Schibsted (A): Should We Launch "20 Minutes"? SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Leadership & Managing People
Strategy / MBA Resources
Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of Schibsted (A): Should We Launch "20 Minutes"?
The executive vice-president of newspapers for Schibsted was about to meet with his colleagues to discuss the company's plan to release an internally developed free daily newspaper concept called 20 Minutes. Over the past couple of years, Schibsted's executive team had kept a watchful eye on the free newspaper industry, which was enjoying tremendous popularity. Earlier in the year, Schibsted had launched Avis 1, a free paper with direct delivery to homes in Oslo, Norway. Looking to expand beyond their home country of Norway, Schibsted's executives had developed a proposal to simultaneously launch 20 Minutes in Zurich, Switzerland, and Cologne, Germany. The executive vice-president of newspapers and his colleagues were scheduled to present this recommendation to Schibsted's board of directors within a month. They were in the midst of preparing a financial and strategic analysis, since they were certain the board of directors would ask some tough questions. The supplemental case Schibsted (B): Should We Start Up "20 Minutes Cologne" Again?, describes the events folllowing.
Swot Analysis of "Schibsted (A): Should We Launch "20 Minutes"?" written by Jean-Louis Schaan, Jordan Mitchell includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Schibsted Schibsted's facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Schibsted (A): Should We Launch "20 Minutes"? case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Strategy and Leadership & Managing People.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Schibsted (A): Should We Launch "20 Minutes"? casestudy better are - – there is backlash against globalization, cloud computing is disrupting traditional business models, challanges to central banks by blockchain based private currencies, increasing household debt because of falling income levels, supply chains are disrupted by pandemic , technology disruption, increasing commodity prices,
increasing transportation and logistics costs, increasing government debt because of Covid-19 spendings, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Schibsted (A): Should We Launch "20 Minutes"?
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Schibsted (A): Should We Launch "20 Minutes"? case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Schibsted Schibsted's, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Schibsted Schibsted'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 Schibsted (A): Should We Launch "20 Minutes"? can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Schibsted (A): Should We Launch "20 Minutes"? case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Schibsted Schibsted's
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 Schibsted Schibsted's
Strengths Schibsted (A): Should We Launch "20 Minutes"? | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Schibsted Schibsted's in Schibsted (A): Should We Launch "20 Minutes"? Harvard Business Review case study are -
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Leadership & Managing People industry
– Schibsted (A): Should We Launch "20 Minutes"? firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Schibsted Schibsted's to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Leadership & Managing People industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Schibsted Schibsted's to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Diverse revenue streams
– Schibsted Schibsted's is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided firm in Schibsted (A): Should We Launch "20 Minutes"? 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 Schibsted Schibsted's in the segment is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of Schibsted Schibsted's in the sector have low bargaining power. Schibsted (A): Should We Launch "20 Minutes"? has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Schibsted Schibsted's to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
Effective Research and Development (R&D)
– Schibsted Schibsted's 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 Schibsted (A): Should We Launch "20 Minutes"? - staying ahead in the industry in terms of – new product launches, superior customer experience, highly competitive pricing strategies, and great returns to the shareholders.
Cross disciplinary teams
– Horizontal connected teams at the Schibsted Schibsted'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.
Operational resilience
– The operational resilience strategy in the Schibsted (A): Should We Launch "20 Minutes"? Harvard Business Review case study comprises – understanding the underlying the factors in the industry, building diversified operations across different geographies so that disruption in one part of the world doesn’t impact the overall performance of the firm, and integrating the various business operations and processes through its digital transformation drive.
Highly skilled collaborators
– Schibsted Schibsted's 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 Schibsted (A): Should We Launch "20 Minutes"? HBR case study have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
Training and development
– Schibsted Schibsted's has one of the best training and development program in the industry. The effectiveness of the training programs can be measured in Schibsted (A): Should We Launch "20 Minutes"? 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.
Analytics focus
– Schibsted Schibsted's 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 Jean-Louis Schaan, Jordan Mitchell 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.
Ability to recruit top talent
– Schibsted Schibsted's is one of the leading recruiters in the industry. Managers in the Schibsted (A): Should We Launch "20 Minutes"? are in a position to attract the best talent available. The firm has a robust talent identification program that helps in identifying the brightest.
High switching costs
– The high switching costs that Schibsted Schibsted'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.
Weaknesses Schibsted (A): Should We Launch "20 Minutes"? | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Schibsted (A): Should We Launch "20 Minutes"? are -
Slow to harness new channels of communication
– Even though competitors are using new communication channels such as Instagram, Tiktok, and Snap, Schibsted Schibsted's is slow explore the new channels of communication. These new channels of communication mentioned in marketing section of case study Schibsted (A): Should We Launch "20 Minutes"? can help to provide better information regarding products and services. It can also build an online community to further reach out to potential customers.
