Educomp: Shaping Education in the New Millennium SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Leadership & Managing People
Strategy / MBA Resources
Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of Educomp: Shaping Education in the New Millennium
Educomp Solutions Ltd. was established in 1994 with the aim of providing for a customer's entire education lifecycle, from pre-school to higher education/vocational training, and appropriating value from the same customer multiple times. This strategy, over a period of 17 years, enabled Educomp to become the largest player in the education technology sector in India. Educomp took the organic route to growth, which it achieved largely through acquisitions and alliances. Its flagship brand, SmartClass, brought technology into the classroom with a vast repository of digital modules on every subject. However, in 2012 the government of India proposed changes in its education policy that - along with the country's economic uncertainty - threatened to erode the competitive advantage that ESL had gained over the years. The CEO of Educomp wondered how he could maintain his organization's leadership position. He was contemplating a three-pronged strategy that involved 1) expanding into the untapped Indian rural market segment with school learning solutions; 2) creating a virtual learning solution that included open-source content for students; and 3) investing further in research and development in order to develop innovative products to penetrate the Indian education market. Author Amita Mital is affiliated with Indian Institute of Management Lucknow.
Swot Analysis of "Educomp: Shaping Education in the New Millennium" written by Amita Mital, Sanjay Dhir, Sonjoy Mohanty includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Educomp Education facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Educomp: Shaping Education in the New Millennium case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, and Leadership & Managing People.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Educomp: Shaping Education in the New Millennium casestudy better are - – there is increasing trade war between United States & China, increasing government debt because of Covid-19 spendings, increasing household debt because of falling income levels, digital marketing is dominated by two big players Facebook and Google, wage bills are increasing, central banks are concerned over increasing inflation, competitive advantages are harder to sustain because of technology dispersion,
increasing commodity prices, increasing energy prices, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Educomp: Shaping Education in the New Millennium
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Educomp: Shaping Education in the New Millennium case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Educomp Education, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Educomp Education 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 Educomp: Shaping Education in the New Millennium can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Educomp: Shaping Education in the New Millennium case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Educomp Education
3. Assessing feasibility of the new initiative in Leadership & Managing People field.
4. Making a Leadership & Managing People topic specific business decision
5. Set goals for the organization
6. Organizational restructuring of Educomp Education
Strengths Educomp: Shaping Education in the New Millennium | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Educomp Education in Educomp: Shaping Education in the New Millennium Harvard Business Review case study are -
Highly skilled collaborators
– Educomp Education 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 Educomp: Shaping Education in the New Millennium HBR case study have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
Learning organization
- Educomp Education 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 Educomp Education is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders in Educomp: Shaping Education in the New Millennium Harvard Business Review case study emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
Cross disciplinary teams
– Horizontal connected teams at the Educomp Education 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.
Diverse revenue streams
– Educomp Education is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided firm in Educomp: Shaping Education in the New Millennium 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.
Successful track record of launching new products
– Educomp Education has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Educomp Education 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.
High switching costs
– The high switching costs that Educomp Education 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.
Analytics focus
– Educomp Education 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 Amita Mital, Sanjay Dhir, Sonjoy Mohanty 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.
Strong track record of project management
– Educomp Education is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of Educomp Education in the sector have low bargaining power. Educomp: Shaping Education in the New Millennium has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Educomp Education to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
Ability to lead change in Leadership & Managing People field
– Educomp Education 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 Educomp Education in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.
Innovation driven organization
– Educomp Education is one of the most innovative firm in sector. Manager in Educomp: Shaping Education in the New Millennium Harvard Business Review case study can use Clayton Christensen Disruptive Innovation strategies to further increase the scale of innovtions in the organization.
Digital Transformation in Leadership & Managing People segment
- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For Educomp Education digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Educomp Education has successfully integrated the four key components of digital transformation – digital integration in processes, digital integration in marketing and customer relationship management, digital integration into the value chain, and using technology to explore new products and market opportunities.
Weaknesses Educomp: Shaping Education in the New Millennium | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Educomp: Shaping Education in the New Millennium are -
Employees’ incomplete understanding of strategy
– From the instances in the HBR case study Educomp: Shaping Education in the New Millennium, it seems that the employees of Educomp Education 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.
