Emerge Magazine: The Business of Ethnic Publishing SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Innovation & Entrepreneurship
Strategy / MBA Resources
Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of Emerge Magazine: The Business of Ethnic Publishing
This case can be used to show students the importance of market definition, segmentation, targeting, and positioning to the success of a firm. It may also be used to (re)introduce students to the issues surrounding marketplace diversity.
Authors :: Geraldine R. Henderson, Cheri D. Cannon
Swot Analysis of "Emerge Magazine: The Business of Ethnic Publishing" written by Geraldine R. Henderson, Cheri D. Cannon includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Ethnic Magazine facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Emerge Magazine: The Business of Ethnic Publishing case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Entrepreneurship, Marketing and Innovation & Entrepreneurship.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Emerge Magazine: The Business of Ethnic Publishing casestudy better are - – wage bills are increasing, banking and financial system is disrupted by Bitcoin and other crypto currencies, customer relationship management is fast transforming because of increasing concerns over data privacy, technology disruption, challanges to central banks by blockchain based private currencies, competitive advantages are harder to sustain because of technology dispersion, supply chains are disrupted by pandemic ,
geopolitical disruptions, cloud computing is disrupting traditional business models, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Emerge Magazine: The Business of Ethnic Publishing
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Emerge Magazine: The Business of Ethnic Publishing case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Ethnic Magazine, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Ethnic Magazine 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 Emerge Magazine: The Business of Ethnic Publishing can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Emerge Magazine: The Business of Ethnic Publishing case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Ethnic Magazine
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 Ethnic Magazine
Strengths Emerge Magazine: The Business of Ethnic Publishing | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Ethnic Magazine in Emerge Magazine: The Business of Ethnic Publishing Harvard Business Review case study are -
Ability to lead change in Innovation & Entrepreneurship field
– Ethnic Magazine 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 Ethnic Magazine in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.
Successful track record of launching new products
– Ethnic Magazine has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Ethnic Magazine 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.
Innovation driven organization
– Ethnic Magazine is one of the most innovative firm in sector. Manager in Emerge Magazine: The Business of Ethnic Publishing Harvard Business Review case study can use Clayton Christensen Disruptive Innovation strategies to further increase the scale of innovtions in the organization.
Learning organization
- Ethnic Magazine 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 Ethnic Magazine is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders in Emerge Magazine: The Business of Ethnic Publishing Harvard Business Review case study emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
Highly skilled collaborators
– Ethnic Magazine 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 Emerge Magazine: The Business of Ethnic Publishing HBR case study have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
Diverse revenue streams
– Ethnic Magazine is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided firm in Emerge Magazine: The Business of Ethnic Publishing 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.
Strong track record of project management
– Ethnic Magazine is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.
Digital Transformation in Innovation & Entrepreneurship segment
- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For Ethnic Magazine digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Ethnic Magazine 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.
High brand equity
– Ethnic Magazine has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Ethnic Magazine to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Cross disciplinary teams
– Horizontal connected teams at the Ethnic Magazine 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.
High switching costs
– The high switching costs that Ethnic Magazine 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.
Superior customer experience
– The customer experience strategy of Ethnic Magazine in the segment is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.
Weaknesses Emerge Magazine: The Business of Ethnic Publishing | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Emerge Magazine: The Business of Ethnic Publishing are -
Capital Spending Reduction
– Even during the low interest decade, Ethnic Magazine 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.
Aligning sales with marketing
– It come across in the case study Emerge Magazine: The Business of Ethnic Publishing 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 Emerge Magazine: The Business of Ethnic Publishing can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Ethnic Magazine is planning to shift buying processes online.
Ability to respond to the competition
– As the decision making is very deliberative, highlighted in the case study Emerge Magazine: The Business of Ethnic Publishing, in the dynamic environment Ethnic Magazine has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. Ethnic Magazine has reasonably good record with similar level competitors but it has struggled with new entrants taking away niches of its business.
Interest costs
– Compare to the competition, Ethnic Magazine has borrowed money from the capital market at higher rates. It needs to restructure the interest payment and costs so that it can compete better and improve profitability.
Slow to harness new channels of communication
– Even though competitors are using new communication channels such as Instagram, Tiktok, and Snap, Ethnic Magazine is slow explore the new channels of communication. These new channels of communication mentioned in marketing section of case study Emerge Magazine: The Business of Ethnic Publishing can help to provide better information regarding products and services. It can also build an online community to further reach out to potential customers.
