Northern Telecom and Netas (A): Turkey's Telecommunications Team SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Leadership & Managing People
Strategy / MBA Resources
Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of Northern Telecom and Netas (A): Turkey's Telecommunications Team
The Turkish general manager of a successful telecommunications equipment-manufacturing joint venture between the Canadian company Northern Telecom and local partners in Turkey reviews the solutions to a crisis in 1989 and wonders whether the company will be able to handle another problem situation following Turkey's local elections in 1993.
Authors :: Rosabeth Moss Kanter, Pamela Yatsko, Kalman D. Applbaum
Swot Analysis of "Northern Telecom and Netas (A): Turkey's Telecommunications Team" written by Rosabeth Moss Kanter, Pamela Yatsko, Kalman D. Applbaum includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Turkey's Northern facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Northern Telecom and Netas (A): Turkey's Telecommunications Team case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Emerging markets, Joint ventures, Technology and Leadership & Managing People.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Northern Telecom and Netas (A): Turkey's Telecommunications Team casestudy better are - – increasing energy prices, competitive advantages are harder to sustain because of technology dispersion, increasing inequality as vast percentage of new income is going to the top 1%, wage bills are increasing, cloud computing is disrupting traditional business models, talent flight as more people leaving formal jobs, digital marketing is dominated by two big players Facebook and Google,
there is backlash against globalization, there is increasing trade war between United States & China, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Northern Telecom and Netas (A): Turkey's Telecommunications Team
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Northern Telecom and Netas (A): Turkey's Telecommunications Team case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Turkey's Northern, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Turkey's Northern 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 Northern Telecom and Netas (A): Turkey's Telecommunications Team can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Northern Telecom and Netas (A): Turkey's Telecommunications Team case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Turkey's Northern
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 Turkey's Northern
Strengths Northern Telecom and Netas (A): Turkey's Telecommunications Team | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Turkey's Northern in Northern Telecom and Netas (A): Turkey's Telecommunications Team Harvard Business Review case study are -
Training and development
– Turkey's Northern has one of the best training and development program in the industry. The effectiveness of the training programs can be measured in Northern Telecom and Netas (A): Turkey's Telecommunications Team 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.
High switching costs
– The high switching costs that Turkey's Northern 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.
Innovation driven organization
– Turkey's Northern is one of the most innovative firm in sector. Manager in Northern Telecom and Netas (A): Turkey's Telecommunications Team Harvard Business Review case study can use Clayton Christensen Disruptive Innovation strategies to further increase the scale of innovtions in the organization.
High brand equity
– Turkey's Northern has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Turkey's Northern to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Ability to lead change in Leadership & Managing People field
– Turkey's Northern 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 Turkey's Northern in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.
Cross disciplinary teams
– Horizontal connected teams at the Turkey's Northern 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 Northern Telecom and Netas (A): Turkey's Telecommunications Team 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)
– Turkey's Northern 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 Northern Telecom and Netas (A): Turkey's Telecommunications Team - staying ahead in the industry in terms of – new product launches, superior customer experience, highly competitive pricing strategies, and great returns to the shareholders.
Digital Transformation in Leadership & Managing People segment
- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For Turkey's Northern digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Turkey's Northern 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.
Learning organization
- Turkey's Northern 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 Turkey's Northern is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders in Northern Telecom and Netas (A): Turkey's Telecommunications Team Harvard Business Review case study emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
Superior customer experience
– The customer experience strategy of Turkey's Northern in the segment is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.
Organizational Resilience of Turkey's Northern
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing that Turkey's Northern does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
Weaknesses Northern Telecom and Netas (A): Turkey's Telecommunications Team | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Northern Telecom and Netas (A): Turkey's Telecommunications Team are -
Low market penetration in new markets
– Outside its home market of Turkey's Northern, firm in the HBR case study Northern Telecom and Netas (A): Turkey's Telecommunications Team needs to spend more promotional, marketing, and advertising efforts to penetrate international markets.
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 Turkey's Northern supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes mentioned in the HBR case study - Northern Telecom and Netas (A): Turkey's Telecommunications Team, it is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left Turkey's Northern vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.
