Case Study Description of Continental Cablevision, Inc./Fintelco Joint Venture
In February 1994, the senior management team at Continental Cablevision received the final joint-venture agreement from Fintelco, a potential partner in Argentina. The tasks for the student are to review the terms of the agreement, the outlook for the Argentine economy, and the corporate cultures at both companies to decide whether Continental should sign the agreement.
Swot Analysis of "Continental Cablevision, Inc./Fintelco Joint Venture" written by Robert F. Bruner, Katarina Paddack includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Fintelco Continental facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Continental Cablevision, Inc./Fintelco Joint Venture case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Entrepreneurship, Financial analysis, Financial management, Government and Finance & Accounting.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Continental Cablevision, Inc./Fintelco Joint Venture casestudy better are - – cloud computing is disrupting traditional business models, challanges to central banks by blockchain based private currencies, technology disruption, increasing energy prices, increasing commodity prices, there is increasing trade war between United States & China, customer relationship management is fast transforming because of increasing concerns over data privacy,
wage bills are increasing, digital marketing is dominated by two big players Facebook and Google, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Continental Cablevision, Inc./Fintelco Joint Venture
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Continental Cablevision, Inc./Fintelco Joint Venture case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Fintelco Continental, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Fintelco Continental 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 Continental Cablevision, Inc./Fintelco Joint Venture can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Continental Cablevision, Inc./Fintelco Joint Venture case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Fintelco Continental
3. Assessing feasibility of the new initiative in Finance & Accounting field.
4. Making a Finance & Accounting topic specific business decision
5. Set goals for the organization
6. Organizational restructuring of Fintelco Continental
Strengths Continental Cablevision, Inc./Fintelco Joint Venture | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Fintelco Continental in Continental Cablevision, Inc./Fintelco Joint Venture Harvard Business Review case study are -
Organizational Resilience of Fintelco Continental
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing that Fintelco Continental does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
Analytics focus
– Fintelco Continental 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 Robert F. Bruner, Katarina Paddack 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.
Effective Research and Development (R&D)
– Fintelco Continental 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 Continental Cablevision, Inc./Fintelco Joint Venture - staying ahead in the industry in terms of – new product launches, superior customer experience, highly competitive pricing strategies, and great returns to the shareholders.
High brand equity
– Fintelco Continental has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Fintelco Continental to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Diverse revenue streams
– Fintelco Continental is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided firm in Continental Cablevision, Inc./Fintelco Joint Venture 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.
Learning organization
- Fintelco Continental 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 Fintelco Continental is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders in Continental Cablevision, Inc./Fintelco Joint Venture Harvard Business Review case study emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
Highly skilled collaborators
– Fintelco Continental 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 Continental Cablevision, Inc./Fintelco Joint Venture HBR case study have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
Ability to recruit top talent
– Fintelco Continental is one of the leading recruiters in the industry. Managers in the Continental Cablevision, Inc./Fintelco Joint Venture are in a position to attract the best talent available. The firm has a robust talent identification program that helps in identifying the brightest.
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Finance & Accounting industry
– Continental Cablevision, Inc./Fintelco Joint Venture firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Fintelco Continental to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Finance & Accounting industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Fintelco Continental to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
High switching costs
– The high switching costs that Fintelco Continental 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.
Superior customer experience
– The customer experience strategy of Fintelco Continental in the segment is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.
Digital Transformation in Finance & Accounting segment
- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For Fintelco Continental digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Fintelco Continental has successfully integrated the four key components of digital transformation – digital integration in processes, digital integration in marketing and customer relationship management, digital integration into the value chain, and using technology to explore new products and market opportunities.
Weaknesses Continental Cablevision, Inc./Fintelco Joint Venture | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Continental Cablevision, Inc./Fintelco Joint Venture are -
Ability to respond to the competition
– As the decision making is very deliberative, highlighted in the case study Continental Cablevision, Inc./Fintelco Joint Venture, in the dynamic environment Fintelco Continental has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. Fintelco Continental has reasonably good record with similar level competitors but it has struggled with new entrants taking away niches of its business.
Skills based hiring
– The stress on hiring functional specialists at Fintelco Continental 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.
No frontier risks strategy
– After analyzing the HBR case study Continental Cablevision, Inc./Fintelco Joint Venture, it seems that company is thinking about the frontier risks that can impact Finance & Accounting 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 Continental Cablevision, Inc./Fintelco Joint Venture 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 Fintelco Continental has relatively successful track record of launching new products.
