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Tellme Networks, Inc. SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis

Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution

Case Study Description of Tellme Networks, Inc.


Tellme, an early-stage, venture-backed company based in Silicon Valley, leverages speech-recognition technologies to provide: 1) a "voice portal" with news and other information accessible through any telephone, and 2) turnkey application development and hosting services for other companies that wish to voice-enable customer service and marketing applications. These two businesses are interdependent: partners' applications receive greater usage when they are hosted within Tellme's portal, and Tellme's portal receives greater usage by virtue of hosting a richer array of applications. In the fall of 2000, Tellme managers are debating a number of strategic issues, most importantly: 1) should they agree to voice-enable services for mass-market Internet portals like Yahoo!, which would provide significant application development/hosting revenue but accelerate competition to Tellme's own voice portal?; and 2) should they pursue a "Get Big Fast" strategy, investing aggressively in customer acquisition and brand building?

Authors :: Thomas R. Eisenmann, Nicole Tempest

Topics :: Innovation & Entrepreneurship

Tags :: Internet, SWOT Analysis, SWOT Matrix, TOWS, Weighted SWOT Analysis

Swot Analysis of "Tellme Networks, Inc." written by Thomas R. Eisenmann, Nicole Tempest includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Tellme Tellme's facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Tellme Networks, Inc. case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Internet and Innovation & Entrepreneurship.


Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Tellme Networks, Inc. casestudy better are - – competitive advantages are harder to sustain because of technology dispersion, digital marketing is dominated by two big players Facebook and Google, geopolitical disruptions, increasing energy prices, increasing commodity prices, technology disruption, increasing household debt because of falling income levels, customer relationship management is fast transforming because of increasing concerns over data privacy, talent flight as more people leaving formal jobs, etc



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Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Tellme Networks, Inc.


SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Tellme Networks, Inc. case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Tellme Tellme's, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Tellme Tellme's 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 Tellme Networks, Inc. can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Tellme Networks, Inc. case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Tellme Tellme's
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 Tellme Tellme's




Strengths Tellme Networks, Inc. | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis

The strengths of Tellme Tellme's in Tellme Networks, Inc. Harvard Business Review case study are -

Cross disciplinary teams

– Horizontal connected teams at the Tellme Tellme's 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.

Strong track record of project management

– Tellme Tellme's 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

– Tellme Tellme's has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Tellme Tellme's to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.

Training and development

– Tellme Tellme's has one of the best training and development program in the industry. The effectiveness of the training programs can be measured in Tellme Networks, Inc. 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.

Innovation driven organization

– Tellme Tellme's is one of the most innovative firm in sector. Manager in Tellme Networks, Inc. Harvard Business Review case study can use Clayton Christensen Disruptive Innovation strategies to further increase the scale of innovtions in the organization.

Low bargaining power of suppliers

– Suppliers of Tellme Tellme's in the sector have low bargaining power. Tellme Networks, Inc. has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Tellme Tellme's to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.

Diverse revenue streams

– Tellme Tellme's is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided firm in Tellme Networks, Inc. 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.

Superior customer experience

– The customer experience strategy of Tellme Tellme's in the segment is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.

High switching costs

– The high switching costs that Tellme Tellme's 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.

Learning organization

- Tellme Tellme's 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 Tellme Tellme's is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders in Tellme Networks, Inc. Harvard Business Review case study emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.

Organizational Resilience of Tellme Tellme's

– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing that Tellme Tellme's does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.

Sustainable margins compare to other players in Innovation & Entrepreneurship industry

– Tellme Networks, Inc. firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Tellme Tellme's to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Innovation & Entrepreneurship industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Tellme Tellme's to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.






Weaknesses Tellme Networks, Inc. | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis

The weaknesses of Tellme Networks, Inc. are -

High dependence on star products

– The top 2 products and services of the firm as mentioned in the Tellme Networks, Inc. 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 Tellme Tellme's has relatively successful track record of launching new products.

