Twenty-First Century Fox A (FOXA) SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / MBA Resources
Motion Pictures
Strategy / MBA Resources
Introduction to SWOT Analysis
SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix for Twenty-First Century Fox A (United States)
Based on various researches at Oak Spring University , Twenty-First Century Fox A is operating in a macro-environment that has been destablized by – increasing inequality as vast percentage of new income is going to the top 1%, increasing transportation and logistics costs, increasing energy prices, central banks are concerned over increasing inflation, increasing commodity prices, cloud computing is disrupting traditional business models, competitive advantages are harder to sustain because of technology dispersion,
customer relationship management is fast transforming because of increasing concerns over data privacy, banking and financial system is disrupted by Bitcoin and other crypto currencies, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Twenty-First Century Fox A
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University, we believe that Twenty-First Century Fox A can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Twenty-First Century Fox A, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Twenty-First Century Fox A 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 Twenty-First Century Fox A can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning of Twenty-First Century Fox A
2. Improving business portfolio management of Twenty-First Century Fox A
3. Assessing feasibility of the new initiative in United States
4. Making a Motion Pictures sector specific business decision
5. Set goals for the organization
6. Organizational restructuring of Twenty-First Century Fox A
Strengths of Twenty-First Century Fox A | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Twenty-First Century Fox A are -
Ability to lead change in Motion Pictures
– Twenty-First Century Fox A is one of the leading players in the Motion Pictures industry in United States. Over the years it has not only transformed the business landscape in the Motion Pictures industry in United States but also across the existing markets. The ability to lead change has enabled Twenty-First Century Fox A in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.
Organizational Resilience of Twenty-First Century Fox A
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing Twenty-First Century Fox A 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 Twenty-First Century Fox A comprises – understanding the underlying the factors in the Motion Pictures 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.
Cross disciplinary teams
– Horizontal connected teams at the Twenty-First Century Fox A are driving operational speed, building greater agility, and keeping the organization nimble to compete with new competitors. It helps are organization to ideate new ideas, and execute them swiftly in the marketplace.
Highly skilled collaborators
– Twenty-First Century Fox A has highly efficient outsourcing and offshoring strategy. It has resulted in greater operational flexibility and bringing down the costs in highly price sensitive Motion Pictures industry. Secondly the value chain collaborators of Twenty-First Century Fox A have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
Strong track record of project management in the Motion Pictures industry
– Twenty-First Century Fox A is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.
Innovation driven organization
– Twenty-First Century Fox A is one of the most innovative firm in Motion Pictures sector.
Successful track record of launching new products
– Twenty-First Century Fox A has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Twenty-First Century Fox A 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.
Ability to recruit top talent
– Twenty-First Century Fox A is one of the leading players in the Motion Pictures industry in United States. It is in a position to attract the best talent available in United States. The firm has a robust talent identification program that helps in identifying the brightest.
Learning organization
- Twenty-First Century Fox A 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 Twenty-First Century Fox A is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders at Twenty-First Century Fox A emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
Superior customer experience
– The customer experience strategy of Twenty-First Century Fox A in Motion Pictures industry is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Motion Pictures industry
– Twenty-First Century Fox A has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Twenty-First Century Fox A to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Motion Pictures industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Twenty-First Century Fox A to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Weaknesses of Twenty-First Century Fox A | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Twenty-First Century Fox A are -
Capital Spending Reduction
– Even during the low interest decade, Twenty-First Century Fox A 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 Motion Pictures industry using digital technology.
Ability to respond to the competition
– As the decision making is very deliberative at Twenty-First Century Fox A, in the dynamic environment of Motion Pictures industry it has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. Twenty-First Century Fox A 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 Twenty-First Century Fox A strategy
– From the outside it seems that the employees of Twenty-First Century Fox A 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.
Skills based hiring in Motion Pictures industry
– The stress on hiring functional specialists at Twenty-First Century Fox A has created an environment where the organization is dominated by functional specialists rather than management generalist. This has resulted into product oriented approach rather than marketing oriented approach or consumers oriented approach.
High operating costs
– Compare to the competitors, Twenty-First Century Fox A has high operating costs in the Motion Pictures industry. This can be harder to sustain given the new emerging competition from nimble players who are using technology to attract Twenty-First Century Fox A lucrative customers.
High bargaining power of channel partners in Motion Pictures industry
– because of the regulatory requirements in United States, Twenty-First Century Fox A 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 Motion Pictures industry.
No frontier risks strategy
– From the 10K / annual statement of Twenty-First Century Fox A, it seems that company is thinking out the frontier risks that can impact Motion Pictures 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.
