Cincinnati Bell Inc ADR (CBB_pb) SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / MBA Resources
Strategy / MBA Resources
Introduction to SWOT Analysis
SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix for Cincinnati Bell Inc ADR (United States)
Based on various researches at Oak Spring University , Cincinnati Bell Inc ADR is operating in a macro-environment that has been destablized by – banking and financial system is disrupted by Bitcoin and other crypto currencies, there is increasing trade war between United States & China, customer relationship management is fast transforming because of increasing concerns over data privacy, geopolitical disruptions, increasing government debt because of Covid-19 spendings, talent flight as more people leaving formal jobs, there is backlash against globalization,
wage bills are increasing, increasing household debt because of falling income levels, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Cincinnati Bell Inc ADR
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University, we believe that Cincinnati Bell Inc ADR can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Cincinnati Bell Inc ADR, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Cincinnati Bell Inc ADR 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 Cincinnati Bell Inc ADR can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning of Cincinnati Bell Inc ADR
2. Improving business portfolio management of Cincinnati Bell Inc ADR
3. Assessing feasibility of the new initiative in United States
4. Making a sector specific business decision
5. Set goals for the organization
6. Organizational restructuring of Cincinnati Bell Inc ADR
Strengths of Cincinnati Bell Inc ADR | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Cincinnati Bell Inc ADR are -
Successful track record of launching new products
– Cincinnati Bell Inc ADR has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Cincinnati Bell Inc ADR 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.
High brand equity
– Cincinnati Bell Inc ADR has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Cincinnati Bell Inc ADR to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Sustainable margins compare to other players in industry
– Cincinnati Bell Inc ADR has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Cincinnati Bell Inc ADR to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Cincinnati Bell Inc ADR to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
High switching costs
– The high switching costs that Cincinnati Bell Inc ADR 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
- Cincinnati Bell Inc ADR 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 Cincinnati Bell Inc ADR is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders at Cincinnati Bell Inc ADR emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
Digital Transformation in industry
- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For Cincinnati Bell Inc ADR digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Cincinnati Bell Inc ADR 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.
Superior customer experience
– The customer experience strategy of Cincinnati Bell Inc ADR in industry is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.
Operational resilience
– The operational resilience strategy of Cincinnati Bell Inc ADR 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.
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of Cincinnati Bell Inc ADR in the sector have low bargaining power. Cincinnati Bell Inc ADR has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Cincinnati Bell Inc ADR to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
Effective Research and Development (R&D)
– Cincinnati Bell Inc ADR has innovation driven culture where significant part of the revenues are spent on the research and development activities. This has resulted in – Cincinnati Bell Inc ADR staying ahead in the industry in terms of – new product launches, superior customer experience, highly competitive pricing strategies, and great returns to the shareholders.
Highly skilled collaborators
– Cincinnati Bell Inc ADR has highly efficient outsourcing and offshoring strategy. It has resulted in greater operational flexibility and bringing down the costs in highly price sensitive industry. Secondly the value chain collaborators of Cincinnati Bell Inc ADR have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
Ability to lead change in
– Cincinnati Bell Inc ADR is one of the leading players in the industry in United States. Over the years it has not only transformed the business landscape in the industry in United States but also across the existing markets. The ability to lead change has enabled Cincinnati Bell Inc ADR in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.
Weaknesses of Cincinnati Bell Inc ADR | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Cincinnati Bell Inc ADR are -
Ability to respond to the competition
– As the decision making is very deliberative at Cincinnati Bell Inc ADR, in the dynamic environment of industry it has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. Cincinnati Bell Inc ADR has reasonably good record with similar level competitors but it has struggled with new entrants taking away niches of its business.
Employees’ less understanding of Cincinnati Bell Inc ADR strategy
– From the outside it seems that the employees of Cincinnati Bell Inc ADR 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 Cincinnati Bell Inc ADR supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes, Cincinnati Bell Inc ADR is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left Cincinnati Bell Inc ADR vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.
High dependence on Cincinnati Bell Inc ADR ‘s star products
– The top 2 products and services of Cincinnati Bell Inc ADR still accounts for major business revenue. This dependence on star products in industry has resulted into insufficient focus on developing new products, even though Cincinnati Bell Inc ADR has relatively successful track record of launching new products.
Slow to strategic competitive environment developments
– As Cincinnati Bell Inc ADR is one of the leading players in the industry, it 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.
Products dominated business model
– Even though Cincinnati Bell Inc ADR has some of the most successful models in the industry, this business model has made each new product launch extremely critical for continuous financial growth of the organization. Cincinnati Bell Inc ADR should strive to include more intangible value offerings along with its core products and services.