Increasing silos among functional specialists

– The organizational structure of Tellme Tellme's is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Innovation & Entrepreneurship segment. Tellme Tellme's needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Tellme Tellme's to focus more on services rather than just following the product oriented approach.

Slow decision making process

– As mentioned earlier in the report, Tellme Tellme's 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. Tellme Tellme's 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.

Ability to respond to the competition

– As the decision making is very deliberative, highlighted in the case study Tellme Networks, Inc., in the dynamic environment Tellme Tellme's has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. Tellme Tellme's has reasonably good record with similar level competitors but it has struggled with new entrants taking away niches of its business.

High cash cycle compare to competitors

Tellme Tellme's 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 Tellme Tellme's, firm in the HBR case study Tellme Networks, Inc. needs to spend more promotional, marketing, and advertising efforts to penetrate international markets.

Capital Spending Reduction

– Even during the low interest decade, Tellme Tellme's 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.

High dependence on existing supply chain

– The disruption in the global supply chains because of the Covid-19 pandemic and blockage of the Suez Canal illustrated the fragile nature of Tellme Tellme's supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes mentioned in the HBR case study - Tellme Networks, Inc., it is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left Tellme Tellme's vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.

Compensation and incentives

– The revenue per employee as mentioned in the HBR case study Tellme Networks, Inc., is just above the industry average. Tellme Tellme's 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.

Workers concerns about automation

– As automation is fast increasing in the segment, Tellme Tellme's 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.

Aligning sales with marketing

– It come across in the case study Tellme Networks, Inc. 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 Tellme Networks, Inc. can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Tellme Tellme's is planning to shift buying processes online.




Opportunities Tellme Networks, Inc. | 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 Tellme Networks, Inc. are -

Reforming the budgeting process

- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects Tellme Tellme's can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.

Creating value in data economy

– The success of analytics program of Tellme Tellme's has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Tellme Tellme's to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the Tellme Networks, Inc. case study. Tellme Tellme's can build new products and services such as - data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.

Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains

– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Tellme Tellme's 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, Tellme Networks, Inc., to buy more products closer to the markets, and it can leverage its size and influence to get better deal from the local markets.

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 Tellme Tellme's 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.

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 Tellme Tellme's in the consumer business. Now Tellme Tellme's can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.

Building a culture of innovation

– managers at Tellme Tellme's 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.

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. Tellme Tellme's 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. Tellme Tellme's 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.

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. Tellme Tellme's can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.

Learning at scale

– Online learning technologies has now opened space for Tellme Tellme's 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.

Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities

– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Tellme Tellme's 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 Tellme Tellme's to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.

Better consumer reach

– The expansion of the 5G network will help Tellme Tellme's to increase its market reach. Tellme Tellme's 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.

Lowering marketing communication costs

– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Tellme Tellme's 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.

Loyalty marketing

– Tellme Tellme's 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.




Threats Tellme Networks, Inc. External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis


The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Tellme Networks, Inc. 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.

Barriers of entry lowering

– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry in the industry are lowering. It can presents Tellme Tellme's with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the sector.

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. Tellme Tellme's 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.

Regulatory challenges

– Tellme Tellme's 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.

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 Tellme Tellme's business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.

Environmental challenges

– Tellme Tellme's 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. Tellme Tellme's can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Innovation & Entrepreneurship industry.

Consumer confidence and its impact on Tellme Tellme's 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.

Learning curve for new practices

– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, as highlighted in case study Tellme Networks, Inc., Tellme Tellme's 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 .

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. Tellme Tellme's needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Innovation & Entrepreneurship industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.

Stagnating economy with rate increase

– Tellme Tellme's 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.

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 Tellme Tellme's.

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. Tellme Tellme's 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 Tellme Tellme's is facing in Innovation & Entrepreneurship sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.




Weighted SWOT Analysis of Tellme Networks, Inc. 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 Tellme Networks, Inc. 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 Tellme Networks, Inc. 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 Tellme Networks, Inc. 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 Tellme Networks, Inc. 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 Tellme Tellme's needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.



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