High cash cycle compare to competitors
Turkey's Northern 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.
Increasing silos among functional specialists
– The organizational structure of Turkey's Northern is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Leadership & Managing People segment. Turkey's Northern needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Turkey's Northern to focus more on services rather than just following the product oriented approach.
Slow to strategic competitive environment developments
– As Northern Telecom and Netas (A): Turkey's Telecommunications Team HBR case study mentions - Turkey's Northern 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 Turkey's Northern 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 operating costs
– Compare to the competitors, firm in the HBR case study Northern Telecom and Netas (A): Turkey's Telecommunications Team has high operating costs in the. This can be harder to sustain given the new emerging competition from nimble players who are using technology to attract Turkey's Northern 's lucrative customers.
Compensation and incentives
– The revenue per employee as mentioned in the HBR case study Northern Telecom and Netas (A): Turkey's Telecommunications Team, is just above the industry average. Turkey's Northern 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.
Interest costs
– Compare to the competition, Turkey's Northern 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.
Ability to respond to the competition
– As the decision making is very deliberative, highlighted in the case study Northern Telecom and Netas (A): Turkey's Telecommunications Team, in the dynamic environment Turkey's Northern has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. Turkey's Northern has reasonably good record with similar level competitors but it has struggled with new entrants taking away niches of its business.
Workers concerns about automation
– As automation is fast increasing in the segment, Turkey's Northern 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.
Opportunities Northern Telecom and Netas (A): Turkey's Telecommunications Team | 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 Northern Telecom and Netas (A): Turkey's Telecommunications Team are -
Building a culture of innovation
– managers at Turkey's Northern 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.
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 Turkey's Northern 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.
Better consumer reach
– The expansion of the 5G network will help Turkey's Northern to increase its market reach. Turkey's Northern will be able to reach out to new customers. Secondly 5G will also provide technology framework to build new tools and products that can help more immersive consumer experience and faster consumer journey.
Loyalty marketing
– Turkey's Northern 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.
Reforming the budgeting process
- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects Turkey's Northern can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.
Use of Bitcoin and other crypto currencies for transactions
– The popularity of Bitcoin and other crypto currencies as asset class and medium of transaction has opened new opportunities for Turkey's Northern in the consumer business. Now Turkey's Northern can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.
Redefining models of collaboration and team work
– As explained in the weaknesses section, Turkey's Northern is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. Northern Telecom and Netas (A): Turkey's Telecommunications Team 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.
Leveraging digital technologies
– Turkey's Northern 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 Turkey's Northern 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.
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. Turkey's Northern 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. Turkey's Northern 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.
Manufacturing automation
– Turkey's Northern 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.
Buying journey improvements
– Turkey's Northern can improve the customer journey of consumers in the industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. Northern Telecom and Netas (A): Turkey's Telecommunications Team 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.
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. Turkey's Northern can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.
Threats Northern Telecom and Netas (A): Turkey's Telecommunications Team External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Northern Telecom and Netas (A): Turkey's Telecommunications Team are -
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Turkey's Northern 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.
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, as highlighted in case study Northern Telecom and Netas (A): Turkey's Telecommunications Team, Turkey's Northern 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 .
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. Turkey's Northern 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.
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry in the industry are lowering. It can presents Turkey's Northern with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the sector.
Increasing wage structure of Turkey's Northern
– 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 Turkey's Northern.
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 Turkey's Northern.
Environmental challenges
– Turkey's Northern 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. Turkey's Northern can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Leadership & Managing People industry.
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 Turkey's Northern in the Leadership & Managing People sector and impact the bottomline 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 Turkey's Northern business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
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. Turkey's Northern needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Leadership & Managing People industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
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.
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Turkey's Northern 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.
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Turkey's Northern is facing in Leadership & Managing People sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Northern Telecom and Netas (A): Turkey's Telecommunications Team 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 Northern Telecom and Netas (A): Turkey's Telecommunications Team 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 Northern Telecom and Netas (A): Turkey's Telecommunications Team 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 Northern Telecom and Netas (A): Turkey's Telecommunications Team 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 Northern Telecom and Netas (A): Turkey's Telecommunications Team 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 Turkey's Northern needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.