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 Educomp Education supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes mentioned in the HBR case study - Educomp: Shaping Education in the New Millennium, it is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left Educomp Education vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.
High dependence on star products
– The top 2 products and services of the firm as mentioned in the Educomp: Shaping Education in the New Millennium 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 Educomp Education has relatively successful track record of launching new products.
Need for greater diversity
– Educomp Education 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.
Lack of clear differentiation of Educomp Education products
– To increase the profitability and margins on the products, Educomp Education needs to provide more differentiated products than what it is currently offering in the marketplace.
Products dominated business model
– Even though Educomp Education 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 - Educomp: Shaping Education in the New Millennium should strive to include more intangible value offerings along with its core products and services.
No frontier risks strategy
– After analyzing the HBR case study Educomp: Shaping Education in the New Millennium, it seems that company is thinking about the frontier risks that can impact Leadership & Managing People 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.
Increasing silos among functional specialists
– The organizational structure of Educomp Education is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Leadership & Managing People segment. Educomp Education needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Educomp Education to focus more on services rather than just following the product oriented approach.
High cash cycle compare to competitors
Educomp Education 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.
Workers concerns about automation
– As automation is fast increasing in the segment, Educomp Education 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.
Slow decision making process
– As mentioned earlier in the report, Educomp Education 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. Educomp Education 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.
Opportunities Educomp: Shaping Education in the New Millennium | 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 Educomp: Shaping Education in the New Millennium are -
Redefining models of collaboration and team work
– As explained in the weaknesses section, Educomp Education is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. Educomp: Shaping Education in the New Millennium 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.
Better consumer reach
– The expansion of the 5G network will help Educomp Education to increase its market reach. Educomp Education 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 Educomp Education in the field of marketing communication. It will bring down the cost of doing business, provide technology platform to build new products in the Leadership & Managing People segment, and it will provide faster access to the consumers.
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. Educomp Education can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.
Manufacturing automation
– Educomp Education can use the latest technology developments to improve its manufacturing and designing process in Leadership & Managing People 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.
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Educomp Education has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Educomp Education to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the Educomp: Shaping Education in the New Millennium case study. Educomp Education can build new products and services such as - data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
Use of Bitcoin and other crypto currencies for transactions
– The popularity of Bitcoin and other crypto currencies as asset class and medium of transaction has opened new opportunities for Educomp Education in the consumer business. Now Educomp Education can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.
Developing new processes and practices
– Educomp Education can develop new processes and procedures in Leadership & Managing People 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.
Loyalty marketing
– Educomp Education 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.
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 Educomp Education 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.
Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities
– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Educomp Education 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 Educomp Education to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
Leveraging digital technologies
– Educomp Education 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.
Reforming the budgeting process
- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects Educomp Education can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.
Threats Educomp: Shaping Education in the New Millennium External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Educomp: Shaping Education in the New Millennium are -
High dependence on third party suppliers
– Educomp Education 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.
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Educomp Education has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Leadership & Managing People industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Educomp Education needs to keep up with the evolution of technology in the Leadership & Managing People 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.
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.
Regulatory challenges
– Educomp Education 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 Leadership & Managing People industry regulations.
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 Educomp Education.
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. Educomp Education 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.
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, as highlighted in case study Educomp: Shaping Education in the New Millennium, Educomp Education may face longer learning curve for training and development of existing employees. This can open space for more nimble competitors in the field of Leadership & Managing People .
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 Educomp Education in the Leadership & Managing People sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
Increasing wage structure of Educomp Education
– 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 Educomp Education.
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.
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 Educomp Education business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Educomp Education 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 Educomp: Shaping Education in the New Millennium .
Consumer confidence and its impact on Educomp Education 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.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Educomp: Shaping Education in the New Millennium 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 Educomp: Shaping Education in the New Millennium 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 Educomp: Shaping Education in the New Millennium 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 Educomp: Shaping Education in the New Millennium 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 Educomp: Shaping Education in the New Millennium 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 Educomp Education needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.
