Pluria Marshall Jr. and the Wave Community Newspapers SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Innovation & Entrepreneurship
Strategy / MBA Resources
Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of Pluria Marshall Jr. and the Wave Community Newspapers
This case explores the challenge of creating and sustaining entrepreneurship in the very competitive newspaper industry. The case also opens channels to discuss techniques for managing costs in urban environments. Pluria Marshall Jr. president of Marshall Media, is offered an opportunity to purchase the Wave Community Newspapers, a 13-newspaper chain. The Los Angeles Times had decided to pass on the deal, which bothers Marshall. He had thought that the Times's strategy was to merge the Wave with the Times's own weekly neighborhood paper to better serve the ethnically diverse and segregated neighborhoods of greater Los Angeles. The trigger issue focuses on whether Marshall Media is capable of competing against the resources of the much larger Los Angeles Times to capture the market share of L.A.'s Latino and African-American communities.
Swot Analysis of "Pluria Marshall Jr. and the Wave Community Newspapers" written by Gerry Yemen, Charles Stunson includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Marshall Pluria facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Pluria Marshall Jr. and the Wave Community Newspapers case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Entrepreneurial management, Race, Risk management and Innovation & Entrepreneurship.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Pluria Marshall Jr. and the Wave Community Newspapers casestudy better are - – 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, supply chains are disrupted by pandemic , challanges to central banks by blockchain based private currencies, increasing government debt because of Covid-19 spendings, there is increasing trade war between United States & China, wage bills are increasing,
talent flight as more people leaving formal jobs, digital marketing is dominated by two big players Facebook and Google, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Pluria Marshall Jr. and the Wave Community Newspapers
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Pluria Marshall Jr. and the Wave Community Newspapers case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Marshall Pluria, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Marshall Pluria 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 Pluria Marshall Jr. and the Wave Community Newspapers can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Pluria Marshall Jr. and the Wave Community Newspapers case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Marshall Pluria
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 Marshall Pluria
Strengths Pluria Marshall Jr. and the Wave Community Newspapers | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Marshall Pluria in Pluria Marshall Jr. and the Wave Community Newspapers Harvard Business Review case study are -
Diverse revenue streams
– Marshall Pluria is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided firm in Pluria Marshall Jr. and the Wave Community Newspapers 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.
Organizational Resilience of Marshall Pluria
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing that Marshall Pluria does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
Effective Research and Development (R&D)
– Marshall Pluria 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 Pluria Marshall Jr. and the Wave Community Newspapers - 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 brand equity
– Marshall Pluria has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Marshall Pluria to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Strong track record of project management
– Marshall Pluria is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.
Superior customer experience
– The customer experience strategy of Marshall Pluria in the segment is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.
Innovation driven organization
– Marshall Pluria is one of the most innovative firm in sector. Manager in Pluria Marshall Jr. and the Wave Community Newspapers Harvard Business Review case study can use Clayton Christensen Disruptive Innovation strategies to further increase the scale of innovtions in the organization.
Ability to recruit top talent
– Marshall Pluria is one of the leading recruiters in the industry. Managers in the Pluria Marshall Jr. and the Wave Community Newspapers are in a position to attract the best talent available. The firm has a robust talent identification program that helps in identifying the brightest.
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of Marshall Pluria in the sector have low bargaining power. Pluria Marshall Jr. and the Wave Community Newspapers has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Marshall Pluria to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
Highly skilled collaborators
– Marshall Pluria 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 Pluria Marshall Jr. and the Wave Community Newspapers HBR case study have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
Training and development
– Marshall Pluria has one of the best training and development program in the industry. The effectiveness of the training programs can be measured in Pluria Marshall Jr. and the Wave Community Newspapers 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.
Cross disciplinary teams
– Horizontal connected teams at the Marshall Pluria 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.
Weaknesses Pluria Marshall Jr. and the Wave Community Newspapers | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Pluria Marshall Jr. and the Wave Community Newspapers are -
Workers concerns about automation
– As automation is fast increasing in the segment, Marshall Pluria 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.
High cash cycle compare to competitors
Marshall Pluria 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.
Low market penetration in new markets
– Outside its home market of Marshall Pluria, firm in the HBR case study Pluria Marshall Jr. and the Wave Community Newspapers needs to spend more promotional, marketing, and advertising efforts to penetrate international markets.
