the sector have low bargaining power. Mickey Maurer: IBJ Corp. and MyStar Communications has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Maurer Mickey to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Innovation & Entrepreneurship industry
– Mickey Maurer: IBJ Corp. and MyStar Communications firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Maurer Mickey to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Innovation & Entrepreneurship industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Maurer Mickey to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Superior customer experience
– The customer experience strategy of Maurer Mickey in the segment is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.
High brand equity
– Maurer Mickey has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Maurer Mickey to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
High switching costs
– The high switching costs that Maurer Mickey 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.
Operational resilience
– The operational resilience strategy in the Mickey Maurer: IBJ Corp. and MyStar Communications 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.
Analytics focus
– Maurer Mickey 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 Paul W. Marshall, Jeremy B. Dann 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.
Effective Research and Development (R&D)
– Maurer Mickey 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 Mickey Maurer: IBJ Corp. and MyStar Communications - staying ahead in the industry in terms of – new product launches, superior customer experience, highly competitive pricing strategies, and great returns to the shareholders.
Innovation driven organization
– Maurer Mickey is one of the most innovative firm in sector. Manager in Mickey Maurer: IBJ Corp. and MyStar Communications Harvard Business Review case study can use Clayton Christensen Disruptive Innovation strategies to further increase the scale of innovtions in the organization.
Successful track record of launching new products
– Maurer Mickey has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Maurer Mickey 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 Innovation & Entrepreneurship segment
- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For Maurer Mickey digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Maurer Mickey 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.
Training and development
– Maurer Mickey has one of the best training and development program in the industry. The effectiveness of the training programs can be measured in Mickey Maurer: IBJ Corp. and MyStar Communications 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.
Weaknesses Mickey Maurer: IBJ Corp. and MyStar Communications | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Mickey Maurer: IBJ Corp. and MyStar Communications are -
Interest costs
– Compare to the competition, Maurer Mickey 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.
Skills based hiring
– The stress on hiring functional specialists at Maurer Mickey 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.
Workers concerns about automation
– As automation is fast increasing in the segment, Maurer Mickey 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.
Lack of clear differentiation of Maurer Mickey products
– To increase the profitability and margins on the products, Maurer Mickey needs to provide more differentiated products than what it is currently offering in the marketplace.
Employees’ incomplete understanding of strategy
– From the instances in the HBR case study Mickey Maurer: IBJ Corp. and MyStar Communications, it seems that the employees of Maurer Mickey 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.
Products dominated business model
– Even though Maurer Mickey 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 - Mickey Maurer: IBJ Corp. and MyStar Communications should strive to include more intangible value offerings along with its core products and services.
Capital Spending Reduction
– Even during the low interest decade, Maurer Mickey 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.
Low market penetration in new markets
– Outside its home market of Maurer Mickey, firm in the HBR case study Mickey Maurer: IBJ Corp. and MyStar Communications 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, Maurer Mickey is slow explore the new channels of communication. These new channels of communication mentioned in marketing section of case study Mickey Maurer: IBJ Corp. and MyStar Communications can help to provide better information regarding products and services. It can also build an online community to further reach out to potential customers.
Ability to respond to the competition
– As the decision making is very deliberative, highlighted in the case study Mickey Maurer: IBJ Corp. and MyStar Communications, in the dynamic environment Maurer Mickey has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. Maurer Mickey has reasonably good record with similar level competitors but it has struggled with new entrants taking away niches of its business.
No frontier risks strategy
– After analyzing the HBR case study Mickey Maurer: IBJ Corp. and MyStar Communications, it seems that company is thinking about the frontier risks that can impact Innovation & Entrepreneurship 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.
Opportunities Mickey Maurer: IBJ Corp. and MyStar Communications | 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 Mickey Maurer: IBJ Corp. and MyStar Communications are -
Building a culture of innovation
– managers at Maurer Mickey 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 Innovation & Entrepreneurship segment.
Identify volunteer opportunities
– Covid-19 has impacted working population in two ways – it has led to people soul searching about their professional choices, resulting in mass resignation. Secondly it has encouraged people to do things that they are passionate about. This has opened opportunities for businesses to build volunteer oriented socially driven projects. Maurer Mickey can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.
Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains
– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Maurer Mickey 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, Mickey Maurer: IBJ Corp. and MyStar Communications, 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
– Maurer Mickey 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.
Redefining models of collaboration and team work
– As explained in the weaknesses section, Maurer Mickey is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. Mickey Maurer: IBJ Corp. and MyStar Communications 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.
Learning at scale
– Online learning technologies has now opened space for Maurer Mickey 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.
Reforming the budgeting process
- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects Maurer Mickey can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.
Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities
– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Maurer Mickey 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 Maurer Mickey 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, Maurer Mickey 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.
Manufacturing automation
– Maurer Mickey can use the latest technology developments to improve its manufacturing and designing process in Innovation & Entrepreneurship 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.
Developing new processes and practices
– Maurer Mickey can develop new processes and procedures in Innovation & Entrepreneurship 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 Innovation & Entrepreneurship industry, but it has also influenced the consumer preferences. Maurer Mickey 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
– Maurer Mickey can improve the customer journey of consumers in the industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. Mickey Maurer: IBJ Corp. and MyStar Communications 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 Mickey Maurer: IBJ Corp. and MyStar Communications External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Mickey Maurer: IBJ Corp. and MyStar Communications 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 Maurer Mickey in the Innovation & Entrepreneurship sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
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. Maurer Mickey 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.
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.
Consumer confidence and its impact on Maurer Mickey 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.
Backlash against dominant players
– US Congress and other legislative arms of the government are getting tough on big business especially technology companies. The digital arm of Maurer Mickey business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry in the industry are lowering. It can presents Maurer Mickey with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the sector.
Increasing wage structure of Maurer Mickey
– 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 Maurer Mickey.
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Maurer Mickey 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.
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Maurer Mickey is facing in Innovation & Entrepreneurship sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Maurer Mickey 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 Mickey Maurer: IBJ Corp. and MyStar Communications .
High dependence on third party suppliers
– Maurer Mickey 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
– Maurer Mickey 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 Innovation & Entrepreneurship industry regulations.
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, as highlighted in case study Mickey Maurer: IBJ Corp. and MyStar Communications, Maurer Mickey may face longer learning curve for training and development of existing employees. This can open space for more nimble competitors in the field of Innovation & Entrepreneurship .
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Mickey Maurer: IBJ Corp. and MyStar Communications 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 Mickey Maurer: IBJ Corp. and MyStar Communications 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 Mickey Maurer: IBJ Corp. and MyStar Communications 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 Mickey Maurer: IBJ Corp. and MyStar Communications 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 Mickey Maurer: IBJ Corp. and MyStar Communications 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 Maurer Mickey needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.