Aligning sales with marketing
– From the outside it seems that Twenty-First Century Fox A needs to have more collaboration between its sales team and marketing team. Sales professionals in the Motion Pictures industry have deep experience in developing customer relationships. Marketing department at Twenty-First Century Fox A can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Twenty-First Century Fox A is planning to shift buying processes online.
Slow decision making process
– As mentioned earlier in the report, Twenty-First Century Fox A has a very deliberative decision making approach. This approach has resulted in prudent decisions, but it has also resulted in missing opportunities in the Motion Pictures industry over the last five years. Twenty-First Century Fox A 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.
Need for greater diversity
– Twenty-First Century Fox A 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.
Lack of clear differentiation of Twenty-First Century Fox A products
– To increase the profitability and margins on the products, Twenty-First Century Fox A needs to provide more differentiated products than what it is currently offering in the marketplace.
Twenty-First Century Fox A Opportunities | External Strategic Factors
What are Opportunities in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The opportunities of Twenty-First Century Fox A are -
Low interest rates
– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Twenty-First Century Fox A 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.
Building a culture of innovation
– managers at Twenty-First Century Fox A 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 Motion Pictures industry.
Changes in consumer behavior post Covid-19
– consumer behavior has changed in the Motion Pictures industry because of Covid-19 restrictions. Some of this behavior will stay once things get back to normal. Twenty-First Century Fox A 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. Twenty-First Century Fox A 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.
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Twenty-First Century Fox A has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in Motion Pictures industry. This can help Twenty-First Century Fox A to build a more holistic ecosystem for Twenty-First Century Fox A products in the Motion Pictures industry by providing – data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
Redefining models of collaboration and team work
– As explained in the weaknesses section, Twenty-First Century Fox A is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. Twenty-First Century Fox A can utilize new technology in the field of Motion Pictures industry to build more coordinated teams and streamline operations and communications using tools such as CAD, Zoom, etc.
Manufacturing automation
– Twenty-First Century Fox A can use the latest technology developments to improve its manufacturing and designing process in Motion Pictures 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.
Lowering marketing communication costs
– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Twenty-First Century Fox A in the field of marketing communication. It will bring down the cost of doing business, provide technology platform to build new products in the Motion Pictures industry, and it will provide faster access to the consumers.
Developing new processes and practices
– Twenty-First Century Fox A can develop new processes and procedures in Motion Pictures 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.
Leveraging digital technologies
– Twenty-First Century Fox A 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.
Finding new ways to collaborate
– Covid-19 has not only transformed business models of companies in Motion Pictures industry, but it has also influenced the consumer preferences. Twenty-First Century Fox A can tie-up with other value chain partners to explore new opportunities regarding meeting customer demands and building a rewarding and engaging relationship.
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– Twenty-First Century Fox A has spent a significant amount of money and effort to integrate analytics and machine learning into its operations in Motion Pictures sector. This continuous investment in analytics has enabled Twenty-First Century Fox A to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Twenty-First Century Fox A to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
Better consumer reach
– The expansion of the 5G network will help Twenty-First Century Fox A to increase its market reach. Twenty-First Century Fox A 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.
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. Twenty-First Century Fox A can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.
Threats Twenty-First Century Fox A External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats of Twenty-First Century Fox A are -
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. Twenty-First Century Fox A 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.
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, Twenty-First Century Fox A may face longer learning curve for training and development of existing employees. This can open space for more nimble competitors in the field of Motion Pictures sector.
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Twenty-First Century Fox A 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 Motion Pictures industry.
Consumer confidence and its impact on Twenty-First Century Fox A 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 Motion Pictures industry and other sectors.
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 Twenty-First Century Fox A business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
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 Twenty-First Century Fox A.
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Twenty-First Century Fox A 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 Twenty-First Century Fox A prominent markets.
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Twenty-First Century Fox A in Motion Pictures industry. The Motion Pictures industry is already at various protected from local competition in China, with the rise of trade war the protection levels may go up. This presents a clear threat of current business model in Chinese market.
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.
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry to Motion Pictures industry are lowering. It can presents Twenty-First Century Fox A with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the Motion Pictures sector.
Easy access to finance
– Easy access to finance in Motion Pictures industry will also reduce the barriers to entry in the industry, thus putting downward pressure on the prices because of increasing competition. Twenty-First Century Fox A can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
High dependence on third party suppliers
– Twenty-First Century Fox A 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.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Twenty-First Century Fox A Template, Example
Not all factors mentioned under the Strengths, Weakness, Opportunities, and Threats quadrants in the SWOT Analysis are equal. Managers at Twenty-First Century Fox A 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 Twenty-First Century Fox A 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 Twenty-First Century Fox A 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 Twenty-First Century Fox A 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 Twenty-First Century Fox A needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.