Compensation and incentives
– The revenue per employee as mentioned in the HBR case study Pluria Marshall Jr. and the Wave Community Newspapers, is just above the industry average. Marshall Pluria 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.
Lack of clear differentiation of Marshall Pluria products
– To increase the profitability and margins on the products, Marshall Pluria needs to provide more differentiated products than what it is currently offering in the marketplace.
High bargaining power of channel partners
– Because of the regulatory requirements, Gerry Yemen, Charles Stunson suggests that, Marshall Pluria 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.
Slow decision making process
– As mentioned earlier in the report, Marshall Pluria 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. Marshall Pluria 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.
Need for greater diversity
– Marshall Pluria 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.
Products dominated business model
– Even though Marshall Pluria 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 - Pluria Marshall Jr. and the Wave Community Newspapers should strive to include more intangible value offerings along with its core products and services.
High dependence on star products
– The top 2 products and services of the firm as mentioned in the Pluria Marshall Jr. and the Wave Community Newspapers 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 Marshall Pluria has relatively successful track record of launching new products.
Aligning sales with marketing
– It come across in the case study Pluria Marshall Jr. and the Wave Community Newspapers 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 Pluria Marshall Jr. and the Wave Community Newspapers can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Marshall Pluria is planning to shift buying processes online.
Opportunities Pluria Marshall Jr. and the Wave Community Newspapers | 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 Pluria Marshall Jr. and the Wave Community Newspapers are -
Developing new processes and practices
– Marshall Pluria 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.
Leveraging digital technologies
– Marshall Pluria 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.
Better consumer reach
– The expansion of the 5G network will help Marshall Pluria to increase its market reach. Marshall Pluria will be able to reach out to new customers. Secondly 5G will also provide technology framework to build new tools and products that can help more immersive consumer experience and faster consumer journey.
Loyalty marketing
– Marshall Pluria 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.
Building a culture of innovation
– managers at Marshall Pluria 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.
Increase in government spending
– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Marshall Pluria can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Marshall Pluria operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Innovation & Entrepreneurship sector.
Changes in consumer behavior post Covid-19
– Consumer behavior has changed in the Innovation & Entrepreneurship industry because of Covid-19 restrictions. Some of this behavior will stay once things get back to normal. Marshall Pluria can take advantage of these changes in consumer behavior to build a far more efficient business model. For example consumer regular ordering of products can reduce both last mile delivery costs and market penetration costs. Marshall Pluria can further use this consumer data to build better customer loyalty, provide better products and service collection, and improve the value proposition in inflationary times.
Redefining models of collaboration and team work
– As explained in the weaknesses section, Marshall Pluria is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. Pluria Marshall Jr. and the Wave Community Newspapers 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.
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. Marshall Pluria can tie-up with other value chain partners to explore new opportunities regarding meeting customer demands and building a rewarding and engaging relationship.
Reforming the budgeting process
- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects Marshall Pluria can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.
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 Marshall Pluria in the consumer business. Now Marshall Pluria can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.
Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains
– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Marshall Pluria 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, Pluria Marshall Jr. and the Wave Community Newspapers, 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. Marshall Pluria can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.
Threats Pluria Marshall Jr. and the Wave Community Newspapers External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Pluria Marshall Jr. and the Wave Community Newspapers are -
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 Marshall Pluria 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.
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 Marshall Pluria.
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Marshall Pluria 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.
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Marshall Pluria in the Innovation & Entrepreneurship industry. The Innovation & Entrepreneurship 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.
High dependence on third party suppliers
– Marshall Pluria 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.
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.
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. Marshall Pluria needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Innovation & Entrepreneurship industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
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 Marshall Pluria business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
Increasing wage structure of Marshall Pluria
– 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 Marshall Pluria.
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 Marshall Pluria 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. Marshall Pluria 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.
Environmental challenges
– Marshall Pluria 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. Marshall Pluria can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Innovation & Entrepreneurship industry.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Pluria Marshall Jr. and the Wave Community Newspapers 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 Pluria Marshall Jr. and the Wave Community Newspapers 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 Pluria Marshall Jr. and the Wave Community Newspapers 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 Pluria Marshall Jr. and the Wave Community Newspapers 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 Pluria Marshall Jr. and the Wave Community Newspapers 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 Marshall Pluria needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.