Compensation and incentives
– The revenue per employee of Cincinnati Bell Inc ADR is just above the industry average. It needs to redesign the compensation structure and incentives to increase the revenue per employees. Some of the steps that it can take are – hiring more specialists on project basis, etc.
Workers concerns about automation
– As automation is fast increasing in the industry, Cincinnati Bell Inc ADR needs to come up with a strategy to reduce the workers concern regarding automation. Without a clear strategy, it could lead to disruption and uncertainty within the organization.
High operating costs
– Compare to the competitors, Cincinnati Bell Inc ADR has high operating costs in the industry. This can be harder to sustain given the new emerging competition from nimble players who are using technology to attract Cincinnati Bell Inc ADR lucrative customers.
Capital Spending Reduction
– Even during the low interest decade, Cincinnati Bell Inc ADR has not been able to do capital spending to the tune of the competition. This has resulted into fewer innovations and company facing stiff competition from both existing competitors and new entrants who are disrupting the industry using digital technology.
Need for greater diversity
– Cincinnati Bell Inc ADR 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.
Cincinnati Bell Inc ADR Opportunities | External Strategic Factors
What are Opportunities in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The opportunities of Cincinnati Bell Inc ADR are -
Developing new processes and practices
– Cincinnati Bell Inc ADR can develop new processes and procedures in 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.
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Cincinnati Bell Inc ADR has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in industry. This can help Cincinnati Bell Inc ADR to build a more holistic ecosystem for Cincinnati Bell Inc ADR products in the industry by providing – data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
Use of Bitcoin and other crypto currencies for transactions in industry
– The popularity of Bitcoin and other crypto currencies as asset class and medium of transaction has opened new opportunities for Cincinnati Bell Inc ADR in the industry. Now Cincinnati Bell Inc ADR can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.
Leveraging digital technologies
– Cincinnati Bell Inc ADR 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.
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– Cincinnati Bell Inc ADR has spent a significant amount of money and effort to integrate analytics and machine learning into its operations in sector. This continuous investment in analytics has enabled Cincinnati Bell Inc ADR to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Cincinnati Bell Inc ADR to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
Manufacturing automation
– Cincinnati Bell Inc ADR can use the latest technology developments to improve its manufacturing and designing process in 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.
Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains
– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Cincinnati Bell Inc ADR 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 Cincinnati Bell Inc ADR to buy more products closer to the markets, and it can leverage its size and influence to get better deal from the local markets.
Increase in government spending
– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Cincinnati Bell Inc ADR can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Cincinnati Bell Inc ADR operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in sector.
Reforming the budgeting process
- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects Cincinnati Bell Inc ADR can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.
Loyalty marketing
– Cincinnati Bell Inc ADR 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.
Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities
– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Cincinnati Bell Inc ADR 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 Cincinnati Bell Inc ADR to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
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 Cincinnati Bell Inc ADR 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 Cincinnati Bell Inc ADR to increase its market reach. Cincinnati Bell Inc ADR 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.
Threats Cincinnati Bell Inc ADR External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats of Cincinnati Bell Inc ADR are -
Environmental challenges
– Cincinnati Bell Inc ADR 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. Cincinnati Bell Inc ADR can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the industry.
Regulatory challenges
– Cincinnati Bell Inc ADR needs to prepare for regulatory challenges as consumer protection groups and other pressure groups are vigorously advocating for more regulations on big business - to reduce inequality, to create a level playing field, to product data privacy and consumer privacy, to reduce the influence of big money on democratic institutions, etc. This can lead to significant changes in the industry regulations.
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 Cincinnati Bell Inc ADR in the sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry to industry are lowering. It can presents Cincinnati Bell Inc ADR with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the sector.
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Cincinnati Bell Inc ADR 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 industry.
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Cincinnati Bell Inc ADR has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Cincinnati Bell Inc ADR needs to keep up with the evolution of technology in the 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. Cincinnati Bell Inc ADR needs to understand the core reasons impacting the industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
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 Cincinnati Bell Inc ADR business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Cincinnati Bell Inc ADR is facing in sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, Cincinnati Bell Inc ADR may face longer learning curve for training and development of existing employees. This can open space for more nimble competitors in the field of sector.
Increasing wage structure of Cincinnati Bell Inc ADR
– 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 Cincinnati Bell Inc ADR.
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Cincinnati Bell Inc ADR 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 Cincinnati Bell Inc ADR prominent markets.
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.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Cincinnati Bell Inc ADR Template, Example
Not all factors mentioned under the Strengths, Weakness, Opportunities, and Threats quadrants in the SWOT Analysis are equal. Managers at Cincinnati Bell Inc ADR 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 Cincinnati Bell Inc ADR 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 Cincinnati Bell Inc ADR 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 Cincinnati Bell Inc ADR 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 Cincinnati Bell Inc ADR needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.