The Canadian Telecommunications: Industry Regulation and Policy SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Leadership & Managing People
Strategy / MBA Resources
Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of The Canadian Telecommunications: Industry Regulation and Policy
This case study is based on a high profile issue facing the Canadian Federal Government - still ongoing as of December 2010 - that had begun in 2008. Industry Canada, working from a set of policy objectives crafted over the period of three years, decided that, in the auction sale of wireless spectrum set for 2008, it would set aside 40 per cent of the spectrum for new entrants. This decision had come about because research indicated that Canadian usage of wireless services had lagged behind that of other developed countries and that this was primarily due to the high relative cost of wireless services. This was in contrast to only a decade earlier when Canada was seen as a global leader in the implementation of wireless technology. It is well understood that telecommunication adoption rates have a direct implication to the productivity of the Canadian economy. One of the new entrants was Globalive Communications Corporation (Globalive), a startup which was funded by Orascom Telecom Holding S.A.E. (Orascom), an Egyptian company. Despite the fact that Canada has well defined foreign ownership restrictions for the telecommunications sector, Globalive was allowed to bid. It won, and paid $442 million for its spectrum, began to hire hundreds of staff, and committed another $300 million to investing in wireless infrastructure.From the time Globalive applied to participate in the spectrum auction to the period prior to its official launch, the firm met several times with Industry Canada, the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC), and the Prime Minister's Office (PMO) to ensure that its ownership was structured so as to fit within the foreign ownership restrictions.
Swot Analysis of "The Canadian Telecommunications: Industry Regulation and Policy" written by Adam Fremeth, Ken Mark includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Globalive Wireless facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in The Canadian Telecommunications: Industry Regulation and Policy case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Strategic planning and Leadership & Managing People.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the The Canadian Telecommunications: Industry Regulation and Policy casestudy better are - – talent flight as more people leaving formal jobs, customer relationship management is fast transforming because of increasing concerns over data privacy, there is backlash against globalization, challanges to central banks by blockchain based private currencies, increasing government debt because of Covid-19 spendings, increasing household debt because of falling income levels, competitive advantages are harder to sustain because of technology dispersion,
banking and financial system is disrupted by Bitcoin and other crypto currencies, geopolitical disruptions, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of The Canadian Telecommunications: Industry Regulation and Policy
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in The Canadian Telecommunications: Industry Regulation and Policy case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Globalive Wireless, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Globalive Wireless 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 The Canadian Telecommunications: Industry Regulation and Policy can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in The Canadian Telecommunications: Industry Regulation and Policy case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Globalive Wireless
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 Globalive Wireless
Strengths The Canadian Telecommunications: Industry Regulation and Policy | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Globalive Wireless in The Canadian Telecommunications: Industry Regulation and Policy Harvard Business Review case study are -
Learning organization
- Globalive Wireless 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 Globalive Wireless is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders in The Canadian Telecommunications: Industry Regulation and Policy Harvard Business Review case study emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
Analytics focus
– Globalive Wireless 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 Adam Fremeth, Ken Mark 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.
High brand equity
– Globalive Wireless has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Globalive Wireless to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Innovation driven organization
– Globalive Wireless is one of the most innovative firm in sector. Manager in The Canadian Telecommunications: Industry Regulation and Policy Harvard Business Review case study can use Clayton Christensen Disruptive Innovation strategies to further increase the scale of innovtions in the organization.
Ability to lead change in Leadership & Managing People field
– Globalive Wireless 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 Globalive Wireless in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.
High switching costs
– The high switching costs that Globalive Wireless 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.
Operational resilience
– The operational resilience strategy in the The Canadian Telecommunications: Industry Regulation and Policy 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.
Effective Research and Development (R&D)
– Globalive Wireless 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 The Canadian Telecommunications: Industry Regulation and Policy - staying ahead in the industry in terms of – new product launches, superior customer experience, highly competitive pricing strategies, and great returns to the shareholders.
Training and development
– Globalive Wireless has one of the best training and development program in the industry. The effectiveness of the training programs can be measured in The Canadian Telecommunications: Industry Regulation and Policy 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.
Organizational Resilience of Globalive Wireless
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing that Globalive Wireless does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
Successful track record of launching new products
– Globalive Wireless has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Globalive Wireless 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.
Cross disciplinary teams
– Horizontal connected teams at the Globalive Wireless 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 The Canadian Telecommunications: Industry Regulation and Policy | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of The Canadian Telecommunications: Industry Regulation and Policy are -
Low market penetration in new markets
– Outside its home market of Globalive Wireless, firm in the HBR case study The Canadian Telecommunications: Industry Regulation and Policy needs to spend more promotional, marketing, and advertising efforts to penetrate international markets.