Slow to strategic competitive environment developments
– As Schibsted (A): Should We Launch "20 Minutes"? HBR case study mentions - Schibsted Schibsted's 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.
Increasing silos among functional specialists
– The organizational structure of Schibsted Schibsted's is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Leadership & Managing People segment. Schibsted Schibsted's needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Schibsted Schibsted's to focus more on services rather than just following the product oriented approach.
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 Schibsted Schibsted's supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes mentioned in the HBR case study - Schibsted (A): Should We Launch "20 Minutes"?, it is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left Schibsted Schibsted's vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.
No frontier risks strategy
– After analyzing the HBR case study Schibsted (A): Should We Launch "20 Minutes"?, 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.
High dependence on star products
– The top 2 products and services of the firm as mentioned in the Schibsted (A): Should We Launch "20 Minutes"? 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 Schibsted Schibsted's has relatively successful track record of launching new products.
Aligning sales with marketing
– It come across in the case study Schibsted (A): Should We Launch "20 Minutes"? 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 Schibsted (A): Should We Launch "20 Minutes"? can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Schibsted Schibsted's is planning to shift buying processes online.
High cash cycle compare to competitors
Schibsted Schibsted'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.
Need for greater diversity
– Schibsted Schibsted's 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.
Skills based hiring
– The stress on hiring functional specialists at Schibsted Schibsted's has created an environment where the organization is dominated by functional specialists rather than management generalist. This has resulted into product oriented approach rather than marketing oriented approach or consumers oriented approach.
Interest costs
– Compare to the competition, Schibsted Schibsted's 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.
Opportunities Schibsted (A): Should We Launch "20 Minutes"? | 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 Schibsted (A): Should We Launch "20 Minutes"? are -
Developing new processes and practices
– Schibsted Schibsted's 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.
Manufacturing automation
– Schibsted Schibsted's 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.
Low interest rates
– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Schibsted Schibsted's can still utilize the low interest rates to borrow money for capital investment. Secondly it can also use the increase of government spending in infrastructure projects to get new business.
Loyalty marketing
– Schibsted Schibsted'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.
Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities
– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Schibsted Schibsted'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 Schibsted Schibsted's to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
Leveraging digital technologies
– Schibsted Schibsted's 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.
Learning at scale
– Online learning technologies has now opened space for Schibsted Schibsted'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.
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 Schibsted Schibsted's in the consumer business. Now Schibsted Schibsted's can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.
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 Schibsted Schibsted'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.
Building a culture of innovation
– managers at Schibsted Schibsted'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 Leadership & Managing People segment.
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Schibsted Schibsted's has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Schibsted Schibsted's to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the Schibsted (A): Should We Launch "20 Minutes"? case study. Schibsted Schibsted's can build new products and services such as - data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
Redefining models of collaboration and team work
– As explained in the weaknesses section, Schibsted Schibsted's is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. Schibsted (A): Should We Launch "20 Minutes"? 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.
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– Schibsted Schibsted's has spent a significant amount of money and effort to integrate analytics and machine learning into its operations in the sector. This continuous investment in analytics has enabled, as illustrated in the Harvard case study Schibsted (A): Should We Launch "20 Minutes"? - to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Schibsted Schibsted's to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
Threats Schibsted (A): Should We Launch "20 Minutes"? External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Schibsted (A): Should We Launch "20 Minutes"? are -
Aging population
– As the populations of most advanced economies are aging, it will lead to high social security costs, higher savings among population, and lower demand for goods and services in the economy. The household savings in US, France, UK, Germany, and Japan are growing faster than predicted because of uncertainty caused by pandemic.
Consumer confidence and its impact on Schibsted Schibsted'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.
Easy access to finance
– Easy access to finance in Leadership & Managing People field will also reduce the barriers to entry in the industry, thus putting downward pressure on the prices because of increasing competition. Schibsted Schibsted's can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Schibsted Schibsted's has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Leadership & Managing People industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Schibsted Schibsted's 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.
High dependence on third party suppliers
– Schibsted Schibsted's 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.
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 Schibsted Schibsted's business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
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 Schibsted Schibsted's.
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Schibsted Schibsted's 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 Schibsted (A): Should We Launch "20 Minutes"? .
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. Schibsted Schibsted's needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Leadership & Managing People industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Schibsted Schibsted's in the Leadership & Managing People industry. The Leadership & Managing People 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.
Increasing wage structure of Schibsted Schibsted's
– 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 Schibsted Schibsted's.
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 Schibsted Schibsted's in the Leadership & Managing People sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry in the industry are lowering. It can presents Schibsted Schibsted's with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the sector.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Schibsted (A): Should We Launch "20 Minutes"? 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 Schibsted (A): Should We Launch "20 Minutes"? 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 Schibsted (A): Should We Launch "20 Minutes"? 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 Schibsted (A): Should We Launch "20 Minutes"? 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 Schibsted (A): Should We Launch "20 Minutes"? 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 Schibsted Schibsted's needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.