SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix for Mahanagar Telephone (India)
Based on various researches at Oak Spring University , Mahanagar Telephone is operating in a macro-environment that has been destablized by – increasing household debt because of falling income levels, increasing transportation and logistics costs, banking and financial system is disrupted by Bitcoin and other crypto currencies, talent flight as more people leaving formal jobs, customer relationship management is fast transforming because of increasing concerns over data privacy, increasing energy prices, increasing inequality as vast percentage of new income is going to the top 1%,
increasing government debt because of Covid-19 spendings, wage bills are increasing, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Mahanagar Telephone
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University, we believe that Mahanagar Telephone can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Mahanagar Telephone, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Mahanagar Telephone 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 Mahanagar Telephone can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning of Mahanagar Telephone
2. Improving business portfolio management of Mahanagar Telephone
3. Assessing feasibility of the new initiative in India
4. Making a Communications Services sector specific business decision
5. Set goals for the organization
6. Organizational restructuring of Mahanagar Telephone
Strengths of Mahanagar Telephone | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Mahanagar Telephone are -
Learning organization
- Mahanagar Telephone 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 Mahanagar Telephone is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders at Mahanagar Telephone emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
Diverse revenue streams
– Mahanagar Telephone is present in almost all the verticals within the Communications Services industry. This has provided Mahanagar Telephone 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.
High brand equity
– Mahanagar Telephone has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Mahanagar Telephone to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Successful track record of launching new products
– Mahanagar Telephone has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Mahanagar Telephone 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.
Organizational Resilience of Mahanagar Telephone
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing Mahanagar Telephone does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
Operational resilience
– The operational resilience strategy of Mahanagar Telephone comprises – understanding the underlying the factors in the Communications Services 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.
Strong track record of project management in the Communications Services industry
– Mahanagar Telephone is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.
Training and development
– Mahanagar Telephone has one of the best training and development program in Services industry. The effectiveness of the training programs can be measured in – employees retention, in-house promotion, loyalty, new venture initiation, lack of conflict, and high level of both employees and customer engagement.
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Communications Services industry
– Mahanagar Telephone has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Mahanagar Telephone to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Communications Services industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Mahanagar Telephone to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Effective Research and Development (R&D)
– Mahanagar Telephone has innovation driven culture where significant part of the revenues are spent on the research and development activities. This has resulted in – Mahanagar Telephone staying ahead in the Communications Services industry in terms of – new product launches, superior customer experience, highly competitive pricing strategies, and great returns to the shareholders.
Highly skilled collaborators
– Mahanagar Telephone has highly efficient outsourcing and offshoring strategy. It has resulted in greater operational flexibility and bringing down the costs in highly price sensitive Communications Services industry. Secondly the value chain collaborators of Mahanagar Telephone have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
Innovation driven organization
– Mahanagar Telephone is one of the most innovative firm in Communications Services sector.
Weaknesses of Mahanagar Telephone | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Mahanagar Telephone are -
High operating costs
– Compare to the competitors, Mahanagar Telephone has high operating costs in the Communications Services industry. This can be harder to sustain given the new emerging competition from nimble players who are using technology to attract Mahanagar Telephone lucrative customers.
Capital Spending Reduction
– Even during the low interest decade, Mahanagar Telephone 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 Communications Services industry using digital technology.
Increasing silos among functional specialists
– The organizational structure of Mahanagar Telephone is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Communications Services industry, but Mahanagar Telephone needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Mahanagar Telephone to focus more on services in the Communications Services industry rather than just following the product oriented approach.
No frontier risks strategy
– From the 10K / annual statement of Mahanagar Telephone, it seems that company is thinking out the frontier risks that can impact Communications Services industry. 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.
Interest costs
– Compare to the competition, Mahanagar Telephone 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.
High dependence on Mahanagar Telephone ‘s star products
– The top 2 products and services of Mahanagar Telephone still accounts for major business revenue. This dependence on star products in Communications Services industry has resulted into insufficient focus on developing new products, even though Mahanagar Telephone has relatively successful track record of launching new products.
Aligning sales with marketing
– From the outside it seems that Mahanagar Telephone needs to have more collaboration between its sales team and marketing team. Sales professionals in the Communications Services industry have deep experience in developing customer relationships. Marketing department at Mahanagar Telephone can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Mahanagar Telephone is planning to shift buying processes online.