Increasing silos among functional specialists
– The organizational structure of Globalive Wireless is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Leadership & Managing People segment. Globalive Wireless needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Globalive Wireless to focus more on services rather than just following the product oriented approach.
Capital Spending Reduction
– Even during the low interest decade, Globalive Wireless 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.
Need for greater diversity
– Globalive Wireless 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.
Compensation and incentives
– The revenue per employee as mentioned in the HBR case study The Canadian Telecommunications: Industry Regulation and Policy, is just above the industry average. Globalive Wireless 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, Globalive Wireless 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 dependence on star products
– The top 2 products and services of the firm as mentioned in the The Canadian Telecommunications: Industry Regulation and Policy 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 Globalive Wireless has relatively successful track record of launching new products.
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 Globalive Wireless supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes mentioned in the HBR case study - The Canadian Telecommunications: Industry Regulation and Policy, it is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left Globalive Wireless vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.
Slow to strategic competitive environment developments
– As The Canadian Telecommunications: Industry Regulation and Policy HBR case study mentions - Globalive Wireless 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.
Skills based hiring
– The stress on hiring functional specialists at Globalive Wireless 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.
High bargaining power of channel partners
– Because of the regulatory requirements, Adam Fremeth, Ken Mark suggests that, Globalive Wireless 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.
Opportunities The Canadian Telecommunications: Industry Regulation and Policy | 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 The Canadian Telecommunications: Industry Regulation and Policy are -
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– Globalive Wireless 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 The Canadian Telecommunications: Industry Regulation and Policy - to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Globalive Wireless to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
Buying journey improvements
– Globalive Wireless can improve the customer journey of consumers in the industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. The Canadian Telecommunications: Industry Regulation and Policy suggest that firm can provide automated chats to help consumers solve their own problems, provide online suggestions to get maximum out of the products and services, and help consumers to build a community where they can interact with each other to develop new features and uses.
Loyalty marketing
– Globalive Wireless 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.
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 Globalive Wireless in the consumer business. Now Globalive Wireless can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.
Learning at scale
– Online learning technologies has now opened space for Globalive Wireless 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.
Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains
– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Globalive Wireless 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, The Canadian Telecommunications: Industry Regulation and Policy, to buy more products closer to the markets, and it can leverage its size and influence to get better deal from the local markets.
Finding new ways to collaborate
– Covid-19 has not only transformed business models of companies in Leadership & Managing People industry, but it has also influenced the consumer preferences. Globalive Wireless can tie-up with other value chain partners to explore new opportunities regarding meeting customer demands and building a rewarding and engaging relationship.
Developing new processes and practices
– Globalive Wireless 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.
Better consumer reach
– The expansion of the 5G network will help Globalive Wireless to increase its market reach. Globalive Wireless 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.
Changes in consumer behavior post Covid-19
– Consumer behavior has changed in the Leadership & Managing People industry because of Covid-19 restrictions. Some of this behavior will stay once things get back to normal. Globalive Wireless 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. Globalive Wireless 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.
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Globalive Wireless has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Globalive Wireless to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the The Canadian Telecommunications: Industry Regulation and Policy case study. Globalive Wireless can build new products and services such as - data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
Lowering marketing communication costs
– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Globalive Wireless 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.
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 Globalive Wireless 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.
Threats The Canadian Telecommunications: Industry Regulation and Policy External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study The Canadian Telecommunications: Industry Regulation and Policy are -
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 Globalive Wireless 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, Globalive Wireless 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 The Canadian Telecommunications: Industry Regulation and Policy .
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Globalive Wireless has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Leadership & Managing People industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Globalive Wireless 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.
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, as highlighted in case study The Canadian Telecommunications: Industry Regulation and Policy, Globalive Wireless 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 .
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 Globalive Wireless.
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.
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Globalive Wireless 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 Globalive Wireless 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.
High dependence on third party suppliers
– Globalive Wireless high dependence on third party suppliers can disrupt its processes and delivery mechanism. For example -the current troubles of car makers because of chip shortage is because the chip companies started producing chips for electronic companies rather than car manufacturers.
Increasing wage structure of Globalive Wireless
– 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 Globalive Wireless.
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. Globalive Wireless needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Leadership & Managing People industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
Regulatory challenges
– Globalive Wireless 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.
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. Globalive Wireless can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of The Canadian Telecommunications: Industry Regulation and Policy 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 The Canadian Telecommunications: Industry Regulation and Policy 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 The Canadian Telecommunications: Industry Regulation and Policy 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 The Canadian Telecommunications: Industry Regulation and Policy 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 The Canadian Telecommunications: Industry Regulation and Policy 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 Globalive Wireless needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.