Employees’ incomplete understanding of strategy
– From the instances in the HBR case study Continental Cablevision, Inc./Fintelco Joint Venture, it seems that the employees of Fintelco Continental don’t have comprehensive understanding of the firm’s strategy. This is reflected in number of promotional campaigns over the last few years that had mixed messaging and competing priorities. Some of the strategic activities and services promoted in the promotional campaigns were not consistent with the organization’s strategy.
High dependence on existing supply chain
– The disruption in the global supply chains because of the Covid-19 pandemic and blockage of the Suez Canal illustrated the fragile nature of Fintelco Continental supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes mentioned in the HBR case study - Continental Cablevision, Inc./Fintelco Joint Venture, it is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left Fintelco Continental vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.
Aligning sales with marketing
– It come across in the case study Continental Cablevision, Inc./Fintelco Joint Venture 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 Continental Cablevision, Inc./Fintelco Joint Venture can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Fintelco Continental is planning to shift buying processes online.
Capital Spending Reduction
– Even during the low interest decade, Fintelco Continental 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.
Slow to harness new channels of communication
– Even though competitors are using new communication channels such as Instagram, Tiktok, and Snap, Fintelco Continental is slow explore the new channels of communication. These new channels of communication mentioned in marketing section of case study Continental Cablevision, Inc./Fintelco Joint Venture can help to provide better information regarding products and services. It can also build an online community to further reach out to potential customers.
Compensation and incentives
– The revenue per employee as mentioned in the HBR case study Continental Cablevision, Inc./Fintelco Joint Venture, is just above the industry average. Fintelco Continental 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.
Need for greater diversity
– Fintelco Continental 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.
Opportunities Continental Cablevision, Inc./Fintelco Joint Venture | 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 Continental Cablevision, Inc./Fintelco Joint Venture are -
Better consumer reach
– The expansion of the 5G network will help Fintelco Continental to increase its market reach. Fintelco Continental 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.
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 Fintelco Continental 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.
Leveraging digital technologies
– Fintelco Continental 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.
Changes in consumer behavior post Covid-19
– Consumer behavior has changed in the Finance & Accounting industry because of Covid-19 restrictions. Some of this behavior will stay once things get back to normal. Fintelco Continental 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. Fintelco Continental 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.
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 Fintelco Continental in the consumer business. Now Fintelco Continental can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.
Loyalty marketing
– Fintelco Continental 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.
Manufacturing automation
– Fintelco Continental can use the latest technology developments to improve its manufacturing and designing process in Finance & Accounting 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.
Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains
– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Fintelco Continental 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, Continental Cablevision, Inc./Fintelco Joint Venture, 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 Finance & Accounting industry, but it has also influenced the consumer preferences. Fintelco Continental can tie-up with other value chain partners to explore new opportunities regarding meeting customer demands and building a rewarding and engaging relationship.
Lowering marketing communication costs
– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Fintelco Continental in the field of marketing communication. It will bring down the cost of doing business, provide technology platform to build new products in the Finance & Accounting segment, and it will provide faster access to the consumers.
Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities
– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Fintelco Continental 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 Fintelco Continental to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
Developing new processes and practices
– Fintelco Continental can develop new processes and procedures in Finance & Accounting 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.
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– Fintelco Continental 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 Continental Cablevision, Inc./Fintelco Joint Venture - to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Fintelco Continental to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
Threats Continental Cablevision, Inc./Fintelco Joint Venture External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Continental Cablevision, Inc./Fintelco Joint Venture are -
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 Fintelco Continental in the Finance & Accounting sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
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.
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 Finance & Accounting field will also reduce the barriers to entry in the industry, thus putting downward pressure on the prices because of increasing competition. Fintelco Continental can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
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 Fintelco Continental.
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Fintelco Continental 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.
Environmental challenges
– Fintelco Continental 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. Fintelco Continental can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Finance & Accounting industry.
Increasing wage structure of Fintelco Continental
– 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 Fintelco Continental.
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Fintelco Continental has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Finance & Accounting industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Fintelco Continental needs to keep up with the evolution of technology in the Finance & Accounting 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 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. Fintelco Continental needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Finance & Accounting industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
Consumer confidence and its impact on Fintelco Continental 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.
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Fintelco Continental 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 Continental Cablevision, Inc./Fintelco Joint Venture .
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry in the industry are lowering. It can presents Fintelco Continental 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 Continental Cablevision, Inc./Fintelco Joint Venture 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 Continental Cablevision, Inc./Fintelco Joint Venture 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 Continental Cablevision, Inc./Fintelco Joint Venture 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 Continental Cablevision, Inc./Fintelco Joint Venture 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 Continental Cablevision, Inc./Fintelco Joint Venture 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 Fintelco Continental needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.