Need for greater diversity
– Mahanagar Telephone 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.
Ability to respond to the competition
– As the decision making is very deliberative at Mahanagar Telephone, in the dynamic environment of Communications Services industry it has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. Mahanagar Telephone has reasonably good record with similar level competitors but it has struggled with new entrants taking away niches of its business.
Slow to harness new channels of communication
– Even though competitors are using new communication channels such as Instagram, Tiktok, and Snap, Mahanagar Telephone is slow explore the new channels of communication. These new channels of communication can help Mahanagar Telephone to provide better information regarding Communications Services products and services. It can also build an online community to further reach out to potential customers.
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 Mahanagar Telephone supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes, Mahanagar Telephone is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left Mahanagar Telephone vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.
Mahanagar Telephone Opportunities | External Strategic Factors
What are Opportunities in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The opportunities of Mahanagar Telephone are -
Better consumer reach
– The expansion of the 5G network will help Mahanagar Telephone to increase its market reach. Mahanagar Telephone 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.
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– Mahanagar Telephone has spent a significant amount of money and effort to integrate analytics and machine learning into its operations in Communications Services sector. This continuous investment in analytics has enabled Mahanagar Telephone to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Mahanagar Telephone to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
Use of Bitcoin and other crypto currencies for transactions in Communications Services industry
– The popularity of Bitcoin and other crypto currencies as asset class and medium of transaction has opened new opportunities for Mahanagar Telephone in the Communications Services industry. Now Mahanagar Telephone can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.
Changes in consumer behavior post Covid-19
– consumer behavior has changed in the Communications Services industry because of Covid-19 restrictions. Some of this behavior will stay once things get back to normal. Mahanagar Telephone 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. Mahanagar Telephone 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.
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. Mahanagar Telephone can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.
Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains
– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Mahanagar Telephone 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 Mahanagar Telephone to buy more products closer to the markets, and it can leverage its size and influence to get better deal from the local markets.
Low interest rates
– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Mahanagar Telephone 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.
Lowering marketing communication costs
– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Mahanagar Telephone in the field of marketing communication. It will bring down the cost of doing business, provide technology platform to build new products in the Communications Services industry, and it will provide faster access to the consumers.
Manufacturing automation
– Mahanagar Telephone can use the latest technology developments to improve its manufacturing and designing process in Communications Services sector. 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.
Developing new processes and practices
– Mahanagar Telephone can develop new processes and procedures in Communications Services 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.
Building a culture of innovation
– managers at Mahanagar Telephone 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 Communications Services industry.
Leveraging digital technologies
– Mahanagar Telephone 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 Mahanagar Telephone 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.
Threats Mahanagar Telephone External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats of Mahanagar Telephone are -
Easy access to finance
– Easy access to finance in Communications Services industry will also reduce the barriers to entry in the industry, thus putting downward pressure on the prices because of increasing competition. Mahanagar Telephone can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Mahanagar Telephone has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Communications Services industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Mahanagar Telephone needs to keep up with the evolution of technology in the Communications Services 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.
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry to Communications Services industry are lowering. It can presents Mahanagar Telephone with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the Communications Services sector.
Environmental challenges
– Mahanagar Telephone 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. Mahanagar Telephone can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Communications Services industry.
Increasing wage structure of Mahanagar Telephone
– 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 Mahanagar Telephone.
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.
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Mahanagar Telephone 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 Mahanagar Telephone prominent markets.
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 Mahanagar Telephone.
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.
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 Mahanagar Telephone business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
High dependence on third party suppliers
– Mahanagar Telephone 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.
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, Mahanagar Telephone may face longer learning curve for training and development of existing employees. This can open space for more nimble competitors in the field of Communications Services sector.
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Mahanagar Telephone 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 Communications Services industry.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Mahanagar Telephone Template, Example
Not all factors mentioned under the Strengths, Weakness, Opportunities, and Threats quadrants in the SWOT Analysis are equal. Managers at Mahanagar Telephone 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 Mahanagar Telephone 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 Mahanagar Telephone 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 Mahanagar Telephone 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 Mahanagar Telephone needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.