Network for Information & Computer Technology: Diversify or Consolidate? SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Leadership & Managing People
Strategy / MBA Resources
Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of Network for Information & Computer Technology: Diversify or Consolidate?
The chief executive officer of Network for Information & Computer Technology (NICT), an information and communications technology implementation firm, had to consider a proposal from India Post in which the latter would leverage NICT's franchisee-based last-mile customer service kiosks to offer banking solutions to rural areas in India. With the deal, the Post Bank of India would emerge as India's largest commercial bank. NICT's network of customer service kiosks was already used in a limited capacity by public-sector banks (the Bank of India and the State Bank of India). The India Post offer could stabilize the financial health of NICT and enable it to venture into new domains. However, its current partners might object to the relationship with India Post and withdraw from their partnership. While NICT had the competencies to serve its current clients, it would need to build new ones for India Post. The CEO had to choose between this emerging, possibly highly profitable opportunity and the existing but less profitable partners.
Swot Analysis of "Network for Information & Computer Technology: Diversify or Consolidate?" written by Shubhabrata Basu includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Nict India facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Network for Information & Computer Technology: Diversify or Consolidate? case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, and Leadership & Managing People.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Network for Information & Computer Technology: Diversify or Consolidate? casestudy better are - – increasing commodity prices, there is backlash against globalization, digital marketing is dominated by two big players Facebook and Google, supply chains are disrupted by pandemic , increasing inequality as vast percentage of new income is going to the top 1%, there is increasing trade war between United States & China, banking and financial system is disrupted by Bitcoin and other crypto currencies,
central banks are concerned over increasing inflation, cloud computing is disrupting traditional business models, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Network for Information & Computer Technology: Diversify or Consolidate?
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Network for Information & Computer Technology: Diversify or Consolidate? case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Nict India, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Nict India 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 Network for Information & Computer Technology: Diversify or Consolidate? can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Network for Information & Computer Technology: Diversify or Consolidate? case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Nict India
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 Nict India
Strengths Network for Information & Computer Technology: Diversify or Consolidate? | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Nict India in Network for Information & Computer Technology: Diversify or Consolidate? Harvard Business Review case study are -
Ability to recruit top talent
– Nict India is one of the leading recruiters in the industry. Managers in the Network for Information & Computer Technology: Diversify or Consolidate? are in a position to attract the best talent available. The firm has a robust talent identification program that helps in identifying the brightest.
Superior customer experience
– The customer experience strategy of Nict India in the segment is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.
High brand equity
– Nict India has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Nict India to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Organizational Resilience of Nict India
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing that Nict India does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
Innovation driven organization
– Nict India is one of the most innovative firm in sector. Manager in Network for Information & Computer Technology: Diversify or Consolidate? Harvard Business Review case study can use Clayton Christensen Disruptive Innovation strategies to further increase the scale of innovtions in the organization.
Training and development
– Nict India has one of the best training and development program in the industry. The effectiveness of the training programs can be measured in Network for Information & Computer Technology: Diversify or Consolidate? 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
– Nict India 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 Shubhabrata Basu 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 switching costs
– The high switching costs that Nict India has built up over years in its products and services combo offer has resulted in high retention of customers, lower marketing costs, and greater ability of the firm to focus on its customers.
Learning organization
- Nict India 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 Nict India is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders in Network for Information & Computer Technology: Diversify or Consolidate? Harvard Business Review case study emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Leadership & Managing People industry
– Network for Information & Computer Technology: Diversify or Consolidate? firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Nict India to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Leadership & Managing People industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Nict India to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Ability to lead change in Leadership & Managing People field
– Nict India 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 Nict India in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.
Strong track record of project management
– Nict India is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.
Weaknesses Network for Information & Computer Technology: Diversify or Consolidate? | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Network for Information & Computer Technology: Diversify or Consolidate? are -
Slow decision making process
– As mentioned earlier in the report, Nict India 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. Nict India 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.
Products dominated business model
– Even though Nict India 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 - Network for Information & Computer Technology: Diversify or Consolidate? should strive to include more intangible value offerings along with its core products and services.
Lack of clear differentiation of Nict India products
– To increase the profitability and margins on the products, Nict India needs to provide more differentiated products than what it is currently offering in the marketplace.
High operating costs
– Compare to the competitors, firm in the HBR case study Network for Information & Computer Technology: Diversify or Consolidate? 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 Nict India 's lucrative customers.
Compensation and incentives
– The revenue per employee as mentioned in the HBR case study Network for Information & Computer Technology: Diversify or Consolidate?, is just above the industry average. Nict India 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.
High bargaining power of channel partners
– Because of the regulatory requirements, Shubhabrata Basu suggests that, Nict India 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.
Need for greater diversity
– Nict India 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 Nict India 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 dependence on star products
– The top 2 products and services of the firm as mentioned in the Network for Information & Computer Technology: Diversify or Consolidate? 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 Nict India 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 Nict India supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes mentioned in the HBR case study - Network for Information & Computer Technology: Diversify or Consolidate?, it is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left Nict India vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.
Slow to strategic competitive environment developments
– As Network for Information & Computer Technology: Diversify or Consolidate? HBR case study mentions - Nict India 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.
Opportunities Network for Information & Computer Technology: Diversify or Consolidate? | 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 Network for Information & Computer Technology: Diversify or Consolidate? are -
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. Nict India can tie-up with other value chain partners to explore new opportunities regarding meeting customer demands and building a rewarding and engaging relationship.
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 Nict India in the consumer business. Now Nict India can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.
Better consumer reach
– The expansion of the 5G network will help Nict India to increase its market reach. Nict India 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.
Redefining models of collaboration and team work
– As explained in the weaknesses section, Nict India is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. Network for Information & Computer Technology: Diversify or Consolidate? 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.
Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities
– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Nict India 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 Nict India to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
Buying journey improvements
– Nict India can improve the customer journey of consumers in the industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. Network for Information & Computer Technology: Diversify or Consolidate? 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.
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Nict India has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Nict India to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the Network for Information & Computer Technology: Diversify or Consolidate? case study. Nict India can build new products and services such as - data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
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. Nict India 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. Nict India 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.
Loyalty marketing
– Nict India 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.
Low interest rates
– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Nict India 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.
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 Nict India 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.
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– Nict India 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 Network for Information & Computer Technology: Diversify or Consolidate? - to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Nict India to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
Lowering marketing communication costs
– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Nict India 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.
Threats Network for Information & Computer Technology: Diversify or Consolidate? External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Network for Information & Computer Technology: Diversify or Consolidate? are -
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Nict India is facing in Leadership & Managing People sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Nict India has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Leadership & Managing People industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Nict India 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.
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 Nict India 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, Nict India 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 Network for Information & Computer Technology: Diversify or Consolidate? .
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.
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. Nict India can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
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.
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 Nict India.
Consumer confidence and its impact on Nict India 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.
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. Nict India 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.
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 Nict India in the Leadership & Managing People sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
Increasing wage structure of Nict India
– 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 Nict India.
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. Nict India needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Leadership & Managing People industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Network for Information & Computer Technology: Diversify or Consolidate? 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 Network for Information & Computer Technology: Diversify or Consolidate? 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 Network for Information & Computer Technology: Diversify or Consolidate? 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 Network for Information & Computer Technology: Diversify or Consolidate? 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 Network for Information & Computer Technology: Diversify or Consolidate? 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 Nict India needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.