Increasing silos among functional specialists
– The organizational structure of Ethnic Magazine is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Innovation & Entrepreneurship segment. Ethnic Magazine needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Ethnic Magazine to focus more on services rather than just following the product oriented approach.
Compensation and incentives
– The revenue per employee as mentioned in the HBR case study Emerge Magazine: The Business of Ethnic Publishing, is just above the industry average. Ethnic Magazine 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.
Need for greater diversity
– Ethnic Magazine 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 operating costs
– Compare to the competitors, firm in the HBR case study Emerge Magazine: The Business of Ethnic Publishing has high operating costs in the. This can be harder to sustain given the new emerging competition from nimble players who are using technology to attract Ethnic Magazine 's lucrative customers.
Slow to strategic competitive environment developments
– As Emerge Magazine: The Business of Ethnic Publishing HBR case study mentions - Ethnic Magazine takes time to assess the upcoming competitions. This has led to missing out on atleast 2-3 big opportunities in the industry in last five years.
Workers concerns about automation
– As automation is fast increasing in the segment, Ethnic Magazine 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.
Opportunities Emerge Magazine: The Business of Ethnic Publishing | 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 Emerge Magazine: The Business of Ethnic Publishing are -
Loyalty marketing
– Ethnic Magazine 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.
Increase in government spending
– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Ethnic Magazine can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Ethnic Magazine operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Innovation & Entrepreneurship sector.
Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains
– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Ethnic Magazine 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, Emerge Magazine: The Business of Ethnic Publishing, to buy more products closer to the markets, and it can leverage its size and influence to get better deal from the local markets.
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. Ethnic Magazine can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.
Redefining models of collaboration and team work
– As explained in the weaknesses section, Ethnic Magazine is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. Emerge Magazine: The Business of Ethnic Publishing 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.
Buying journey improvements
– Ethnic Magazine can improve the customer journey of consumers in the industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. Emerge Magazine: The Business of Ethnic Publishing 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.
Developing new processes and practices
– Ethnic Magazine 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.
Reforming the budgeting process
- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects Ethnic Magazine can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.
Lowering marketing communication costs
– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Ethnic Magazine in the field of marketing communication. It will bring down the cost of doing business, provide technology platform to build new products in the Innovation & Entrepreneurship segment, and it will provide faster access to the consumers.
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Ethnic Magazine has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Ethnic Magazine to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the Emerge Magazine: The Business of Ethnic Publishing case study. Ethnic Magazine can build new products and services such as - data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
Building a culture of innovation
– managers at Ethnic Magazine 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.
Leveraging digital technologies
– Ethnic Magazine 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.
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. Ethnic Magazine can tie-up with other value chain partners to explore new opportunities regarding meeting customer demands and building a rewarding and engaging relationship.
Threats Emerge Magazine: The Business of Ethnic Publishing External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Emerge Magazine: The Business of Ethnic Publishing are -
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry in the industry are lowering. It can presents Ethnic Magazine with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the sector.
Environmental challenges
– Ethnic Magazine 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. Ethnic Magazine can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Innovation & Entrepreneurship industry.
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.
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Ethnic Magazine has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Innovation & Entrepreneurship industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Ethnic Magazine needs to keep up with the evolution of technology in the Innovation & Entrepreneurship 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.
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Ethnic Magazine 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 Emerge Magazine: The Business of Ethnic Publishing .
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 Ethnic Magazine business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
High dependence on third party suppliers
– Ethnic Magazine 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.
Increasing wage structure of Ethnic Magazine
– 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 Ethnic Magazine.
Easy access to finance
– Easy access to finance in Innovation & Entrepreneurship field will also reduce the barriers to entry in the industry, thus putting downward pressure on the prices because of increasing competition. Ethnic Magazine 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 Ethnic Magazine is facing in Innovation & Entrepreneurship sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.
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 Ethnic Magazine in the Innovation & Entrepreneurship sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
Consumer confidence and its impact on Ethnic Magazine 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. Ethnic Magazine 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.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Emerge Magazine: The Business of Ethnic Publishing 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 Emerge Magazine: The Business of Ethnic Publishing 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 Emerge Magazine: The Business of Ethnic Publishing 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 Emerge Magazine: The Business of Ethnic Publishing 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 Emerge Magazine: The Business of Ethnic Publishing 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 Ethnic Magazine needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.
